Viewership hit De Verraders got a sinister twist on Friday evening. One of the participants was not only ‘killed’ but also received a funeral, complete with a minute’s silence, moody clothing and a funeral card. Attention: this article contains spoilers†
Whoever thought that the makers of the TV hit De Verraders took a dark path in the first season by burying participants alive, really looked out on Friday evening. During the second broadcast of the new season, a funeral was organized in the Sint-Janskerk in Maastricht. That was not well received by everyone among the million viewers. “Personally, I find a funeral to be really distasteful,” a viewer responds on Twitter. Another: “This is really going too far.”
Comedian and participant in the game Stefano Keizers, on the other hand, thoroughly enjoyed this dark twist. With gleeful eyes: ,,I get to be frontrow at a funeral of someone I killed. Who would not want that?” It’s like this: Keizers is one of the traitors in the game and must – together with fellow traitors Jamie Westland and Ortál Vriend – kill a ‘faithful’ every night. The higher goal is to eventually send away as many innocent participants as possible and go home with a pile of silver pieces. Those silver pieces can be earned during quests (see box).
The first participant who had to leave the field without mercy was Friday evening presenter Giel de Winter. According to Keizers, Winter was a great ‘danger’. ,,Giel is smart and has a good social position. If he suspects one of us, people will come along,” he ordained during a secret, nightly meeting in the tower room.
What the three traitors did not know, however, is that the next day they were invited to the funeral of Giel de Winter, who had been eliminated by them. And that memorial service felt quite real because of the moody black clothing, the mourning card (“It is with great pain in our hearts that we had to say goodbye to Giel de Winter unexpectedly”), relatives in the hall, a coffin with a black-and-white photo of De Winter and presenter Tijl Beckand, who must have been a funeral director in a previous life, witness his modest appearance.
In St. John’s Church, the candidates had to look for the heir of the murdered participant using clues from the Bible. If they succeeded, they could earn some silver bars. Stefano Keizers – black sunglasses, long coat, almost sad face – was so absorbed in his role that fellow candidate Irene Moors looked at him admiringly. “I want Stefano at my funeral too,” she noted.
Unlike supreme traitor Stefano Keizers, the innocent Stella Bergsma was less comfortable in the group. Almost all participants found it highly suspicious that she was taking notes in a diary and suspected that the novelist was one of the traitors. Bergsma was ‘banned’ during the Round Table moment that same evening and had to leave the game immediately. The visibly emotional writer, who was compared by fellow candidate Frank Evenblij to a ‘tipsy rabbit’, left the game with her head held high. But, Bergsma noted, although she had to leave as the second candidate, she at least has enough material for a new book. “All those psychological mechanisms. It is already a bestseller!”
Also listen to the AD Media Podcast:
Watch our Show & Entertainment videos below:
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and never miss a thing from the stars.