Saturday, July 19, 2025

Dept. Q Season 1 Review

Dept. Q (2025-)
Season 1 - 9 episodes (2025 June 19)

Watch Dept. Q on Netflix
Created by: Scott Frank, Chandni Lakhani
Based on: Department Q by Jussi Adler-Olsen

Starring: Matthew Goode, Kelly Macdonald, Chloe Pirrie, Alexej Manvelov, Leah Byrne, Jamie Sives
Rated: TV-MA
Watch the trailer

Plot
Carl, a former top-rated detective, is wracked with guilt following an attack that left his partner paralyzed and another policeman dead. On his return to work, Carl is assigned to a cold case that will consume his life.

Verdict
It's a solid, twisting mystery that keeps you guessing until the very end. An arrogant cop dealing with past trauma tries to solve his own case and a cold case. This never lets the viewer get too far ahead of the investigation. Each episode uncovers a new clue and suspect, as the leads track it down. The side characters are well developed, each of them with a goal and proving to be competent.  Akram is the unsung hero of the show, a foil to the trouble and often unlikable Carl.
It depends.

Review
Carl (Matthew Goode) is a sharp detective, but he's difficult to work with and arrogant. He barely survives a police shooting and upon returning to work is asked to lead an unsolved crimes unit. He's not particularly interested, but he also isn't ready to return to active duty. He agrees and is given a sub-basement as an office while his commander uses the allotted budget on her own unit.

Throughout the first episode the parallel story follows prosecutor Merritt (Chloe Pirrie) as she pursues a case despite threats. It turns out Merritt is the cold case Carl chooses, with the help of Akram (Alexej Manvelov), to solve. She disappeared four years ago. It's a good hook for the first episode.

Matthew Goode, Leah Byrne, Alexej Manvelov play Carl, Rose, Akram

Carl's assistant Akram soon proves he's more adept than anyone would have guessed. Akram is Carl's foil. While Carl is smart, troubled, and haughty, Akram gets the job done quietly. He's certainly more devoted to solving the case. He reviewed all the cases when Carl couldn't or wouldn't. Akram has a sense of cases that could be solved, choosing Merritt's case. Providing some sense of hope are current scenes of Merritt. She's still alive yet imprisoned, and that generates a lot of questions.

Kelly Macdonald, Matthew Goode play Rachel, Carl

Carl and Akram retrace Merritt's steps in the search for clues; the ferry and her hometown. All the while, Carl still thinks about the shooting that injured him and his partner. Why were the suspects in the apartment? While he sees therapist Rachel (Kelly Macdonald) about it. Carl's resistant to the forced arrangement. At the same time, the people imprisoning Merritt ask her who she's wronged. She's come up with a lot of names, but none of them are correct.

Each episode unearths a new clue. Could the case in the first episode Merritt was prosecuting provide more information? If it is related, how?

This is a solid, twisting mystery. While there are plenty of red herrings along the bread crumb path, it maintains engagement. We connect the dots in step with the detectives; never ahead of them. You can't figure out the mystery until all the pieces are in play and that keeps you watching.

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