Season 2: Episode 1 - "Augustine"

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Season 2: Episode 1 - "Augustine"

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Started 2 years ago by zchristy
Latest reply from sherrybanarsi
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zchristy
Member

I was hopeful that the show would take on more of the psychological aspect this season, but this first episode is disappointing in that aspect. While they allude at the end of the episode to "after care", the "big reveal" seems to the focus.

I felt awful for Augustine - she seemed very remote and robotic and it may have been editing, but she seemed to have very little role in the clean-up at all...she spent her time rocking and resigned on her porch. That seems to fly in the face of the idea that the instigation for a clean-up like this needs to come from the owner in order for healing to begin. In the words of her son, "I'm skeptically hopeful".

What did you all think?

Posted 2 years ago #
Cole
Member

This one was deeply disturbing to me. Multiple dead animals? Rotting, decaying everything? I think this was chosen as the season premiere for shock value. I'm still trying to process it.

Posted 2 years ago #
Erin Doland
Forum Admin

I think that many of the changes from season one to season two were positive. I liked that it only followed one home. I liked that a psychologist was the first person on the scene. And, I liked that they mentioned the after care more prominently than in the past.

That being said, I continued to dislike the music and sound effects. It sensationalized a situation that didn't need any additional accentuating. Clearly Augustine had shut down and was not handling the circumstance well, but very little attention was given to this. I think most professionals would have delayed the process a bit to ensure that their clients could handle everything without spiraling into a depression afterward, but the city's deadline didn't allow for that to happen. Hopefully the after care will help Augustine deal with her loss and start a road to recovery. Again, I wish that more attention would have been spent on this aspect of the process.

In short, I think that things were better, but I still have some hopes for things to change in future episodes. I'm glad with the improved direction, though.

Posted 2 years ago #
skywisenight
Member

As much as I like watching this show, my biggest problem, which was very obvious last night, is that they clean the places up for them often times (from the ones I've seen) and the chances of the people, like Augustine, of recreating the problem are pretty well nothing short of 100%! The don't learn to do it themselves and will repeat-offend.

Last night while watching this episode with my girlfriend I clearly recall saying that the only one who is capable of keep her place descent is the daughter who lives near-by and you know this will be the case regardless of her saying that she want's to keep her space.

I would like to see some sort of "Horders Rehab" or something where they actually break the cycle, and with tips, ideas, and insight for the rest of us, and push the offenders to unclutter themselves, although I don't think it would fit in a 42-minute television block.

That all being said, it's still an enjoyable show to watch and last nights was pretty good.

Posted 2 years ago #
Amber
Member

Yes, I agree that the probability of Augustine cluttering the house again is very high. She's 68 years old and appeared to be in deep emotional pain. Cleaning the house completely kept the authorities from condemning it, but did little to address Augustine's hoarding issues.

For a program called "HOARDERS," I would hope they would concentrate more on rehabilitation than simply exposing and excavating a hoarder's house. It seemed to me like detoxing a meth addict and then dropping him off at his drug dealer's house afterward with instructions to see a therapist once a week.

In extreme cases like Augustine's I cannot see how an inpatient program to deal with her depression and other behavior issues would not be absolutely warranted.

Posted 2 years ago #
Erin Doland
Forum Admin

Amber -- I wholeheartedly agree.

Posted 2 years ago #
DawnF
Member

I felt that Augustine absolutely and totally needs intense therapy for her depression along with attention to her hoarding. It is obvious that Augustine's mother hurt her deeply and unfairly and that this has trickled outward to all areas of her life. Personally, I feel if this isn't addressed and dealt with she will continue down the same destructive path (the way she lives, the way she takes care of herself and the way she speaks to her children).

Even when the clean-up crew guys carried in a new chair for her (that they paid for with their own money) she seemed completely out-of-touch with this generosity and barely muttered a "thank you".

I, too, thought that the music and dramatic sound effects were unnecessary, but typical.

I would be frantic and out of my mind if my mother lived that way. I was so sad for Augustine and her children - so much hurt and despair in that family (and I guess with most hoarding families).

Posted 2 years ago #
sjwilde
Member

This was obviously a very sad case. I think that given her age and health she was unable to participate in the work, and she's clearly very shut down emotionally and perhaps cognitively limited. She seemed to me more like the kind of hoarder that just gets overwhelmed rather than the kind who clings to her stuff. Perhaps they'll be able to get some help from social services eldercare to maintain the situation. She may not be capable of changing enough at this point in her life to manage it herself, physically or psychologically. I have faith in the integrity of the producers to think about followup like this.

I felt sad for the son, the way he's shut off emotions to protect himself. I hope his life is going well.

Posted 2 years ago #
Myche
Member

I couldn't have agreed more with the son when he said that he thought the place should be bulldozed. Some things just can't be fixed. That house, to me, was one of them.

My worst nightmare is that my parents will do that to themselves. Not to that extent, I seriously hope, but the thought has been the subject of much of my psychotherapy. Like they said, her situation affects many, many people. Not that she seems to care about any of them though. She has turned herself so far inward that getting her to accept responsibility for her own actions and change her life will be tough. The part of the show that really hits home to me is when the subjects don't seem to see any problem with the way they live. So sad.

I really like the hoarding expert in that episode. She seems to really put herself in the subject's position. For example, when she was directing the helpers in the bathroom, she noticed that Augustine was using items in there on a daily basis. To everyone else (including me!) it looked like garbage. I think she does a great job of finding a middle ground between the ones who want to throw it all away & the ones who want to keep everything.

I wish her the very best, and I want to know how it all turns out for her & her family.

Posted 2 years ago #
s
Member

I didn’t watch the show at all. I think I'm scared that I might realize that stuff I throw away has value that I didn't even think about and I don't want to feel so much pain and empathy for situations that I can't do anything about.

From the comments about it that I’ve read, it sounds like most episodes have been about people that keep junk. I guess some is in the eye of the beholder, but there must be a significant difference between people who just don’t/can’t throw trash away or clean and people who consciously keep stuff believing that it has some current or future value.

Is it hoarding if I keep stuff that might be useful as long as I have appropriate and clean space to store it? It doesn't keep me from having others over (though I'm not much of an entertainer anyway). I stress about it and I already totally fear leaving a pile of junk for others to go through and have to decide how to dispose of it when I can no longer do that (and I'm only 40 years old).

Much of the "comforts" of life don't have much real value and don't need to be kept or transferred to anyone else, but they can't be thrown away for they'll just need to be replaced.

Posted 2 years ago #
sherrybanarsi
Member

I felt very sorry for Augustine, and gained a new perspective on the devastating effects of hoarding. At the same time, it is very apparent that the treatment of hoarders goes beyond the helpful but temporary measures of uncluttering and cleaning. She clearly had deeper psychological issues which prevented her from expressing herself; Augustine did not seem robotic to me in the least, only dejected and unable to express herself. The sadness was very visible in her face and words.

On a side note, I feel for her daughter's disposition and the gratitude that Augustine owes towards her, but I felt that her daughter could be more sympathetic towards her mother's condition. Calling her mom who clearly has an affliction not entirely within her control a "pig" was simply disrespectful and ignorant behavior.

Posted 2 years ago #

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