01x07 - The Würst of Times

[bunniefuu]

narrator: Aloha, everyone.

Meet Doug Salva.

Doug lives in a
tropical paradise

full of Hawaiian shirts,
tasty drinks, and island fun.

Actually, no.

This is Doug's house
in Missouri.

Let's just say his
collection of tiki mugs

and random things has gotten
a little out of hand.

But our death cleaners
are here to help.

Cheers to that.

Oh, I almost forgot.

Doug loves wieners.

Like, big wieners.

More specifically,
wieners on wheels.

Anyway, we can
get to that later.

This is Ella.

Ella is from Sweden.

And she's an organizer.

[lively string music]

* *

This is Johan.

Yep, also from Sweden.

Johan is a designer.

[car horn honks]

* *

And then there's Katarina.

A Swede, clearly.

She's a psychologist.

[car horn honks]

all:
Hey!

[laughter]

narrator: Together, they are
a team of death cleaners.

Yes, you heard me right.

Death cleaning.

Cleaning out your crap

so others don't have to
when you're dead.

It's a very Swedish thing.
You'll get it.

* *

[dramatic brass music]

* *

- I'm 54 years old.

And I don't feel like I'm 54.

Trying to be
a responsible adult,

but most of the time, I'm not.

* *

Damn it.

I've been a class clown
my entire life.

Ready to go pro.

I guess you could say
that I collect things.

But they're strange things.

I can't resist
a good vintage tiki mug.

And if it makes me giggle,
I like to have it around me.

[parrot squawks]

When you combine it all,

it makes me somewhat odd.

But odd is fun.

[machine whirring]

I'm hoping that
the Swedish death cleaners

do the voodoo that they do
and I end up having

a better home
and a better life.

They're gonna be horrified.

[laughs]
[knocking]

[whirring stops]

Come on in.
- Hi.

- Hello.
- Hello.

- Welcome.
- Thank you.

I'm Ella.

- Ella, I'm Doug.

Very nice to meet you.
- Yeah.

- I'm Johan. Nice to meet you.

- Johan, nice to meet you.

- Hello, I'm Kat.
- Kat?

- Yes.
- Nice to meet you.

- Wow.
- Your home.

- What a place.
- Thank you.

Thank you very much.

It's a little bit
of everything.

- But why are we here?

I mean, tell us about why
you invited

three Swedish death cleaners
into your home.

- I need your help.

My fiancée, Stephanie,
has told me that

she's not gonna marry me
or move in

until I get this house
properly prepared, decluttered.

- Oh.
- I need to get more organized

and get rid of a lot of this
stuff so we can get married.

She's never seen the basement
'cause I'm afraid

she'll run away screaming
if she sees it.

- I feel very honored now that
we're allowed but she's not.

- Pressure's on.
- Yes.

And, like, a lot at stake.
- Get your sh*t together.

[laughter]

- Get your sh*t together, Doug.
- Yeah, yeah.

narrator:
"Get your sh*t together":

this is the priceless
Swedish wisdom

you've come to expect
from these three.

- How long have you been
engaged to your fiancée?

- Since 2015.

- It's been quite a while.

And she hasn't
seen the basement?

- Right.
- So there's a lot at stake.

- Yes.
- Yeah.

- But I'm just curious.

How come you haven't done
any more work around

earlier, do you think?

- Single dad.
- Yeah.

- Raising two kids.
- Yeah.

- There's just--
there's a level,

a point where
I come home from work,

get them fed, do laundry,
I'm exhausted.

- But how old are the kids now?

- My son is 22,
and my daughter is 25.

She just moved out.
- Okay.

- So many excuses.

[laughter]
- Yeah.

- Ella, what do you think?

Too many excuses.

I love your style in here.

- Thank you.
- I think it's so cool.

It's eclectic. It's fun.

There's pieces of humor.

I just feel that it
needs a bit of editing.

- I think it's too much.
You don't see it.

- Yeah, we have a saying also.

[speaking Swedish]

- Oh, yeah, it's like,
you can't see the--

- The trees
because of the wood.

- Yeah.
- No, you can't see the wood

because of the trees, no?

- Forest for the trees.
- Yes.

narrator:
Forest for the trees.

Trees for the wood.

Would that we could
understand this conversation.

Let's move on, shall we?

- Can you show us around?

- Yes, I can.

Right this way.

[relaxing music]

I converted the dining room
into a tiki bar.

- Oh.
- Wow.

- Wow, this is really
a big collection.

- [laughs]
- It's very much.

- It's too much.

- Look at this. Look at this.
- It's kitschy.

- Ah, little hula, hula.
[laughter]

- Hula, hula flicka.
- [laughs] Yeah.

- And this is also--

I mean, is this, like, an old--

yeah, it's, like, a coconut...

- It's a coconut
- Made into an owl.

- I find things
at antique stores.

And I like to share it
with others.

- So where did this
tiki obsession come from?

