Departures

Until recently, I've never been much of a television watcher. I normally buy DVD sets of shows that I like and enjoy them over and over. My boy wanted me to watch an episode of Mantracker on the Outdoor Life Network (OLN). I thought the show was cool and following Mantracker I happened to catch an episode of Departures and became HOOKED.

I haven't fallen head over heels in love with a television show in a long ass time. The premise is this, two Canadian guys travel the world with their cameraman friend. Simple, yet the show is soooo much more than that. The travelers are Scott Wilson, Justin Lukach and their cinematographer is Andre Dupuis. The show has two seasons airing on OLN in Canada, as well as the National Geographic Adventure channel in other countries with the third season in production.


Departures is a travel show with some of the most amazing cinematography you will ever see on T.V. Also, Justin and Scott are very entertaining no matter what they are doing. What makes the travel show different than others is the combination of experiences of the team and the infusion of Justin and Scott's personality into it. They do the well known landmarks like the Taj Mahal (Correction: the Taj Mahal scene was deleted from the ep, but can be seen on Youtube or in the special features section of the DVD) and the streets of Tokyo, but we also get to go along with them when they live in a tipi and live the experience of a tribe of native people in Mongolia. So the mixture of exploring the city streets, as well as the out of the way places and truly experiencing other cultures, and experiencing the local nightlife, all make it great. The audience gets to tag along on the busy streets of India to hiking and camping in New Zealand to partying with a group of friends in Tokyo.


Scott would be the tour guide of the group often giving the history of the place that they are visiting or explaining local customs with Justin being the class clown of the group. The addition of their personal experiences to the show also makes it great. We see Justin going through homesickness and inner turmoil at the end of his relationship while they are on Ascension Island and Scott's dilemma about whether to continue with traveling for the show or go home so as not to lose clients for work while they are in the Cook Islands. I also love that they include real life travel difficulties such as when they show up at the Cook Islands but their luggage does not, or while they are on Ascension Island they eat a lot of spaghetti because the grocery store is too expensive given their remote location or Justin getting sick while having trouble acclimating to the altitude while in South America.


Technically the show is so well done. I have already mentioned the amazing camera work of Andre, and the show has won a Gemini (like the Canadian Emmys) to back this up. The editing is also top notch with the music being such a big part of the show that the website for Departures includes cue sheets for each episode because of the many requests for the songs. I love the use of the animated map as each of their location changes. I love Justin and Scott (the fact that they are hot does not hurt), their interactions and the occasional peek of Andre (many forums and comments I've read have fans of the show requesting "more Andre!"). I love watching them try weird foods, get stuck in the desert with their broken down ATV's, hang glide in Brazil and get drunk in the Yukon. In the Chile episode, the guys visit a very strange museum run by a very spiritual man who gives some advice in Spanish and it is so beautiful that I have to include it:

"Live life to the fullest. It's the best way. Live every moment intensely. Because life is too short, and the moment comes when we're going to die, and we'd have wished to do so many things we didn't. That's why we have to enjoy every moment. One must enjoy life. Try not to acquire so many things, but instead have experiences. Accomplish everything you want to do, no matter the effort that it deserves. Life is too short and one must relish it."

The show is available for order on DVD at their website. My only complaint is that I ordered the season 1 set two weeks ago and my order has yet to be processed. (EDIT: I have since received my DVD box set and was well worth the wait, love the audio commentaries by the guys.) Here's the intro to season 2, but you have to, I repeat, HAVE TO click on HQ to watch it in High Quality. See this show if you can, you will not be disappointed.



Special bonus: deleted scene from the Thailand episode (again, must watch in HQ):


More ramblings to come......

UPDATE: The show's soundtrack for season 1 is available at the itunes store here.