El jardinero

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. In europe, it's el jardinero. From spain. Only six episodes. A mother ( cecilia suárez ) and son ( álvaro rico ) team of assassins. But while elmer has an odd, strong connection with nature, he has lost his sense of emotions with people. A perfect trait for a killer! When they bury the bodies in their own yard, the plants and trees seem to thrive even more. Elmer and mom are saving up to buy a house far away, where they can leave all this behind. Officers torres and carrera are surprised that they never find the bodies of the missing people. A new job brings a new twist... the next target has already fallen for elmer. Can he carry out the job? If he goes through with it, will the coppers trace the murder back to elmer and his mother? Things begin to unravel. Things are not going according to plan anymore. The casting is good, the english dubbing is excellent. It probably didn't need to be six episodes.... the coppers took a LONG time to start linking the murders. But overall, it's good! Another good miniseries from netflix. And the writers have left it wide open for a season two! But no announcements yet, if there will be more episodes. Directed by rafa montesinos and mikel rueda.

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?

It's a romcom with a serious darkness to it. A show that explores many shades of love maternal, romantical and even extramarital. The magic is the story's ability to keep the viewer uncertain on taking sides. A drama that examine the complexity and possessiveness in relationships between traumatized souls. Acting was sincere and emotional. Biggest highlight was the fresh background music. Great sound and visual effects. Though it ends in a bittersweet cliffhanger there's many major indications about a return. And for anyone who wishe to enjoy a TV show with a highly unqiue theme, Gardener wil be a perfect choise.

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.