Dream Garden (沉睡花园) is a short Chinese drama with a psychology theme. I think it is good that this production is kept short and compact to maintain a relatively good pacing throughout. Many Chinese dramas tend to be longer than necessary just to fill the standard length that we typically see. The other thing to look forward to for this drama is, of course, Simon Gong and Bridgette Qiao. Do they have sizzling chemistry between them to make us feel engrossed in their story? Check out my Dream Garden review below to find out more.
My rating: 7/10
Episodes: 16
Type: Romance, Psychology
Aired: December 2021
Images Credit: Hunan TV Weibo
The Cast Of Dream Garden 2021
- Simon Gong Jun as Lin Shen
- Bridgette Qiao Xin as Xiao Xiao / Xiao Bei Bei
- Jing Chao as Fan Qi
- Sun Yi as Luo Luo / Yan Luo
- Zhang Duo as Shao Ning
- Zhou Qi Qi as Zuo Yan
- Wang Ze Xuan as Sun Ke Le
Main Characters
Lin Shen
Lin Shen is a psychologist who co-owns a private practice with his best friend. He is also a guest lecturer at the city’s university. Lin Shen appears as cold and serious but attracts lots of attention from the fairer sex due to his good looks. He has a phobia of car rides due to an accident in the past. He also has a mother who is in a long-term coma in a nursing home.
Xiao Xiao / Xiao Bei Bei
Xiao Xiao is a relationship expert who dishes out love advice through talk shows and her writings. She has no formal psychological training but uses body language and gut instinct to read a couple’s relationship. Xiao Xiao is an independent, confident, and persistent woman.
Supporting Characters
Fan Qi
Fan Qi runs an investment and promotional company to help clients to increase their reach. He appears as a gentleman who is helpful and polite. He shows interest in Xiao Xiao with whom he has a business relationship with.
Luo Luo / Yan Luo
Luo Luo has talent in drawing and is a manga artist. She is a little timid with parents who heavily favor her brother over her. Xiao Xiao is her best friend. Luo Luo is also the illustrator for Xiao Xiao’s writings.
Shao Ning
Shao Ning is a psychologist. He and Lin Shen are partners in a psychological counseling center. Shao Ning is also Lin Shen’s senior during their student days as well as his good friend. He is a jovial and matured guy.
Zuo Yan
Zuo Yan is Lin Shen and Shao Ning’s employee at their counseling center. She appears friendly and amiable to everyone.
Sun Ke Le
Ke Le is Xiao Xiao’ assistant who manages her social media accounts. He is a fun and happy young man but tends to get nervous around the girl he has a crush on.
Synopsis
Xiao Xiao discovers that her best friend, Luo Luo, has visited Lin Shen’s psychological counseling center just before Luo Luo went missing. She is suspicious that Lin Shen might be involved in her friend’s disappearance. Hence, Xiao Xiao pretends to seek employment in his center in order to get the necessary evidence and clues on Luo Luo’s whereabouts.
Xiao Xiao is hired by Lin Shen’s partner. But Lin Shen could see through her pretense. Xiao Xiao is forced to come clean about her motive. When she realizes Lin Shen is is not involved in Luo Luo’s disappearance, she pleads with him to help her find her friend. Through hypnosis, Xiao Xiao could recall some small details to help them to track down Luo Luo who is merely hiding from her overly controlling boyfriend.
After the case is over, Xiao Xiao and Lin Shen cross paths again due to work. Xiao Xiao becomes interested to continue working for Lin Shen and study psychology as it is related to her job as a relationship expert who dishes out love advice. Together, they handle some psychological cases that come their way. As they see more of each other, feelings also begin to develop between them. But danger lies ahead as Lin Shen becomes a target of unknown parties lurking in the shadows.
Dream Garden 2021 Ending (Spoilers Alert!)
Dream Garden has a happy ending. There is a time jump of one year after Fan Qi’s crimes had been exposed and he was shot dead by the police. Xiao Xiao was kidnapped to force Lin Shen to an abandoned building. Fan Qi tried to kill Lin Shen but the police arrived just in time to stop him. Lin Shen was stabbed during the fight with Fan Qi and was rushed to the hospital for surgery. He survived and reunited with Xiao Xiao at the hospital.
One year later, Xiao Xiao has been offered an opportunity to go to England for a 3-month stint after doing well in her post-graduate exams. Lin Shen encourages her to take up the offer although they would be apart. The drama ends with him visiting Xiao Xiao in England and the pair of lovers are happy to see each other again.
