Der Gärtner

This is an interesting story and the acting is solid. However, all of the characters are so selfish that I did not enjoy it very much. I almost wish they would all be murdered as it would be very satisfying from a karmic perspective.

The actress who played the mother of the garden, as well as the actress who played another mother in the story were brilliant.

I kept wanting to attach to one of the characters as my protagonist, but one by one they failed the personality test. It goes back to each one, not seeing any goals beyond their own. Disappointing when it could've been so good. I learned the trigger was a good fertilizer.

Don't expect some deep insight into mind of a emotionally detached serial killer. This is not Dexter or You, this is something else. A serial killer who kills for money and who, due to childhood accident, can't feel emotions. And of course falls in love with a wrong woman, causing a series of events that threaten to upend everything.

This isn't a masterpiece neither in terms of script, acting, camerawork, plot..... but is fine enough to binge when you have a craving for something different than standard fare.

Some would complain that movie doesn't really have a "good" character, all principal ones are flawed in some way, some are just more willing to admit it. But in a movie about serial killer can you really have such character?

So here we are, sitting down to watch El Jardinero, expecting some emotional grit, mystery, maybe even a slow burn character arc. But instead, we get a narrated backstory from his mother, telling us that our main guy fell on his head and just stopped feeling things. That's it. That's the entire emotional foundation of this walking plot device.

And just as we're trying to get invested in his emotionless stare and existential gardening, bam, 28 minutes in .. redhead appears. Suddenly, Boom. Puberty hits like a freight train. And just like that, years of psychological detachment are cured with a some awkward small talk. His brain reboots, Windows XP style, and suddenly he's Mr. Charisma with feelings and opinions.

Honestly, if you're into emotional arcs that collapse faster than a house of cards in a hurricane, this is your show. Watching this was like ordering a steak and getting a soggy salad with a side of "we gave up halfway through.

3/10 - and that's me being generous because the opening music slapped.

Again another great work from Spain on Netflix.

It begins good and finished with an open end sequel possibility. All the actors did a respectable job here and the characters were well developed.

I liked that there weren't too many people involved and the story was clever constructed with a good mix of high tension and suspense. Except one point that I cannot spoil here. But who cares, it is just a series and if you can look away from this main flaw in my opinion it works like a Hitchcock thriller. I mean, I guessed several times what comes next and it was even creepy sometimes. All the sceneries were well chosen to develop the perfect atmosphere and I have to congratulate all the staff. Check it out. 7/10.

"The Gardener", one of Netflix new series of only 6 episodes, than heavens, is about a manipulative mother who dotes on her emotionally devoid son, who through her manipulative nature, coaxes her son to become a serial killer. An accident caused Elmer to have a brain tumor which makes him emotionless. This translates to the audience who is emotionless watching this poorly dubbed, poorly acted Spanish and ridiculously plotted series of characters who we don't care about, but are at least good looking." Sincere it is only 6 episodes I decided to watch the whole thing. If it was 10 or 12 episodes, I would have bolted after episode 3. Not the worse series on Netflix, but certainly not one of their best!