- Yeah.
- I like the era of the '50s

and the '60s when these
tiki bars were in their heyday.

This just seemed like
a fun way to honor that.

And I come across this stuff
all the time

at the thrift stores
and the antique stores.

- Yeah, yeah.
- Yeah.

- So I started collecting.

- It's a lot
of beautiful pieces,

but this is like
an old flea market gone wrong.

It's like we talk
about being hemmablind.

- Yeah.
- Being blind at home.

- It's like a tipping point
when you don't

see your house anymore.
- Yes.

When Stephanie comes here,
she points out things.

It's been there so long
or whatever,

I didn't even see that.

- I mean, it's crazy in here,
but I love it at the same time.

- Yes, but it's very much.

- This is really weird.
What's this?

- Oh, my God. What's that?
[laughter]

- I've been a copywriter
for 25 years.

But my first job
after school was

driving the Oscar Mayer
Wienermobile.

- Ah, okay.

- Mid-Michigan residents
may haveseen

a hot dog driving
through the streets

of East Lansing today.

When this big rolling frank
heads down the street,

people just can't help
but relish the sight

to try to catch up to it.

narrator: Hang on.
What's happening here?

[horn honks]

- It's here to bring
miles of smiles

to everyone, young and old.

narrator:
Oh, that's young Doug

driving a giant hot dog.

Suddenly it all makes sense.

- My passion
for the Wienermobile

is almost as intense
as my passion for tiki.

Matter of fact...

- Oh, you have that.
- Whoa, that's cool.

"I drove it."
- I drove it.

narrator: Okay, okay,
with all these wieners around,

let's just be adults
and resist the urge

to make multiple
wiener-related jokes.

- I'm more of a wiener guy,
so this is my stuff.

[laughter]
- Oh, a small one.

That's yours.
[laughter]

- That's how I met my ex-wife.

I tell my kids
they wouldn't be here

if it wasn't for
a 23-foot-long wiener.

narrator: Oh, boy.
This is gonna be difficult.

- That's the best
dad joke of today.

[laughter]
- It is. It is.

This is the first time
I'm gonna death clean wieners.

- There's so much stuff, Doug.

I can't get the wiener in.

- You just need to push.
[laughter]

narrator: This is getting
out of control.

Let's switch gears
and go to the kitchen.

- Oh, this is a lot
of stuff as well.

- Yes.

Not a big kitchen,
but I've crammed it

with a lot of stuff.

- Yeah. Do you cook here,
really?

- I--very rarely.

- So what do your fiancée
think about this kitchen?

- She hates this kitchen.

It's like, there's no
room for both of us

to be in here at the same time.
- Yeah.

The kitchen is actually one
of the worst I've ever seen.

- I'm guilty of stocking up
on a lot of stuff...

- Yeah. You have extra, also.

- And then forgetting
it's there.

- Yeah, yeah, and then
it gets old also.

But wouldn't it be nice
if you could prepare a meal

and do this together?

- Most definitely.
- Yes.

- I don't think
we've ever cooked together.

- You haven't? No?
- No.

- Yeah, we have work to do
here, I can tell you.

But it's gonna be good.

I can really
understand Stephanie,

why she don't want to move in
here when it looks like this.

I think it's time for us
to go and see the basement.

narrator: Uh-oh.

- Yes, it's time.

narrator: Now, coming off
the worst kitchen

Ella's ever seen,
could this basement really

be as bad as Doug let on?

- Oh, my God.

- What is all this stuff?

narrator: Oh, it's worse.

- The basement is a depository
of past life stuff.

It is a mixture
of some of my collections.

- Looks more like a mess
than a collection down here.

- It got away from me
a little bit.

[plucky music]

- Are you a Viking?

- There was a time
when I ventured

with friends in dungeons
and things like that.

narrator: When life gives you
lemons, make lemonade.

Or if you're a death cleaner,
when life gives you

a messy basement,
play with everything you see--

every single thing.

- More wieners.

- More flaccid wieners.

- Oh, look, even tinier ones.

- Whistles.

- Everyone wants to have
a wiener in your mouth.

narrator: How about this:
last wiener mentioned

for at least five minutes,
okay?

- You really are a collector
of many different things,

which I think is really cool.
- Yeah.

- Yeah. But we need to do
a bit of edit, right?

- Yes.
- This is an old rocking chair.

- It's such a bad idea
to just stuff things

down in a basement
that you don't need.

No one knows what's
gonna happen tomorrow.

And what you don't want to do
is to leave a huge mess behind.

- So what is this over here?

- That is some
of the items that were

left behind by my ex-wife.

We divorced in 2005.

To be honest, it was
a very bitter divorce.

- Okay.

- And it would have been
real easy for me

just to take that and--
- Yeah.

- And I actually was
heading for the door

to throw that in the trash.
- Really?

- And then it occurred to me,
I don't have that right.

- Mm.
- But how come

it's not with your ex-wife,
then?

- She passed in 2010.

- Oh.
- Oh.

