Descending

This is Departures without Justin Lukach as they go underwater exploring. Scott Wilson and cameraman Andre Dupuis are going around the world once again but this time to explore the underwater world. In place of the hard drinking Justin Lukach, they picked up Ellis Emmett we previously saw in New Zealand episode of Departures. He's not as silly as Justin, but more a adrenaline junkie.

The chemistry in this show is not the same as Departures. It's much more serious. The underwater visuals are beautiful. They go not only to the usual Tropics underwater spots. We get to see some very interesting creatures. The difference is the tone. Without the childlike Justin, the show just loses all the lighter moments. Even when the group does something silly, it lacks the humor inherit in the other show.

Don't get me wrong, i knew from the start that this series will be about diving not traveling as Departures was. The amazing visuals captured and created by the highly talented cameraman Andre Dupuis, the usual excellent narration by Scott Wilson were all there with the same quality as in Departures, but right from the start there was something wrong laying around, OK, Justin was not on this new series, i could accept that, but he was replaced by some bragging guy that i never liked from the New Zealand Departures episode, he can be a very skilled and experienced diver but for a travel companion for Scott, it simply didn't worked and the series just turned into a banal documentary about diving saved only by some good parts here and there when they were not actually diving at all, when Scott was showing us something about the place.

I watched and re-watched Departures, each episode was a true gem, with Descending it was painful sometimes, i even skipped one or two episodes, many parts were just boring... and seeing some good talent being wasted was hard, i think they could have done a season 4 of departures with the money they spent producing this new series. A bad option which i hopefully they correct soon, i heard something about departures season 4, so big fans of Departures as me, may get a good surprise soon :)

Just rewatched this around 9 years after the first time and it's still so fresh and relevant. Can't believe there was never a season 2 and beyond as it's really a showcase for dive travel. Sure they do things you should not do but it looks to be with the best of intentions. Wish someone would make something similar if Scott, Andre and Ellis don't.