The Gardener is a Spanish romantic thriller television series created by Miguel Sáez Carral. The show consists of six episodes, each running between 20 and 40 minutes, and premiered on Netflix on April 11, 2025.
The series centers on a mother and her emotionally impaired son, Elmer. Together, they run a gardening business that secretly serves as a front for their work as contract killers. Elmer, unable to process emotions due to a childhood car accident, lives a detached existence until a brain tumor begins to grow, suddenly allowing him to feel emotions for the first time. As Elmer wrestle with this new flood of feelings, his next target emerges: a kindergarten teacher named Violeta. His mother has agreed to the hit after a grieving woman claims Violeta is responsible for her son’s death.
I stumbled upon The Gardener on a lazy self-care day Sunday and figured it was short enough to give it a shot. Within the first 15 minutes, I could already tell what the series was about and predict the outcome of each episode. Surprisingly, that didn’t turn me off. The writing does a solid job of keeping viewers engaged and curious, even when the twists are easy to see coming. Elmer’s character has a certain charm, but that’s about as far as it goes. His mother, on the other hand, is deeply manipulative, twisting the truth just enough to get Elmer to do her bidding, making it clear how much psychological damage she’s inflicted. That said, the show ultimately lacks substance, is shallow and superficial.
The series has six episodes, but honestly, it could have been trimmed down to three. There just isn’t enough substance to stretch it out, too many redundant scenes and backstory that the series could’ve done without. The acting overall was decent, but I found Violeta and the two cops pretty unlikeable and, frankly, irritating due to their over-the-top behavior and questionable decisions.
I struggled to connect with any of the characters, there wasn’t a clear protagonist to root for. That said, the show’s gardening aesthetics are beautifully shot, and the story is decent if you’re willing to overlook its predictability.
In the end, The Gardener probably won’t leave a lasting impression, but if you’ve got time to kill on a lazy day, it’s not a bad choice to have playing in the background.