- Oh, I'm so sorry.
- Yeah.

- The toughest thing
I ever had to do was

tell my children that
their mother had passed away.

- Oh, of course.

- And this bag has the lawyers
going back and forth,

the letters.

- That's a heavy bag.

- That was pulling
the Band-Aid off.

And it was like, oh, I hadn't
felt that pain in 15 years.

But I--

[somber music]

It happened. I can't deny it.

It happened.
Now, should I keep that?

I don't know.

- Maybe there's one
or two pieces in here...

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

- That tells a story
that's close to your heart

and valuable for you
to remind yourself about it.

The rest can go.

As a psychologist, I think it's
important that we integrate

all life events
into our current life

right now, owning everything.

And I feel like
Doug hasn't really done that

with the relationship
with his ex-wife.

That's why he's isolating it
down into the basement.

So just for you, like,
thinking about unpacking this

and going through it,
how would that feel?

- Yeah.
- Yeah, yeah.

If we can help Doug find
closure with his ex-wife,

it will be easier for him
to clear out his basement,

his house,

and move forward
with Stephanie.

- I feel that it's
an opening to actually

do something about this now.

I get that energy from you.

Don't you all?
- Yes, absolutely.

- And I think that's
a wonderful start.

It's all about being open
to the process.

Let's see where this takes us.
- Yeah.

narrator: We hope
where it takes us is to a bar.

But not that tiki bar,
a different bar.

narrator: Standing
at the bottom of the mountain

that is Doug's stuff,
the death cleaners are wasting

no time getting started.

- Just grab a box and go?
- Yeah, yeah.

- Yes, grab a box and go.

The biggest challenge this week
is actually the time.

We have really a lot of things
to do here in this house.

narrator: So much to do
that Ella's

brought in some friends.

- Oh!
[laughs] Look at this.

- You care for a dance?
- [laughs]

There's so many geeky stuff.
It's fun.

- Get back to work.

- Just being silly me.

[upbeat music]

- [grunts]

- You're getting the wiener?

- I'm getting the wiener.

Do you have a hard time to pee?

Oh, well, let's have
a look at it.

- Oh, good work.

Heja. Heja.
- Heja. Heja.

[laughter]

- And I can borrow you,
Doug, over here.

- Okay.
- Yes.

I actually unpacked some
of the things in one box.

And I can explain
the system for you.

This is my sorting station
that I have set up here

so we just focus on one thing
at a time.

And then I have these boxes.

- Sure.
- So this is trash.

This is donation
with the two red dots.

And this is keep,
the green one.

- Okay.
- Yes.

Doug is just a big kid.

- Does anybody need
a tongue scraper?

- No, thank you.

So he probably not gonna
give up these things so easy.

- That's a keep.

- What is a keep?
- That's a keep.

- In the green box, then.

- He's keeping his wiener.

- This is keep. I love this.

"How to Insult People
in Latin."

I want to keep that one.
[laughter]

- I starting
to see a pattern here.

He is obsessed of things.

And when he starts to collect
something,

it goes overstyr.

- It's too much.

It has just going bananas.

And this one?

- I want to keep.

- Okay.

Yep, they put those out here,
then.

- Johan, you're
creeping everyone out.

- Now you need to go to work,
not fooling around.

What the f*ck?
[laughs]

Is this something you're--

- One of my kids' artwork.

- Yeah, it has to go.

Kids can do ugly things...

[laughs] Actually.

narrator: Leave it to Ella
to deliver the hard truths.

Those Swedes are not afraid
to be honest.

- You can't save everything.
- This is Ella.

- You can't save everything.

- And this, I have no idea.

- "Star Trek."
- Okay, "Star Trek."

What's going through your mind?

- It's just so cool.

- Ah.

- But I will let it go.

- I love the passion that
Doug has when he's collecting.

And I just want this to find
a more...

lagomway
for him to collect.

narrator:
Right in the Goldilocks Zone.

- It shouldn't be too much.

It shouldn't be too little.

It should be just balanced
and in the middle.

I found so many of these.

Are they still, like,
dear to heart for you?

- No.
- No?

- I justified that because
when I had little kids,

I was like, oh...

- Yeah,
"I'll save it for them."

- They'll play with it.

And no, they didn't.
- They didn't?

- It was just me.

- 'Cause I do feel
like someone

would highly appreciate this.

- Yeah.
- Right?

- You want to sell them or--

- Yes. I will take them up
to the comic book

vintage toy place I know of.

- Okay, great.

Maybe one of these could turn
into sell, and one is donate.

- Yeah, that works.

[upbeat music]

Yes, sell pile.

- Yeah.

- Donate. Sell pile.
- Okay.

- And this little box?
- Donate.

- Perfect. You're doing good.
- [laughs]

narrator: Whew.

Now that the death cleaners
have made headway

on that disaster
of a basement,

we all know what they deserve:
pretty drinks with straws.

Oh, and we get to meet
Doug's fiancée, Stephanie.

