Cranky Detective Chief Inspector Carl Morck (A Discovery of Witches’ Mathew Goode), just back at work after surviving a traumatic shooting, is tasked with heading up a new cold case department. It sounds like standard crime-drama stuff, but Dept. Q defies expectations from its opening scene. Adapted from Jussi Adler-Olsen’s book series by Scott Frank (The Queen’s Gambit), the series is an instantly gripping yarn about the yoke of guilt and the unwavering patience of redemption.
No one is particularly happy to see DCI Morck back on the job at his Edinburgh department. His mood wavers between disgust and disdain, and his people skills were not improved by nearly dying in an ambush that left one policeman dead and Morck’s partner, Detective Sergeant Hardy (Jamie Sives), in a wheelchair. “I had problems with human beings long before I was shot,” Morck informs his department-mandated therapist, Dr. Irving (Kelly Macdonald), with a smirk. In an effort to keep him out of trouble, Morck’s boss, Moira (Game of Thrones’ Kate Dickie), stashes him in a basement office and charges him with investigating cold cases from all over the country.
Justin Downing/Netflix
Chloe Pirrie on ‘Dept. Q’
Rather than staying out of sight, though, Morck starts assembling a team: Hardy, whose paralysis has him grappling with thoughts of suicide; Akram (Alexej Manvelov), a quietly formidable investigator from Syria; and Rose (Leah Byrne), a constable struggling with PTSD of her own. As Morck and his team tackle their first case, we also meet Merritt Lingard (Chloe Pirrie), a dogged prosecutor whose most recent case involved a powerful man (Douglas Russell) accused of murdering his wife by throwing her down the stairs.
As a professional TV watcher, shows rarely surprise me — but reader, I was not prepared for the chilling twist near the end of Dept. Q‘s 65-minute premiere. The result was the best kind of crime-drama conundrum for a viewer, when desperation to know more battles it out with dread over what may lie ahead. The season is based on the first book in Adler-Olsen’s series, The Keeper of Lost Causes; it follows Morck as he works on the primary cold case, as well as the ongoing — and so far, fruitless — investigation into his own shooting.
Frank, who directs every episode, strikes an effective storytelling balance between highlighting Morck’s personal struggles — his guilt over Hardy’s paralysis, his clumsy and often obnoxious attempts to discuss his feelings with Dr. Irving, and his tempestuous relationship with Jasper (Aaron McVeigh), the sullen teen living under his roof — and the tenacious detective work of his team. “Broken people healing themselves by providing closure for crime victims” can be an especially effective subgenre if the writing, directing, and casting align — and in Dept. Q, everything gels beautifully.
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Leah Byrne on ‘Dept. Q’
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Goode, his posh good looks hidden under a scruffy beard and a messy mop of salt-and-pepper hair, is mesmerizing as Morck, a right mean old bastard whose melancholy manifests itself in harsh and often hilarious insults. Manvelov is impeccably understated as Akram, and Sives brings an avuncular charm to Hardy, who pulls himself out of his funk by helping Rose work the case.
The mystery comes to a satisfying — if a bit convoluted — conclusion, and Frank certainly leaves things open for more grim (and grimly funny) adventures with his Dept. Q misfits down the line. “I was a policeman today,” Morck informs Jasper with a weary pride. “First time in a long time.” With any luck, it won’t be the last. Grade: A-
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