Les Traîtres (Belgium)/Season 1

***Les Traîtres Saison 1*** is the first season of *Les Traîtres (Belgium)*. It aired every Wednesday beginning from December 1, 2021 to January 5, 2022 on RTL TVI at 8:30pm.

## Unique Characteristics & Twists

* **Armoury Introduction:** Instead of Shields being given out to contestants in public, they were now obtained through chance visits to the Armoury. In this first iteration of the Armoury, the contestants did not open doors or sealed boxes, but rather took a key near the Armoury entrance and attempted to open a locked metal box containing the Shield with it.
* **Advisory Panel:** A previously eliminated contestant advised each Finalist who was taking part in the Prisoner's Dilemma on how they should vote later.

## Contestants

The participants for this season comprised of 14 Walloons who had taken part before in French and Walloon reality shows and variety programmes, from competitive game shows like *Koh-Lanta* and *Le Meilleur Pâtissier* to other unscripted series like *Vu à la Télé* and *Mariés au Premier Regard*.

 **Winner: Faithful**

 **Winner: Faithful**

 **Finalist: Traitor**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Traitor**

 **Disqualified: Traitor**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

 **Banished: Faithful**

 **Murdered: Faithful**

## Voting History

1. ↑ Frédéric informed the Traitors that due to Xavier's breach of rules at the earlier Round Table, the Murder was cancelled and he would be Disqualified in place.
2. ↑ Maud and Virginie were tied for the most plurality of votes. They were ineligible to vote again in the tiebreaker, while the other contestants voted to Banish one of them.
3. ↑ Stéphanie and Xavier were tied for the most plurality of votes. As the only contestant who did not vote for either, Damien then had to vote and Banish one of them.
4. ↑ After the previous Banishment, Xavier revealed he was a Traitor, a breach of fundamental game rules. He was later removed from the game in Episode 5.

## Viewership

The ratings for the season were considered a relative disappointment, considering the show's production budget, primetime slot and RTL-TVI's intent to launch it as a flagship programme. However, while Director of Entertainment at RTL Belgium Wiet Bruurs agreed that the show had underperformed, he noted the show's strong performance on delayed viewing and streaming catch-up, about a quarter the size of the regular TV viewership.

## Trivia

* This was the first season to introduce the Armoury, which would soon become a regular feature in almost all versions of the show.
* Pholien and Scofield are the first Faithfuls to win as a group, first men to win in the franchise, as well as first to achieve a clear Faithful win (as Chatilla van Grinsven's win was shared with Traitor Samantha Steenwijk).
* Despite their win, the Faithfuls in this season are currently the season latest to Banish their first Traitor, only succeeding at the final five. They are also the Faithful group that Banished the fewest Traitors - one; a record tied with *De Verraders (Netherlands)/Videoland Edition*.
* This was the first season where the Shield was won exclusively by Faithfuls.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.cim.be/fr/television?type=daily
2. ↑ https://azapmedias.be/audiences-les-traitres-demarrent-doucement-sur-rtl-tvi-la-une-en-petite-forme-cest-tres-complique-pour-district-z
3. ↑ https://www.dhnet.be/medias/television/2022/01/06/on-esperait-faire-de-meilleures-audiences-quel-bilan-pour-les-traitres-sur-rtl-tvi-5HL53AJEBBF55A25IDYJR3F5K4