- Yay.
- Here comes the drinks.

- I know this one is mine.
- Okay.

- I don't know
who gets this one.

- So nice.
- Here we go.

- Thank you.

- Stephanie, were you--

were you, like, overwhelmed

when you came home to Doug?

Or how did you, like--
- Yeah. I don't know.

Like, when I first met him?
- Yeah.

- Because we're both
only parents

and, you know, we're working

and we're raising kids,
I just--

I don't know, I didn't...

- Benefit of the doubt?

- Judge him or criticize him.

Yeah, I was like,
looks like he's got

some extra things
that he hasn't

really had time to go through.

- What a wonderful lady.
- Yeah.

- In America, sometimes
when you date someone,

that person could
be a hot mess.

[laughter]

- That's true.

- Doug's basement?

- You know, I've never
been in Doug's basement.

- No. You told us that.

- I don't know,
it's like it represents you

on a subconscious level
or something.

The stuff that's in
the basement,

the stuff you don't want
to deal with,

and you just throw it
down there and it just stays.

- What is that reluctant part
of you saying right now?

- My hesitancy to, like,

move in with him?
- Yeah.

- You know,
some of the reason has

been the condition
of his house,

you know, and me having
the sense that there's

really no room for me there.
- No. No.

- Like the kitchen,
for example.

I want to come over
and cook a meal,

but I don't want to have
to move stuff out of the way.

- I think it's
perfectly understandable--

all of those things, yeah.

- But I'm really proud
of Doug for doing this.

I know this has been
really hard.

Proud of you, honey.

- Well, thank you.
- Well done.

- But now you have
been, like, sarbo.

That's the Swedish saying
when you are living apart.

- And when you're
sambo,it's sambo.

It's "together living,"
so it's sambo.

narrator: Not to be confused
with Garbo,

who just wants
to be left alone.

You young ones can
go look that up.

- So you are sarbosright now.

So we are very curious--

will you take the step
to become sambos?

- Will you move in or not,
or what will happen?

- Well, I want to wait
and see what it looks like

when we're done
with this process.

I want to see the house.

- I think there's
a lot at stake here

for Doug and Stephanie.

It's quite clear to me how much
Doug cares for Stephanie.

But their whole
future will be shifted

if he finally gets
his act together

and clears out his home.

There's definitely
a lot on his plate.

- When I see the house,
I think it will

help me make a decision.

It really will.

That's really gonna impact me.

I hope that--
I don't know,

that he just sees
another way of living.

So yeah, I'll make that
decision when we get there.

- Should would do a cheers
to that?

- Yes.
- Skol.

- Skol.
- Skol.

narrator: So all that's riding
on this death cleaning

is the future life
and happiness

of Doug and Stephanie.

No pressure, guys.

[relaxing music]

narrator: It's a new day,

and our death cleaners
continue their quest

to sort through all
of Doug's unique

and awe-inspiring treasures.

[music winds down]

- These are fake.

This is the real deal,
you know.

narrator: Eyes up, Johan.

Time to get back to work.
[laughter]

- I love this room.

It's one of my
favorite rooms in the house.

You're a bit of a collector.
- Yes.

- But now this room
conveys hoarder.

From a design perspective,
the tiki room needs

to get a new purpose.

The bar is squeezed

into this little room
next to the kitchen.

That's probably supposed
to be the dining room.

And the dining table
is pushed into a bay window

in the living room.

I want to move the bar
into the living room

and I want to restore
the old dining room again.

I understand that this
is a precious room for you.

- It is.

- So you should need
some more space

you can be in here
because now it's

just, like,
a cluttered passage.

- Yes.

narrator: Johan hates
cluttered passages.

It's kind of a thing.

And Ella, well, she hates
kitchens full of loose spices.

- Okay.

It's a lot of duplicates.

This kitchen is so messy.

And you can see that
nothing has its clear space.

My goal this week is not
just to declutter his place.

We also need to clean it a lot

so Stephanie can move in
with him.

narrator:
And if she's gonna move in,

she'll probably also
want a backyard.

So let's keep this train
rolling, shall we?

- Oh, these are things
my ex-wife purchased.

- Ah, so this is that box now.

- And I don't know
if my daughter would want

to look at any of this.

- So it's for your daughter,
then, to go through it.

- I think for her to decide,
if that's okay.

- And this one?

- I think that's
the wedding album.

Family came up
to Michigan for it.

And it was just
a great celebration,

great gathering.
- Mm.

- Is that you?
- Yes.

- And Jennifer?
- Yes.

I drove up in the Wienermobile.
- Yeah?

- It was a beautiful day.

- That's so funny, like,
you charmed her

with the Wienermobile.
- Yeah.

- Yeah.

And, of course,
your impeccable charm.

- Right. Right.
- Yes, yes, yes.

- I like to think so.

And I haven't looked at this
in over 20 years.

- Really?
- Yeah.

- Wow. 20 years.

- Yeah.

- Do you feel like
it's something

you've been avoiding?

