The Gardener Series Review: Series That Surprises in its Balance Between Tension and Introspection?

The Gardener Series Review: In a nursery that smells of death rather than roses, The Gardener (original title El jardinero), a new Spanish miniseries available on Netflix, mixes commissioned murders, family conflicts, and a love that breaks in like a storm in the middle of a routine made of earth and blood. Miguel Sáez Carral signed the series, already known for his literary and television raids, while the show’s absolute protagonist is Álvaro Rico, a face loved by Elite fans, who is measured here with a particularly complex and layered role. Next to him were a glacial Cecilia Suárez and a bright Catalina Sopelana. The result? Six episodes that are not afraid to lay bare the fragility of the human soul, even when he has been trained not to feel anything.

After the successful ratings of the romantic comedy “The Lady’s Companion” the platform is taking advantage of its last remaining heartbeats to premiere this Friday, April 11th, the romantic thriller “The Gardener” its new Spanish series starring Álvaro Rico, Cecilia Suárez, and Catalina Sopelana. An unpredictable love story between a killer and his victim, it aims to take a twist on film noir, going from less to more, winning over audiences of both genders. The premise of fiction six chapters by DLO Producciones (Hunting, The Immortal), created by Miguel Sáez Carral (Not one more) and written by him next to Isa Sánchez (Not one more), does not remember any other series. In it, Álvaro Rico gets into the skin of Elmer, a manipulable young man whose mother, The Sworn China (Cecilia Suárez), employs as a professional assassin. She is the manager of a nursery that, in turn, serves as the cover for a thriving clandestine custom murder business. Because of a car accident he was in at just six years old, Elmer is unable to feel anything, making killing the easiest thing in the world for him.

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The Gardener Series Review: The Story Plot

Elmer (Álvaro Rico) is a silent, methodical boy who grew up in a nursery that holds much more than potted plants. After an accident that made him unable to experience emotions, he became the perfect weapon in the hands of his mother, La China Jurado (Cecilia Suárez), who shaped him to kill unscrupulously. Their little criminal empire is based on a perfect balance, with gardening activity as a cover for what is actually their real business: eliminate uncomfortable people on commission. But when Elmer is entrusted with the task of assassinating Violeta (Catalina Sopelana), a kindergarten teacher with gentle manners, something inside him cracks: for the first time, Elmer hears. And when the emotion arrives, it does not take prisoners. The boy finds himself so tight in a grip: on the one hand, the love that blossoms, on the other, the mother who does not intend to give up control and, least of all, power.

The Gardener Series Review and Analysis

One of the most successful aspects of the series is its ability to blend the visual contrast between the natural beauty of the gardens and the brutality of the murders. The direction skilfully plays with light and colors: the warm tones of the nursery collide with the coldness of the murderous gestures, constantly emphasizing Elmer’s inner conflict. In this way, each scene seems to reflect the battle between what flourishes and what withers, between humanity that tries to emerge and the training that suffocates it. This dualism is also present in the rhythm of the narration, which alternates moments of apparent quiet with explosions of violence and feeling, always keeping the tension high without ever falling into the banal or excessive. To strike more than the romance between Elmer and Violeta, however, is the disturbing and visceral bond between mother and child. Cecilia Suárez offers a glacial and magnetic performance: China is as loving as it is ruthless, a figure that dominates the story not only with its presence but with the psychological power it exerts on Elmer.

The dynamic between the two is a toxic dance, almost incestuous in its control and dependence mechanisms, which pushes the viewer to wonder how much a mother can love and how much love can be used as a weapon. Elmer, for his part, is not only a victim: his transformation is progressive and painful, and Álvaro Rico manages to make it credible, chiseling every expression, every hesitation, as if he discovered the world – and himself – for the first time. While riding some archetypes of the romantic thriller – the hired assassin, the past knocking on the door, the dilemma between escape and loyalty – The Gardener manages not to sink into the clichés. Writing maintains its elegance, avoiding melodrama while leaving room for cleverly dosed twists. If there is a weak point, perhaps it lies in the characterization of Violeta, whose mystery remains more mentioned than explored. But this, too, can be read as a desired choice: Elmer falls in love more with an idea than with a real person, and his emotional journey remains the centerpiece of the story. The series closes with an ambiguous note, leaving the door open to a possible following. But even if it doesn’t come, The Gardener has already said enough: that even the driest heart, if hit by the right light, can sprout again.

I expected a series of only six episodes to proceed at a fast pace, filling every minute with twists and plot developments. Instead, “The Gardener” takes his time, almost as if he were waiting for a sequoia to grow. Even when there is bloodshed, the atmosphere remains surprisingly calm and controlled, just like the protagonist. On the one hand, this helps create the atmosphere of a small town where everyone could watch you. On the other hand, it makes it difficult to maintain interest when the plot starts spinning in circles like a dog trying to catch its tail. The real problem with “The Gardener” is that it cannot make us believe in the central love story. Violeta is such an underdeveloped character that she almost looks like a mannequin with a wig. Even when it turns out to be hiding a secret, the series doesn’t bother to investigate who it is or why we should worry about it. It is true that Elmer’s feelings are mainly a projection and that he is in love with her idea rather than the real person, but this does not justify lazy writing. There are times when you wonder if the creators simply forgot to write scenes for Violeta.

