To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video. Up Next. Departure is storming Netflix’s charts despite some viewers previously criticising the episodes. The TV series, which stars the late Hollywood icon Christopher Plummer and The Good Wife actor Archie Panjabi, is currently in the number four spot on top 10 programmes in the UK.
![[Drama with Hollywood legend soars to Netflix top 10 despite being blasted as 'drivel']](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_234828051-34d0.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
It originally ran from 2019 to 2022 and was available to watch on Universal TV, but has now been acquired by Netflix so more people can catch up (or rewatch). It’s clearly proving to be popular with the streamers’ subscribers making it one of the top-watched shows of 2025 already.
![[Drama with Hollywood legend soars to Netflix top 10 despite being blasted as 'drivel']](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SEI_234828203-e593.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
The show is a conspiracy theory drama, which aims to resolve the mystery behind a missing plane filled with passengers. However, not everyone has always been positive about the Peacock original drama set in Canada. While critics gave it a very respectable 80% on Rotten Tomatoes, audiences have given it a substantially lower 44%.
‘Almost seemed like satire at times. Poorly written. Cheesy lines. Over the top music,’ Sinead wrote dismissively. Colin C weighed in: ‘So bad, dialogue awful, acting wooden, storyline ridiculous and timelines that made no sense at all. Gave up during episode 2; thought it was insulting to the intelligence.’.
Graham N held no punches: ‘Appalling drivel. The acting is wooden – perhaps because the script is so bad. Full of twists – which are pathetically “artificial” and not even logical. Lots of expository dialogue, and incredibly unlikely coincidences. Totally lacking in tension – largely because it’s so unbelievable. In the end I just didn’t care about any of the protagonists. Avoid.’.