- Oh, definitely.
- Really?

- Yeah.
The way things ended,

it was like,
it ended on a bad note.

- Oh, really?
- Yeah.

So...
- I'm sorry to hear that.

I really want to understand
what's going on

with Doug and his past wife.

This view is just crazy.

It's quite clear
that he himself has

an unfinished chapter here.

When we were in the basement
the first day,

do you remember when we found
that pile and the black bag?

I felt like your
energy kind of shifted

because you're really this,
like, jolly, happy person.

And when we brought those
things out the first day,

I just felt like, oh, like
there was this heaviness.

- That pile was some
of the legal documents

from the custody battle

from the divorce.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So you did not want
to have the divorce?

It was on her initiative?

- I did not, no.

It was sprung upon me.

- Really?
So no kind of drifting apart?

- There was health issues
she was dealing with.

- Mm-hmm.
- And she went to get help

with the painkiller addiction.
- Okay. Yeah.

- While there,
she met another patient.

- Okay, romantically?

- Yes, so...
- Oh.

- And they ran off together
and took the kids

while I was--
- Your kids?

- Yes.

- It sounds like
such a betrayal.

- I would call it that, yeah.
- Yeah. Yeah.

- Because I was--

I was trying to do everything
that I thought I knew

what to do to help her,
to benefit her,

and help her with her health
and be supportive.

- What did you feel like

over the years have been
most painful for you?

- Oh, that definitely planted
a seed of self-doubt,

like, what was wrong with me?

What did I do wrong?
- Mm.

- "No one is ever gonna want
to be with me

because something about me
drove her away" type of thing.

I think that's inevitable with
anybody who experiences that.

They look at themselves
and look at what happened

and what was their
part in that.

- Mm.

Yeah, if you're a nice person

and kind of, right,
self-reflective,

you do those, kind of, yeah.
- Yeah, if you care.

If you care.
- Yeah, exactly.

Yeah, I really...

Can feel that from you,

like you're this wonderful--

like, taking responsibility
over your family.

- And that's just it.
I would have never--

if you had
told me this years ago,

you're gonna be
a responsible adult,

I'm like...[scoffs]
No, I'm not.

- And then you
shared custody with--

- No.
- No?

- I gained full custody
in the divorce proceedings.

- Wow.
- So...

she would have the kids
every other weekend.

But I suspected she was
back using the drugs.

- And just so I understand,
then,

after some years,
you said she passed?

- She passed.

- Yeah, what a dark period
of your life.

- It was.
- Yeah.

- I was so angry
that she died--at her.

- Mm-hmm.

- Thank goodness the kids
were with me that weekend.

- Oh. Hmm.

- But I had to tell my kids
their mother was dead.

[somber music]

* *

And I was so angry at her
for a long time.

But not visible to the kids.
- Mm.

- I will strive to do
my best as I know how...

- Yeah.

- Because they need a dad
who's active and supporting

and hopefully inspiring.

- It's no wonder that you had

to push it to the side,
kind of.

It's very hard when you're
stuck in your life puzzle.

- Oh, most definitely.

- You are, like, responsible
for the kids,

and like,
I have to control myself.

So that makes it--
- You gotta internalize it.

Stuff it away.
- Stuff it away.

- Put it in my basement.
- Yes, put it--

[laughter]

You said it.

Yeah, put it in your basement
literally and emotionally.

- Yeah.
- That's how we work.

That's how you survive.

But that's not, like, thriving.

That's just surviving.
- That's surviving.

- Yeah.
- This is good.

This is refreshing.
- Mm.

- I love hearing you
say that...

[laughter]

'Cause I feel like you've
really kind of turned the page

when it comes to these very
painful relationship

and experiences.
- Yeah.

- And now it needs
to be reflected

in the house as well.
- I agree, yeah.

- And also, when we talked
about Stephanie, like,

you've been together
and you're in this--

like, she's adorable,
I gotta say.

- She is.

- And how wonderful to make
space for her in the house.

And of course, like,
you can move in or not move in.

Like, that's up to you and,
like, a later question,

but just so she can feel
welcome and so the house

really reflects where
you are at right now

in your relationships.
- Right.

It accepts her into it
as opposed to,

well, there's
a little bit of room.

- Yeah, exactly.
if you stand on one foot,

like, lift it and balancing
over in the corner.

- There's that much space
right there for you.

That's yours.
- Yeah.

[laughs]

Well, thank you for sharing
all of this with me.

- Yeah, I'm glad you listened.

I just--it's not a happy one...

- No.
- But it's ending up that way.

- Mm. It does.

And now we're gonna make sure
your house reflects that.

- Yeah.

Yeah. Definitely.

I'm excited.
- Yeah, me too.

- I'm open.

- You're open. I love it.

* *

[relaxing music]

- Johan, can you put that
on those things that are gonna

be sold in that box
with the collector stuff

with green dots on them?

- We've been working really
hard this week with Doug.

