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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Graeme Mason

Crime scene catharsis: how a darkly comic video game and TV show turned me into a murder clean-up specialist

Crime Scene Cleaner’s lead character, Kovalsky
Pithy … Crime Scene Cleaner’s lead character, Kovalsky. Photograph: President Studio

Lately I’ve been playing a new job sim game, Crime Scene Cleaner, while also watching BBC’s comedy series The Cleaner, both of which focus on the aftermath of gruesome murders – sometimes you just need some cosy viewing to take the edge off the day. In the TV show, Greg Davies plays Wicky, the acerbic employee of a government-endorsed clean-up company, while Crime Scene Cleaner’s lead character Kovalsky is a lowly janitor, mopping up blood and disposing of trash to cover up for a mob boss named Big Jim.

The crime scenes in both are laughably over the top. Or are they? I’ve never actually seen a real-life murder scene, so perhaps copious blood sprayed over walls and ceilings and the masses of broken furniture is completely normal.

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