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The cliffhanger with which the VTM soap ended on Friday was followed up dramatically on Monday evening. Two of the regular characters died in a heavy fire.
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Note: This article contains spoilers.
What exactly happened? Peter (played by Gunther Levi) braved the flames like a real hero to free his son Victor and his mother Marie-Rose (Martine Jonckheere). Once inside, however, he fell victim to the immense smoke development and Marie-Rose also lost consciousness. Both bodies were carried outside, but for Marie-Rose all help came too late. In the hospital, Peter also succumbed a little later to the consequences of an oxygen deficiency. With that storyline, ‘Familie’ said goodbye to two regular characters and to actors Gunther Levi and Martine Jonckheere.
Special effects
But it wasn’t all doom and gloom: Baby Victor could be rescued from the flames. A sea of flames without real fire, by the way. “Productionally, these scenes were a big challenge,” says creative producer Wim Feyaerts. “After all, not a single spark of real fire was involved in the intense fire on the screen. We used special effects for this. On set we used lighting effects and smoke. Then we added the flames with computer animation. All due respect to Gunther and Martine who went so deep to make the scenes believable. We cannot thank them enough for that. In a long-running series as family you have to dare to grab the viewer by the throat every now and then with an unexpected plot twist. With this story, we have provided an unprecedented injection of tension in the middle of the season.”
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