Why Is Fan Qi After Lin Shen?
Fan Qi had an elder brother named Lu Yan. They were orphans and Lu Yan truly cared about Fan Qi. While in the orphanage, they also struck up a close bond with Huang Yuan. Later, a wealthy couple wanted to adopt Lu Yan but he gave his place to Fan Qi instead. The brothers were separated and lost contact. Fan Qi grew up in luxury while Lu Yan had a hard life as a result.
Years later, Fan Qi managed to find his brother again. It was a happy reunion. Then, Lu Yan who was running a truck company supposedly got into a disagreement with one of his clients named Zhou Rui. Zhou Rui happened to be Lin Shen’s patient. He was killed by Lu Yan just after exiting Lin Shen’s counseling center. Lin Shen witnessed the incident and Lu Yan was arrested. Lu Yan subsequently died in jail not long after. He was actually sickly but kept it from Fan Qi.
The actual reason why Lu Yan killed Zhou Rui is because the latter was blackmailing Fan Qi. Zhou Rui was Fan Qi’s ex-Chief Financial Officer. He had evidence of Fan Qi’s business crimes and used it to extract money from him. Hence, Lu Yan killed Zhou Rui to protect his brother. When Lu Yan died, Fan Qi needed someone to blame to cover up his own immense guilt. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself and Lin Shen became a logical target.
When Did The Couple Get Together?
Lin Shen and Xiao Xiao officially started dating in Episode 13. He asked her to be his girlfriend then. They consummated their relationship in Episode 14. Prior to that, Lin Shen and Xiao Xiao were already getting very comfortable and close to each other. She even moved into his place in Episode 10 due to safety reasons.
Is there A Breakup?
Lin Shen and Xiao Xiao broke up for a short while in Episode 14. He requested the breakup because he was a suspect in his patient’s attempted suicide which was masterminded by Fan Qi. Lin Shen knew he was being targeted and didn’t want to drag Xiao Xiao into the mess.
However, Xiao Xiao didn’t agree to the breakup when she found out what was happening. Hence, the couple reconciled in Episode 15.
Any Love Triangle?
Fan Qi also has feelings for Xiao Xiao. However, she only saw him as a friend and didn’t sense his interest in her in a romantic way. Furthermore, Fan Qi didn’t confess to her about his feelings. He only left her a letter when he knew the police would be coming after him and Xiao Xiao only got to read it after he died.
Why Is Lin Shen Afraid Of Car Rides?
Lin Shen was in a serious car accident when he was a kid. He was running a fever and had trouble getting up on time. However, he didn’t tell his mother that he was sick and she ended up getting angry as they were running late for his class. Thus, his mother had to speed up while driving and he was terrified before they ended up in a horrible accident. His mother also fell into a long-term coma due to her injuries but awoken in Episode 13.
Lin Shen was subsequently cured of his phobia of car rides through Shao Ning and Xiao Xiao’s intervention. His mother also wanted him to let go of the past. So, they tricked him that there is an emergency which forced him into a car ride. Then, Xiao Xiao led him into a hypnosis to allow him to make peace with his past.
Side Couples
Shao Ning suggested to Luo Luo to try him out as a temporary boyfriend in Episode 14 to get over her fears of starting a new relationship due to her past experience. He assured her that she could back out at any time if she is uncomfortable. Luo Luo agreed to the suggestion as she trusted him. She then decided to make it permanent. A year later, Shao Ning publicly proposed to Luo Luo and she accepted.
Ke Le fell for Zuo Yan earlier on in the drama and wanted to confess his feelings in Episode 12. He asked Xiao Xiao and Lin Shen’s opinion on how to court Zuo Yan but all the plans went awry when he saw her with a blind date. During an argument over his behavior, Ke Le blurted out his feelings for her. She accepted his pursuit and agreed to be his girlfriend in Episode 13.
Dream Garden Review – Psychological Cases
Basically, Dream Garden is like a collection of psychological cases that are string together to create a drama with romance as the icing on the cake. The protagonists will encounter people that are afflicted with various psychological problems which they will need to resolve. These include delusional, gaslighting, and controlling behaviors. Each case could take about 2 episodes for a resolution. Therefore, characters related to each of the cases will come and go. Only a small number of core characters will remain throughout the drama.
