Netflix viewers have been left feeling conflicted over a thriller series that has shot into the streaming platform’s top 10 chart this month.
Departure, starring the late Christopher Plummer and The Good Wife star Archie Panjabi, was originally broadcast in 2020. However, the series has been rediscovered after being added to Netflix in January.
The conspiracy drama, which follows the mystery of a plane that goes missing while full of passengers, earned 3.6 million views in its first week and made the top 10 list in 40 countries.
However, despite the show’s streaming success, many viewers have questioned the quality of the show’s acting performances, script writing and production value.
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“Watching Departure on Netflix and genuinely don’t think I’ve seen worse acting even in a kids school play,” one viewer wrote on X/Twitter.
However, they added this didn’t mean they would stop watching. “It’s addictive,” they continued. “And such terrible takes in the storyline.”
Meanwhile, another person added they thought the Departure was “good” but “a bit dramatic” with another fan revealing they had “watched both seasons in less than a day”.
Although other viewers claimed “even Christopher Plummer can’t save his colleagues’ awful acting” in the series, many admitted they had rushed through the programme like no show ever before.
“Watched the whole two seasons of Departure on Netflix in the last 24hrs,” another fan wrote on social media. “Have never been able to sit and binge watch like this before. Loved it!”
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Elsewhere, other viewers called the show “crazy”, complained the plot is “disjointed” and questioned, “why does the suspenseful music cut like that?!”
Critics were similarly conflicted over the series upon its initial release five years ago.
The Guardian’s Dale Berning Sawa wrote of the series at the time: “Despite some clunky dialogue (‘You’re the only one that can find this plane!’), Departure proves a great whodunnit.
“The conspiracy-theory-style plots take in Saudi and Chinese money, Russian meddling and Mossad impunity, with lots of gleaming metal and crisp power suits.”
Meanwhile, Variety’s Daniel D’Addario added the series is “not exactly Bodyguard but it shares that show’s agreeably loose relationship with plausibility.”
Of Panjabi’s lead performance, they continued: “She’s a compelling series lead, serving show-anchoring strength and plausible anxiety in equal measure.
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“If other characters, like an MI5 officer played by Claire Forlani, tend towards the loosely sketched, Panjabi fills in the gaps, creating a protagonist worth following.”
Seasons one and two of Departure are available on Netflix now.
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