In The Crime Scene Cleaner, black comedy meets morbid criminal cases – sometimes with a touch of mystery. In 31 episodes, the crime scene cleaner reliably cleanses the crime scene image of any suspicion of boredom.
That’s what The Crime Scene Cleaner on Netflix is all about
After a crime or accident, crime scene cleaner Heiko “Schotty” Schotte (Bjarne Mädel) is commissioned to remove traces of what happened.
During his work he meets various bizarre characters who often have unexpected and humorous conversations with him – illuminating the absurdities of life and human nature.
Wherever Schotty cleans, things get lively and morbid
With The Crime Scene Cleaner, director Arne Feldhusen (Deutschland 86, How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast)) and screenwriter Mizzi Meyer (He’s back) have created a series in which humor and depth seamlessly blur.
Wherever Schotty unpacks his cleaning supplies, an interesting conversation is never far away. Because people always die and there is always a relative of the deceased lurking somewhere who wants to share their worldview with Schotty (and us).
The great art of The Crime Scene Cleaner is that even highly complex topics such as dying, the meaning of life, love or faith are conveyed in a true-to-life way through the series’ down-to-earth, warm-hearted narrative style – and often feel less threatening.
You can easily identify with Schotty himself thanks to the versatile portrayal by Bjarne Mädel (Stromberg, How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast)). His gift is that he reflects not only the society in which he lives, but also himself.
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Death from new perspectives
The series is not above taking unusual perspectives and remixing mystery, comedy and crime in a light-hearted way.
In The Curse, Schotty is confronted with a mysterious blood stain in an old castle that just won’t go away and makes him question his sanity. While changing vendors, he stumbles into a store that literally sells religions, which turns into a discussion about spirituality. In The Head he experiences the world from the perspective of a coma patient.
As viewers, we deal with the highs and lows of human life in a sometimes thoughtful, sometimes screamingly funny and guaranteed varied way. Death has rarely been so entertaining.
The series premiered on December 23, 2011. Six seasons are available free of charge in the ARD media library. Seven seasons are included in the subscription to Netflix, Magenta TV, ARD+ and Disney+.