'Departure' ultimately turned out to be Christopher Plummer's final acting role. But this flashy potboiler about a missing passenger plane feels like little more than an extension of one of those "CSI" shows from America.
Chatty and frantic, with rushed characters introductions, and a range of typically American drama gimmicks you've seen a hundred times before (unrealistically glossy offices, dramatic flashbacks, pompous soundtrack), even the cast looks a bit uncomfortable here.
For some reason, Archie Panjabi even turns up in a strikingly similar maroon leather jacket as her iconic private investigator Kalinda from the superior 'The Good Wife'. It's just a pity the Good Wife writers didn't come with her cool wardrobe.
"Let's find that plane!" declares Archie's Kendra O'Malley in episode 1, in case that weren't obvious as the entire premise. But it's the rushed pace and lack of sensitivity required by material like this, that truly derails any interest.
Compare this to the masterfully suspenseful submarine drama 'Vigil', and you'll truly see what should have been.