But we still have one big area
to tackle...

[air squeaking]

His wieners.

A wiener barbecue set, Ella.

- Ah.
- Next summer in Sweden.

- [laughs]

- Five wiener piggybanks.

- It's a lot of wieners.

- Curating wieners is the
daily job of a g*y man's life.

But--

[laughter]

- This is an inflatable
Wienermobile.

- Yeah, yeah.

- That can go
because I have this one.

- Enough of this wiener talk.

I'm getting horn--
hungry, I meant.

[laughter]

- This is the unassembled
wiener whistle.

- You are a true collector.

You're like, this is rare.

- I just think it's hilarious.
- This is a treasure.

- It is. Well, yeah.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- I think Doug has learned
this week

to curate his collection.

If you have a really
big collection,

edit it, go through it,

and see what you're
emotional connected to.

Maybe you can donate
some pieces.

Maybe you can sell some.

A big collection might become

a really beautiful
medium collection.

- Oh, I know what this.

This is some legal documents...

from the divorce.

It does bring back...

bad memories.

- You've been carrying so much

of unfinished conversations
and questions.

- Mm-hmm. Oh, yeah.

- And sometimes it can be
cathartic to actually finish

those conversations
and tell the person

that has passed

the things
you never got to tell them.

- That makes sense, yeah.

- So I would love
if you could write

a letter to Jennifer.
- Mm-hmm.

These are the things you never
got to tell your ex-wife,

but you're telling
her them now.

- Right. Closure.

- Exactly.
This is your story.

You want to finish
what this meant to you.

Also for this,
find some items

that you're willing
to let go of.

- That are--
- Hers.

- Hers, okay.
- Yes.

Or connected to the period,
these dark chapters

in your life connected to her.
- Okay.

- It's so easy to get stuck
in the anger and the hate

and the shame and the guilt.

And I do hope that this letter

can help him process
those emotions

and remind himself
why he's maybe

even grateful that Jennifer
was a part of his life.

I want you to meet me,
Johan, and Ella

by the river tonight...
- Okay.

- With your letter.

Anything you wished
you could have told her

but you were never
given the opportunity,

this is your opportunity...
- Okay.

- To close that.

- I can do that.
- Yeah.

Looking forward to this.

[laughter]

narrator: While Doug
figures out his letter,

the death cleaners
figure out--

oh, who are we kidding?

They're exhausted.

It's time forfika.

[upbeat music]

* *

- There's something
that's a bit different

about fikatoday.

- Mm, and I like it.

[laughter]

- I must say,

there's a lot more wieners

than I expected
on this death cleaning.

- It's almost like
an obsession.

- Yes, you can really say that.

- A wiener obsession.
- Wiener obsession.

What would Freud say?

- Yeah, that, you can wonder.

- That's your--
question for you.

- Well, sometimes
a wiener is just...

- Just a wiener.
- A wiener.

- What's so exciting about this
is that our death cleaning

is actually giving way
for a lot of stories,

both the personal story of Doug
and his past

and his future
with Stephanie.

- It feels like she has no
place at all in that house,

actually,
because it's cluttered.

- It was almost overwhelming.

My eyes couldn't rest anywhere.

It just kept going
and going and going.

- Yes, it's too much tiki.

Going overboard.

- Yeah, overboard.
- Tiki freaky.

- Yeah, tiki freaky.

Are we are gonna make it tiki--

- Chic-y.
- Yes!

[laughter]
- Oh, that's a good one.

Yeah, yeah.

* *

narrator: Break's over.

Until we meet again,
Wienermobile.

- [singing in Hawaiian]

* *

[upbeat music]

* *

- Good evening, Doug.

Welcome to this ceremony.

Grieving someone that
you didn't really like,

someone that triggered
mixed feelings for you

can be really difficult.

For Doug, I want
to help him find closure.

So creating a dramatic ritual,
this is a way for Doug

to approach his
painful memories of Jennifer

instead of avoiding them.

We are gonna have
a fire ceremony

in order to release
your anger, your pain,

and, ultimately,
to release Jennifer.

Please place the materials
that you have gathered

that represent your
relationship to Jennifer,

and put it on the pyre.

[gentle music]

* *

- So, Doug,
you can do the honors.

- Dear Jennifer,
I truly wish things

didn't end the way they did.

I want you to understand
the level of devastation,

pain, and loneliness
you thrust upon me.

I tried my best
to be there for you,

and I was fully committed
to our marriage.

And then the envelope
at the airport.

The betrayal of trust
and love was unbearable.

It took me a long time,
but I forgive you.

Hate and anger have
no place in my life.

And I won't forget you.

Without you, we wouldn't
have two beautiful kids.

And for that,
I am truly grateful to you.

Goodbye, Jennifer.

And thank you.

narrator: How lovely.

Any idea how we're
gonna put that out?

No? Okay.

I'm sure it's fine.

- I think it's been
a beautiful ceremony.

And the letter you wrote
was really touching.

