TF1 continues the fifth and final season of Balthazar, its successful detective series led by Tomer Sisley and Constance Labe, on Thursday, February 16, with a new investigation called “The Perfect Family”, in which Balthazar and Camille will be called upon. Impressive crime scene: A family – father, mother and son – shot dead in a recreation area.
But, quickly, Balthazar realizes that this family was created from scratch: none of them knew each other until a few days before getting into this car. Each victim adopted this charade to smuggle drugs… which disappeared. Who killed them and who stole the drugs? This is the question.
After that, Balthazar will come to an end next Thursday with a final episode that promises to tickle fans’ minds and get a lot of conversation going.
A few days before the end of the adventure, Clotilda Jamin, creator, producer and director of the Balthazar collection, talks about the genesis and construction of this latest series of episodes. And describes these five crazy seasons. Don’t forget to give us a preview of the finale.
AlloCiné: Before Tomer Sisley does not decide to arrest BalthazarHave you asked yourself a question about the authors of the series ending with season 5? Or was it really Tomer’s decision that started it all?
Clotilde Jamin: Actually, we talked to each other a little bit each season, because in French fiction we never know how many seasons we’re going to have. So every time we started a new season, we told ourselves that it might be the last.
We said that to each other, like, at the beginning of writing Season 3, but we didn’t say it in Season 4, because we knew we had a revival somewhere with Camille Costes coming in, and we knew it. That we were going for at least two seasons. But this is a question we often ask ourselves.
How did you approach this past season? What do you think absolutely should have been included in these final episodes?
In terms of whodunit storylines, there were things we wanted to do from the beginning of the series that never came to fruition for a number of reasons. For example, the aliens in episode 4, or the bomb in the body in episode 3. We’ve been dreaming about it for a long time, and we thought it was kind of the last chance to breathe life into these episodes that were going on. in our heads.
And right away, the question we asked ourselves was, “How should we end this series?”. We were so lucky to hear that this was the last season, even if it was a grieving process, because it was exciting and sad to say goodbye to our heroes. But we knew it was a real chance to bring an end to the series and the characters. Because few series have the right to finally get a truly beautiful conclusion.
And conversely, with only six episodes, are there any stories you wanted to include in this Season 5 that you didn’t get to tell?
If we had more episodes, obviously we would have spent time on certain character plots. With ten more episodes, we wanted to say a thousand more things about our characters.
Six episodes is really hard. Especially since at the end of Season 4 we left Balthazar in an extremely difficult position, so we had to manage that and answer the cliffhanger of the previous season in the first episode of Season 5. We also had to conclude the series and offer a true ending for all these characters. All this takes time. So if we take out the first and last episode, there are still four left at the end. It is very difficult to say what we want to say.
For example, we could further develop the relationship between Olivia Vescinet (Caterina Murino) and Balthazar. I also think of Delgado (Yanig Samot), who we love. We had wishes that unfortunately did not come true.
In the end, it became somewhat of a personality trait that so little is known about Delgado. But it is certain that together with the authors we had a lot to say about him. The problem is that there was never a place for it. Although this is a character that is very present in the series. It’s a small regret, it’s true. But he’s a character we love. He is extremely funny. And it has such a thin side. For me, this is definitely one of the mainstays of the series.
Are all the investigations in this fifth season inspired by different facts?
Not just news, they are inspired by many things. Sometimes it comes from different facts, or from what we read, from movies we’ve seen, from genres we want to explore.
Obviously, Aliens is a genre unto itself. And it’s a bit of a must-have for all X-Files writers, so we wanted to pay homage to that series. And then it also answered the questions of our characters very well, because Balthazar is a scientist who talks to the dead, he’s a break between pragmatism and something more supernatural. It was fun to imagine. And since Balthazar spends his time teasing, aliens are a big topic of discussion. Especially since this is a reality, no one can prove that aliens do not exist. Therefore, everything is open.
Episode 2 was inspired by the disappearance of an influencer in the United States. Episode 3 is divided into two parts and the first part, with a bomb in the body, made us laugh a lot by imagining Raphael Balthazar in a locked room with a bomb in the body. And the second part focuses more on the social issues of male and female reflection. And the finale, you see, is also a very special genre episode.
The finale, which will be broadcast on February 23 on TF1, allows the series to end with an apotheosis. How did you like this last episode?
I would say that each character faces their own deepest horrors. Finally, each character who faces the worst terrors will realize what is truly important to them. And in the case of Camille’s character, who’s in constant flight and who’s kind of self-destructing because she’s never forgiven herself for what she’s done, this episode will let her know that life isn’t. Not so bad after all.
The finale will also be marked by the return of Balthazar’s psychopathic brother Alexander. Did you have this idea of Alexander as the big “evil master” of the series, who drove Maya to murder, from the first season?
No, we didn’t know, because again we didn’t know how many seasons we could understand. This is the whole difficulty. When we have a red thread like Lisa’s death, we have to move forward, otherwise we slip and eventually the red thread loses its meaning. So we had to move forward without moving too fast.
I would say that the series was built in two stages. First, in seasons 1 through 3, between Balthazar and Helen, with this red thread that is Maya (Leslie Medina). Once there, we knew where we were going and what we wanted to say. And then there were the reruns of seasons 4 and 5, with the arrival of Camille, also the hero’s brother.
We talked a lot about this with Tomer Sisley and came to the conclusion that you don’t become Raphael Balthazar by accident. If you become such a demanding person with yourself, so good, but at the same time so tortured, it is because something happened in your childhood, in your relationship with your family. And that’s where the idea of this brother with whom, ultimately, Balthazar was always in competition came from.
Was it difficult to find the perfect actor in the Alexander Balthazar camp?
No, Olivier Sitruk was the real highlight. He already has a resemblance to Tomer. It spouts something similar. And at the same time he has this special look. He is a very talented actor. What he offers us in episodes 1 and 6 of this final season is of a very high standard.
How do you see Balthazar’s adventure?
I have a lot of love and affection for this series. I’ve worked with great people, whether it’s writers, technical teams, directors, actors, including Tomer, Constance, Helen, Yanig and everyone else. It is a big family. And this adventure was also really great with TF1, the channel was very nice to work with.
And when I think about it, I think to myself, “How lucky we are to make this series and how lucky the public is to accept it.” Creating fiction these days is a lot of work, but there’s a bit of magic in it all. There has to be a meeting with the audience, and that’s something we don’t control at all.
We are all very proud of this series and we are very happy to see it end like this. I hope it is a generous series. We all had a lot of fun doing it. The watchword of this series is never tire and always stay in the concept of fun and challenge.
Do you have other projects you can talk about?
We have a lot of projects at Beaubourg Story, but there are still a lot of them that are in the development stage, so I don’t know if we will be able to talk about them one day. As a producer, I just finished shooting a Christmas TV movie for TF1 starring Hélène de Fugerol and Lanique Gautry. Like this, again, the history of meetings and family. The rest is still in writing, so it’s too early to tell.
Source: Allocine
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