One major issue about this kind of drama that revolves around a profession would be its accuracy or the lack of it. I’m not a psychologist and hence, I can’t comment whether the patients’ treatment and the characters’ actions in Dream Garden would fit reality. But you know it would be farfetched for someone who has not studied psychology to be hired as an assistant to the partner. This is how it is in the drama. So, I suppose you just have to treat it as pure entertainment and not nitpick on the details and accuracy from a professional angle. Otherwise, it would be very hard to get into the story.
Fairly Interesting Cases
As Dream Garden relies on psychological cases to move the story along, its success would depend on how interesting and convincing these cases may be. Personally, I find the cases to be fairly interesting. I think the brevity of each case helps to minimize the boredom as they do get resolved within 2 episodes or so. It also provides some insights into how people could be psychologically affected by the behavior of those closest to them.
However, I also think you must have some level of interest in the subject to find this drama worthwhile. This is because it is not a thriller or a suspenseful drama like Stealth Walker. The protagonists are mainly trying to help people with their psychological issues and hypnosis are constantly used as a solution. Hence, some may find it repetitive. With each episode being an hour long, it can certainly feel drawn out for those who prefer more excitement.
On top of that, there is also a revenge factor as part of the plot. This is the last case which is used to prep the viewers for a climatic ending. But it falls short and it is the least convincing case of the lot to me. The perpetrator obviously needed psychological help but the drama must have a villain. So, he seems like a convenient choice as a way to end the story.
Slow Burn Romance
Would I watch Dream Garden for the romance? My answer would be no. In fact, the whole drama could stand on its own without any romance being included. But I guess viewers always like some sweetness in a drama and a matching pair of on screen lovers does sell. Just like in The Lion’s Secret, the couple in Dream Garden officially get together rather late in the drama. However, they do spend a lot of time together from the very beginning which should satisfy that craving for some fluff and sweetness in their interactions.
Nevertheless, if you are looking for your sugary fix, I would still say that this is not the drama to watch. For that, you are better off watching You Are My Glory or Forever And Ever. In Dream Garden, the cases is the meat of the story while the romance simply offers a sweet distraction to make the drama less heavy throughout. Yes, there are also kisses towards the end of the drama when the couple started dating to spice things up. But it doesn’t automatically transform it into a great love story as the drama is not meant to be one.
Acting And Chemistry
Simon Gong is as good-looking as always and he does have the necessary acting skills to give viewers a satisfactory portrayal of his characters in all his project thus far. So, there is nothing much to complain about either with his portrayal of Lin Shen in Dream Garden. He depicts Lin Shen as a capable professional and does that convincingly.
Bridgette Qiao plays Xiao Xiao who is more impulsive and expressive compared to Lin Shen. Xiao Xiao is not an instantly likable or adorable character but the actress still managed to make her grow on you as the drama progresses. I think Bridgette Qiao did well with what she was given. Xiao Xiao is supposed to be smart but she ends up being rather dumb when it comes to the second male lead. So, I can’t blame the actress because that is how her character was written.
The chemistry of these 2 leads is great for a drama that is not entirely romance-focused. They are sweet when it needs to be and they look good as lovers. At the very least, I think Bridgette Qiao has much better chemistry with her co-star here than with Hu Yi Tian in You Complete Me. Perhaps the easy banter between them and Lin Shen’s cheekiness at times help with the couple vibes in Dream Garden.
My Verdict – Neither The Best Nor The Worst
I would say Dream Garden is neither the best nor the worst of the lot where Chinese dramas are concerned. Whether you would enjoy it would depend on how much you want it to mirror reality in the psychology field. If you think the cases presented and the leads’ actions as psychologists are unreal, then the drama’s watch value will go down the drain. To me, the cases are pretty interesting. While I do get the feeling that the leads’ behavior doesn’t seem professional at times, I also didn’t have the urge to question and nitpick over the details. So, I guess if you can just treat this as a drama and not expect the story to strictly adhere to the standards of the profession, then this would be more enjoyable.
Having said that, the sore point for me is the way the villain’s story is told. The female lead completely lets down her guard with him when she has been very astute in sniffing out the psychological problems of others around her. You might also roll your eyes over all the “coincidental” meetings each time he shows up in front of her. In other words, the execution of the revenge plot falls short to me. Since they have also identified a villain, his case could have been a suspenseful and thrilling end to a psychological drama. Unfortunately, this aspect is totally missing from Dream Garden.
So, for this Dream Garden review, I would only give it a score of 7/10. Without sufficient excitement, the romance is a sweet distraction and helps to make up for the shortfall. Overall, it is an average drama for me with little rewatch value. Give it a try and you should know within the first few episodes if this is up your alley.
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