The Gardener Series (Image Credit: Netflix)

Lately, we have seen a wave of stories that revolve around hit men who fall in love and have to decide if their job or relationship is more important. “The Gardener” does not add anything new to this vein since it refuses to investigate the most significant moral issues, and it doesn’t even try to be a real character study. The result is a series that floats between thriller, romance, and family drama genres, with one foot in each category and no clear sense of identity. It’s not crazy enough to shock the audience and make them laugh, nor introspective enough to make them think. The final episode of “The Gardener” spends most of the time closing the pending plots and bringing the story back to the status quo. However, there is one last twist that leaves the door open for a potential second season. But honestly? I’m not sure there is enough history to justify it. The series would have worked better as a film, condensing the whole action in two hours instead of diluting it over six episodes. Considering that in this first season, the tension was struggling to maintain itself, a second season may be more forced than a Christmas tree in a tiny apartment.

Despite his problems, “The Gardener” is enjoyable enough to accompany the public through narration, and the central performances of Rico and Suárez help to anchor the emotional core of the story. I wish I was more surprised by the twists and turns of the series, with truly unexpected developments worthy of a soap opera. However, this “The Gardener” will quickly pass over Netflix, perhaps earning a following among those who get lost in its history. If you have been a fan of Álvaro Rico since “Elite” or love Spanish thrillers on Netflix, you may want to give this series a chance. But lowers expectations at the level of the soil, because it is certainly not a competition rose. And you, have you already seen “The Gardener”? Do you think you deserve a second season, or would you prefer to see the cast in completely different projects? Share your opinion in the comments, and let me know if you agree that the mother- child relationship was the only really interesting thing in the whole series!

The Gardener Netflix (Image Credit: Netflix)

Under this argument, a very attractive suspense story unfolds as well as complex, intriguing, and suspenseful; whose narration goes two ways: the main one, how his mother uses him as a hitman to earn money and thus be able to return to Mexico together. And the parallel one, the love story between both young people. Go ahead, yes, that both Álvaro Rico and Cecilia Suárez and Catalina Sopelana have done an excellent job of acting to get ahead complex and enigmatic characters. The staging of Rico stands out, whom the creator expressly chose to give life to this character who suffers from a kind of alexithymia, that is, who is unable to feel emotions. To highlight the mystery of their role, the directors Mikel Rueda (Poison) and Rafa Montesinos (The Immortal) pulled abundant short planes in order to bring the viewer closer to the trauma the protagonist goes through, reflected in his eyes, as well as in the expression on his face. All this says much more than when he speaks. Beyond the peculiarities of the character and versatility, the La Manchego actor (La Puebla de Montalván, Toledo, 1996) once again faces a character who seems to be a boss in his career with a dark, even criminal touch.

He rose to fame in the role of Polo, the posh boy and author of the crime around which the first three seasons of Elite, and James’s followed in Dawn, where it got into the skin of a rapist. For his part, Suárez (Tampico, México, 1971), who puts a face to Elmer’s controlling mother The Sworn China, is another character very polyhedral since it has many edges due to its dark past. She can become very manipulative, not only with her children, but also with her clients, to get away with it, in order to build a future in Mexico where she can live in freedom, since the present does not entirely convince you. If you have something in common with your iconic representation of Paulina de la Mora in The Flower House, it is that she is just as eccentric as her. She also cares (too much) about her son and sometimes puts business stability before her parents’ happiness. With his presence alone on stage, he can make one think automatically about what he is scheming.

The Gardener Tv Series (Image Credit: Netflix)

Who has known love knows that it is the most powerful drug and weapon in the world. And even if you think that your turn has not come or that you have never felt anything like it for anyone, perhaps it is that you have not yet found the right person. Because even our protagonist, a young man who suffers from alexithymia, that inability to feel emotions from the age of six, one day crosses the girl of his dreams, and the degree of his illness not only decreases but transforms him inside. So we all can. Elmer, a shy boy who learned to express emotions thanks to his mother’s teachings, turns his heart upside down when he first finds such strong feelings inside him. Feelings that I did not understand and that many times I could not express verbally. In contrast to romantic love is maternal love. The one that instinctively unites you to your mother from gestation through the umbilical cord. The interesting thing about this fiction is that through its six chapters, it talks about that sick and overprotective motherhood that gets into the remnants of the human soul. If we take it almost to the extreme, it could resemble the relationship that the Norman Bates character had – in landscaped mode – with his mother in the film Psychosis (Aldred Hitchcock, 1969). China would be able to do anything to make disappear that young woman who has caught her son and who has not only changed his life but also endangers both.

The Gardener Series Review: The Last Words

The Gardener is a series that surprises in its balance between tension and introspection, without ever giving in entirely to pure thriller or romantic drama. The credit goes to a direction that alternates colors and shadows with extreme awareness and to a cast perfectly in part, with Álvaro Rico shaking off the teen idol label to wear a more complex mask. The mother-child dynamic is disturbing and hypnotic, while sudden love is treated with a fascinating ambiguity. A few smudges in the secondary characterization do not spoil the overall portrait. It is a story that remains with you like the sweet scent of a flower that you don’t know whether to smell or fear. For all these ingredients and others that we cannot reveal, as of this Friday the spectators of Netflix You will be able to see the result of this miniseries that has Miguel Sáez Carral behind him as creator and that irrigates, never better said, the plot with abundant doses of drama, suspense and love. A thriller that, by the adequate duration of your episodes, turns quite addictive and leaves you wanting to know what will happen when an episode ends. There is no doubt that this production has all the necessary components to become the new star Spanish series of the platform.