- It feels like
we have witnessed

something very special.

- There's definitely a feeling
of closure...

- Mm.
- So it feels good.

There's definitely less burden.

I've been keeping
it in so long.

I must have gotten used to it.

I didn't realize
I was holding on to it

as hard as I was,
as much as I was, so...

- This is words that have
been lying there waiting

to be able to come out
for years.

And I'm moved that he's taking
these steps now

and releasing himself
from those memories.

[gentle music]

* *

[upbeat music]

narrator: Earlier this week,
Doug's house was

a collector's paradise,
filled to the brim

with tiki mugs, old wieners,
actual emotional baggage,

and absolutely no room
for his fiancée, Stephanie.

- Hi.
- Hello.

- Welcome home.

narrator: Now it's time
to see if our death cleaners

were able to tame
this wild man.

- You look beautiful.
- Yes.

- Thank you. You too.

- So how excited are you
on a scale from 1 to 10?

- So excited. I can't wait.

- I'm internalizing all of it.

- Yeah, I saw a little
happy shrug, like whoo.

- Our ultimate goal
this week was

to curate all
of Doug's collection

and make the house
beautiful and enjoyable

for him and his fiancée.

Now it's all in order,

and I'm dying of curiosity
to see--

is she gonna move in?

* *

narrator:
The wait is finally over.

And if Stephanie
doesn't move in,

the Swedes have promised
to quit this show

and go home immediately.

Okay, not really.

We just like
to raise the stakes.

- Wow.

- Oh, my God. I love it.

This looks amazing.

narrator: Before we show you
what's become

of this combination
tiki/wiener/Viking showcase,

let's remind everyone
of what Doug's living room

looked like before.

There wasn't an ounce of space

to make Stephanie feel
at home.

And let's not forget
about the dining table

shoved in the corner
and forgotten about,

just like your New Year's
resolution to do more yoga

to justify how much
you wear your yoga pants.

- Wow.

- This looks incredible,
you guys.

[tender music]

* *

Wow.

- This is cool.

- Doug, you have
so many fine pieces.

- That looks great--
your shelf over here.

I mean, I just can appreciate
everything that is in here.

- Yeah, it's still
a lot of stuff.

- And make good use
of his stuff.

- But you can see
the stuff now, like,

yeah, the nice thing you have.
- Yeah. Yeah.

It doesn't as*ault you.
- No.

[laughter]

- No more, "What the f*ck?"
- Yeah.

- [laughs]

- It, like, still reflects you,
Doug.

This is amazing.
I love it.

[laughter]

Oh, my God. Nice job.

[laughter]

Wow.

- She likes it.

- Let's go to the bar.
- I love the color.

- Go.
- Yeah.

narrator:
Before, the tiki bar was

crammed into the dining room.

And despite the copious
amounts of liquor,

it was less sex on the beach
and more major fire hazard.

- Let's have a seat.
- Okay, yes.

- Anybody want a drink?
- Let's do.

Oh, my gosh.
- Oh, my gosh.

- [laughs]

- Space behind the bar.

- Yes, make a proper drink.

- Behind here, you have
all the liquor, the rum.

We edited all of your
beautiful tiki cups.

And you're also sitting
on reupholstered chairs now.

- Love it.

- The idea behind this was
that a tiki bar was

just crammed
into that space before.

And now this room
has a beautiful flow.

When you come into the room,

the first thing you see
is this spot, of course.

You want to go to the bar
and have a drink.

And then you have
this beautiful lounge area

behind you.

The whole room has
been repurposed.

- And you see that little guy
that's moved in here?

- Yeah.

- He was hiding in the
backyard in the greenroom.

- He is like a centerpiece.
- So cool.

- And the plants and the way
you made use of his lamps.

- Yeah.

- And you saw that window,
also, with the screens that

has been moved
to that window instead.

- It's fantastic.

- I love the way
the screens look there.

- Yeah.
- Oh, my gosh.

I knew all this stuff
could be displayed.

I didn't know how
to display it.

I couldn't have imagined
it like this.

- I may not want to go home.
- Did you hear what she said?

- What's that?

- "I don't want to go home."

[laughter]

- Mission accomplished.

[laughter]

- Cheers to that.
- Yes, cheers.

narrator: Now let's check out
Doug's old dining room,

which was not exactly
the ideal space

for a candlelit dinner
for two.

Nothing spells romance
like taxidermy birds

and an extensive
wiener collection.

- Oh, my God.
- Wow.

- Oh, wow.

- This is great.

- Oh, wow, yes.

And the best thing is this.

- Have a place to eat.
- We can dine here now.

Oh, it feels so big.

- So much room for activities.
- Yeah!

[laughter]

This room, I love the mural
that's hand-painted in here.

And it was just covered
with clutter, furniture before.

Doug's dining room
is the perfect example

of why everybody should
death clean.

When we got rid of the mess,

we saw that this house has some
really cool elements to it.

But who can see it because it
was covered with tiki stuff?

