Balthazar is back, but without Captain Hélène Bach! The 4th season of Balthazar, broadcast this Thursday at 9:10 p.m. on TF1 and already available on Salto, is the first without Hélène de Fougerolles, who has left the series. “We couldn’t continue this dog/cat story indefinitely, it would have tired you out,” the actress explained on social networks at the end of season 3. In this season 4, Balthazar, still played by the charmer Tomer Sisley, teams up with a new investigator, captain Camille Costes, played by actress Constance Labbé, seen in Camping Paradise. How did the screenwriters overcome the departure of the female heroine from their story and how did they imagine a new female heroine? Answer with Clothilde Jamin, co-creator of the successful TF1 series, whom 20 Minutes met at the La Rochelle TV Fiction Festival.
The departure of Hélènes de Fougerolles is a concerted decision, “taken at many levels: the screenwriters, the producer, TF1”, explained the actress to our colleagues from Tele-Leisure. A decision that was not easy to make. “We had three great seasons with Hélène. I really like her, and I really enjoyed working with her and writing for her. But, the intensity of the relationship between Balthazar and Captain Bach meant that naturally, we felt that we were coming to the end of something. We didn’t want to repeat ourselves or establish a relationship that would hurt the show. It was a decision that was difficult and complicated, but quite natural,” explains the screenwriter.
“We also want all love stories to end well”
Many spectators hoped for a happy outcome for Balthazar and Captain Bach. “There is frustration for the viewer, but also for the screenwriter: we also want all love stories to end well. But if they end well, the story is over”, analyzes Clothilde Jamin.
First of all, the scriptwriters had to find how to explain the departure of Hélène Bach. When he woke up from the coma in which he had been plunged, Balthazar violently pushed Hélène away, who had obviously remained at his bedside. Balthazar still hasn’t settled his demons. “For us, it was important that Balthazar’s gesture was almost sacrificial. I know that we could have had a great story together, but that I would have made you unhappy, because I love you, I let you go, ”says the screenwriter.
“Take advantage of this new impetus to move towards something completely different”
Second step, how to replace a character as outstanding as Captain Bach? “We realized that it should not be replaced,” says the designer. The idea was to take advantage of this new impetus to move towards something else. We thought a lot. It was complicated, stressful, a real challenge for us. We were under pressure. We said to ourselves that we had to take the opposite view of everything Captain Bach was. »
The scriptwriters therefore worked on the construction of a new female character, Captain Camille Costes, 32, determined, without filter and with a lot of “second degrees and humor”, who will take over the reins of a team still in shock at what happened at the end of season 3. “We wanted someone to face Balthazar with some backing. Captain Costes gives off a lot of energy. She is very down to earth. He’s also a lone wolf, ”sums up the screenwriter.
The new chief medical examiner is played by Constance Labbé. “The character has also drawn a lot with the actress, with the energy she gives off, this slightly impetuous, slightly wild side that she has”, comments Clothilde Jamin.
To build this new character, the scriptwriters had in mind the figure of the solitary cowboy. “This heroine on her motorbike goes through life and people without wanting to stop. With this meeting with Balthazar and the whole team will perhaps make him want, for the first time in his life, to stop somewhere, ”clarifies the screenwriter.
“An atmosphere of urgency that makes everything happen naturally”
The meeting between the strong personalities of Camille and Balthazar will spark in a thunderous first episode on board a plane. “We wanted this new character to arrive quickly, and that’s why we’re in an episode that really works in a rush, because we know that people liked Hélène a lot. We wanted us to not have time to ask ourselves questions and to be directly in an atmosphere of urgency that would make everything happen naturally, ”explains the screenwriter.
They will quickly realize that they had a one-night stand a few years ago. “What was important is that what we waited for for three seasons with Hélène had already happened with her. So the subject is settled. Balthazar realizes that this girl never called him back. He asks himself “Why? Me who am so incredible!”, explains the screenwriter. We found it interesting that it comes from the past and that it is not necessarily in the future. »
“The meeting with Captain Costes will be hyperpositive for Balthazar”
The two heroes will quickly discover that they have much more in common than they thought. “Balthazar is a character who appears to be extremely sociable, sharp and popular, but who is, deep down, completely alone. Camille Costes is, apparently, alone too… We will understand why as the season progresses. These are two solitudes that meet, but also two very different solitudes from each other”, analyzes the designer, who promises a beautiful relationship between the two heroes: “They also have this dog and cat side, but in a almost brotherly relationship, which will develop throughout the season. »
In the end, “the meeting with Captain Costes will be hyperpositive for Balthazar. Another character will arrive and professionally challenge the medical examiner. Balthazar is very busy in this season on the professional and private level. Everything that happened in season 3 is not settled. He is jostled by his friends, in particular Eddy (Côme Levin) and Fatim (Philypa Phoenix), but also by his past at the end of the season”, announces Clothilde Jamin. And to promise that after eight intense episodes, the spectator will understand “why Balthazar became Balthazar! »