The Gentle Art Of Swedish Death Cleaning - General Discussion

[QQQQ]

Based on the Swedish practice of döstädning, where people get rid of unnecessary belongings and put their homes in order. Produced by Amy Poehler, based on the book by Margareta Magnusson. Streaming on Peacock, season 1 = 8 episodes.

 

Swedish Death Cleaning Squad:

Ella - Organizer

Johan - Designer

Katarina - Psychologist

Edited April 27, 2023 by QQQQ

[QQQQ]

I just started the process of Swedish Death Cleaning a few weeks ago. I'm taking it slow - one drawer, one cupboard, one box at a time. I'm not a hoarder, but I just want to get a handle on my stuff. More importantly, I want to stop buying more stuff.

 

Anyway, having read the book on which it's based, so far this show isn't quite what I was hoping for. I think they made a mistake in starting off the series with the penis collector. I didn't find her to be nearly as interesting as she found herself. And I'm by no means a prude, but it felt like they were using the F word every other sentence for no reason. 

 

Hoping the next episodes are better.

[pasdetrois]

3 hours ago, QQQQ said:

I think they made a mistake in starting off the series with the penis collector. I didn't find her to be nearly as interesting as she found herself.

One of my grandmothers was Scandinavian, and she did death-cleaning late in her life. As her executor my father experienced a very orderly process of fulfilling her wishes and dealing with her estate because she did all of the work.

So I was excited to watch the first episode...for five minutes. That loud-mouthed jerk screeching about sex was too much and I switched to another show. I'd give anything to know what the Swedes really thought about her.

 

[Lois Sandborne]

Thanks for the warning. I saw Amy Poehler talking about this on Late Night and it sounded interesting, but if I watch I'm definitely going to skip the first episode.

[Ms.Lulu]

I actually skipped the first episode and decided to start with the Hispanic lesbian artist who lost her wife to Covid. It was okay.

There was a condom joke.

[EtheltoTillie]

I had same reaction. Turned off penis lady. May not resume for anything else. 

[truebluesmoky]

The second episode with the woman with terminal cancer is very moving.

[QQQQ]

I finished the series. I thought the concept of organizer, designer, and psychiatrist was smart as they could address the homeowners' physical and mental issues (so to speak). But overall, I found the appeal of the homeowners and their back stories to be really uneven. Some episodes just dragged; even the more moving tales got repetitive and felt like they were struggling to fill time.

 

Admittedly, part of the problem may be mine in that, as a fan of both Poehler and the source material, I had high expectations for the show. 

[dshgr]

I've watched the first three episodes, and the first was my least favorite.  I'd recommend to all to start with Episode 2.  Episode 3 is my favorite!

[TVbitch]

Glad I checked in here first! So start with episode 2. Are there any others that should be skipped? I guess I thought this would be really poignant, like the absolutely raw and riveting series "Time of Death," which had various people grappling with terminal conditions.

[LuvMyShows]

I did actually get something from the first episode, which is that I learned about the Creative Reuse Center.  I had never heard of those and was very surprised to find out that there is one in the D.C. area; they don't do a very good job of promoting themself.  But wow, they really do take all kinds of junk that you would otherwise throw away (or recycle), like keys, the little plastic tabs on bread packaging, loose crayons, egg cartons, etc.  However, I do wish the woman had explained why recycling is so bad. 

Edited May 7, 2023 by LuvMyShows

[Almost 3000]

On 5/7/2023 at 8:16 AM, LuvMyShows said:

I did actually get something from the first episode, which is that I learned about the Creative Reuse Center.  I had never heard of those and was very surprised to find out that there is one in the D.C. area; they don't do a very good job of promoting themself.  But wow, they really do take all kinds of junk that you would otherwise throw away (or recycle), like keys, the little plastic tabs on bread packaging, loose crayons, egg cartons, etc.  However, I do wish the woman had explained why recycling is so bad. 

I think she did comment that reusing what you have so as not to make waste was the goal. It's not the recycling but need for stuff that creates the waste in the first place that the problem. This was my come away.

[LuvMyShows]

I hope anyone that was tempted to nope out from the series because of the first episode, will stick with it.  I found it a very engaging series, and having just finished it, I'm sad that there are no more episodes.  And if all mental health practitioners were more like Kat, the world would be a better place!

[DeeplyShallow]

The first episode was by far the weakest but the rest were so moving. The session between Kat and the terminally ill patient was so moving. I’m laid up with covid and binge watched all 8 episodes and my eyes hurt from crying… but it was a good cry. I really enjoyed this show; a nice mix of light hearted humor and sadness. I’m not turned off by the language, it’s not a big deal.

[TVbitch]

I just started to watch a couple of the episodes. I ended up not finishing the one with the penises (penii?) cuz I just grew weary of looking at them. I wonder why they kicked this off with that episode, as I'm sure many found it to be the weakest, but I guess they thought it would be funny.

In that regard, I think the weakest parts of the show are Amy Poehler's narration with the lame jokes, as well as the forced comedy bits they have the death cleaners do. It just takes me out of the story at hand. The cleaners are plenty interesting and humorous and don't need the scripted bits. It's like the producers felt things would get too heavy or something for us fragile Americans if we didn't have jokes and comedy breaks. 

Anyway, I will likely finish the rest of the episodes as I have time. I am an extreme minimalist myself, so I watch for the psychological story.

[cinsays]

missed the earlier episodes, and from the comments here, am glad i did.  saw the one with the lovely lady dying of cancer and found it very touching and maybe it will spur me to finally deal with some stuff i have accumulated. 

i hope her friends at the party were able to find meaningful ways to be with her and help her deal with things.  was sad to see at the end that the lady died a few days ago.