[sultry music]

So welcome to tiki restaurant.

- Thank you, yes.

- Is it your first time here?

- This is our first time here.
- It's your first time.

- We're starting fresh.

- Oh, you do.

You look a little bit in love.

Could that be it?

- Little bit.
- Yes.

- I see some spark
in your eyes.

Yeah, and yours too, actually.

narrator: A good waiter knows
when to leave the table.

[clears throat]
Johan,

how do you say
"third wheel" in Swedish?

Honestly, Doug's kitchen
gave us a bit of a headache.

And we can't tell whether
it was from the clutter

or all of the expired spices.

Either way, we can
all breathe easy now.

- Oh, wow.

Oh, yes.

- Oh, my God.
- Yes.

- I love it!
All the counter space.

- Yes.
- Oh, my gosh.

- Now you really can cook
in this kitchen.

And you know that one.
[laughs]

- Thank you so much.

- You're welcome.

- Sorry, I couldn't--

I couldn't hold it in anymore.

This is wonderful.

- You can cook together.

- We can.
- Enjoy.

- I mean, it's just like
a completely different house.

- Yeah.

This kitchen,

it's such a transformation.

Have cleaned everything out.

And all these old spices,
they are gone.

Gross.

But it's more to see,
so follow me.

narrator:
The basement was like

the worst possible
Tinder profile:

messy, disorganized,
and completely full of sh*t.

Even Doug's junk had junk.

- Oh, my God.
- Oh, my God.

Oh, wow.

Whoo!

- Wow.

- The organization of this.
[laughter]

- And you can see over here
that it also has a label that

says what category it's in.

And then you have
the QR code here that

you also can scan
with your phone.

And then you can see
what's in the box.

- Oh, wow.

- There are things that
you can shift

and take up
and then bring down.

- It's a bit like
a museum archive now.

It's structured, ordered,
which it should be.

When you have precious item,
you really need

to know where you have them.

- Yes.
- Yeah.

- Now there's no bad
memories down here.

- No, no.
- No.

- Only happy memories,
happy items.

We decluttered your heart,
if you will.

And we decluttered your home.

So now there's all this
space for lovely new memories

to happen in the future.

- Definitely.

- We can make our
own memories now.

- We can. Yeah.
- Yes.

- There's space for me.
- And her own boxes.

- Yeah, there is space for you.

I like that, "we can," yeah.

- Thank you.

This is great.

- Do you remember the first
time I was in this house?

I said I was longing
for something in the tiki room.

narrator: A wiener, maybe?

- A rum drink.
- Okay.

- And that goes for all of us.

So let's go up to the tiki bar
and enjoy the hard work.

- I can help you with that.
- Let's go.

- Okay, great.

- I had so much fun this week.

A lot of people would be
overwhelmed by Doug's house.

There's a lot of things
in there.

But I just loved it.

It was beautiful world
to explore.

Cheers to you, Doug.

- Skol.
- Skol.

- Skol.

- Thank you so much.

* *

- That's really good, yeah
- It's not bad.

- This was good.
- Well done.

Yeah. I like this.

- This has been--

I couldn't have imagined.

And I know when she reacted
the way she did,

that's what made it
really special for me.

- Yeah, I think that
you've done great.

I think you have really
gone above and beyond

what I thought was
possible here.

I mean, I'm just
looking at this house

in a whole new way
thanks to you, yeah,

and to Doug for willing
to do this.

Yeah, I have a new vision now.

I can see myself living
in the space with you.

- So...

- You've done good.
I'm proud of you.

- Aw.

- We all are proud of you.

- Yeah, we're so proud of you.
- Yeah, you--

- I'm not kissing you, though.

[laughter]

narrator: Yes! She said yes!

Like, yeah, she clearly
already said yes

to the engagement and all,

but this is that
sambo/sarbo thing.

You know what? Never mind.

Let's just keep watching.

- So glad to hear that.

- I knew this was
an issue with her.

- Mm-hmm.

- And I felt,
to a certain degree,

I wasn't respecting her enough
to change all this.

I didn't know how
to change all this.

- No.

- So now I feel like,
by doing this,

I'm honoring her
and our relationship.

I'm showing her that yes,
I want this to move forward.

- It has really been so nice
to help you with this.

It has been an honor
to be on your journey.

- To us.

- Yes, to us.

- Death cleaning is life.

It's not about death.

Respecting it,
understanding it,

and putting more passion
into it.

Thank you so much...

- Thank you.
- For everything.

- Good luck.
- Thank you.

And at the end of the day,
all this hard work,

all this saying goodbye
to things,

I'd do it over again
for Stephanie.

[Abandoned Jukebox's
"Hawaiian Holiday" playing]

* *

- * Far away, we can play *

* On a Hawaiian holiday *
- Thanks, honey.

- Thank you.

* *

- * Getting freaky
with the tiki *

* Just so easy and so breezy *

* Spin until I'm
really dizzy *

* All night long *

* *