A detective is forced to lead a cold case unit from a dingy basement after causing the death of a fellow officer. Adapted from Jussi Adler-Olsen’s bestselling Danish crime novels, this Scottish series is richly atmospheric and endlessly compelling.
It must be frustrating for a good actor to have a face that perfectly suits a certain type of role. For lesser talents, it’s probably a blessing—”Need a face people will fall for? Just cast this good-looking non-entity and build the set around them.” But for someone like Matthew Goode—whose very name sounds posh and whose face screams “modern aristocrat”—it’s more of a curse. Over the past two decades, he’s been the go-to for period dramas, from Brideshead Revisited (as Charles Ryder), to Downton Abbey (as Henry Talbot), to The Crown (playing the brash Lord Snowdon).
So it’s with some delicious irony that Goode dives into his latest role—a contemporary, morally compromised man—in the psychological crime thriller Department Q. You can almost sense the glee in his performance, as if he’s been waiting years to play someone gritty and grimy.
This adaptation, helmed by Scott Frank (of The Queen’s Gambit fame), is based on the darkly compelling novels by Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen. Goode stars as Detective Carl Mørck, a skilled but deeply flawed officer whose arrogance results in the death of a junior colleague and the paralysis of his partner. Wracked with guilt, Mørck spirals into depression before being assigned to head a new department—Department Q—tasked with investigating cold cases. His “office” is a dirty basement in a gloomy, gothic-style Edinburgh police station, far removed from the frosty Nordic landscapes of the source material, but atmospherically just as effective.
He soon assembles a misfit team: rookie officer Rose (Leah Byrne), recovering from a breakdown and desperate to prove herself; his former partner James Hardy (Jamie Sives), bedridden but still sharp as ever; and Akram Salim (Alex Mavrelov), a Syrian refugee and ex-cop who spearheads their first investigation—the disappearance of ambitious young lawyer Merritt Lingard (Chloe Pirie) four years prior. Her subplot unfolds in parallel, lending an eerie voyeurism to the narrative. Some of the more claustrophobic scenes may have you peeking through your fingers.
Everything about Department Q is meticulously crafted. The pacing is deliberate and patient—some might even say slow—but it rewards your attention with layered character development and a thick, immersive atmosphere. Soon, you’re swept into a web of storylines involving a lost necklace, a savage beating, rural isolation, urban horrors, systemic failures, and the ways people torment one another—for love, revenge, or just plain cruelty.
The performances are uniformly excellent. Mark Bonnar gives a chilling turn as Lingard’s sinister boss, while Kelly Macdonald shines as Dr. Orwyn, the reluctant police therapist assigned to Mørck. But it’s Goode who dominates the screen—his disheveled, brooding detective is the show’s dark heart. The writing, courtesy of Chandni Lakhani and Stephen Greenhorn, is sharp and unflinching, particularly in its depiction of Mørck’s dry wit and biting sarcasm. His caustic brilliance dazzles even as we sympathize with the colleagues who cheered when he toppled off the ferry that Lingard once vanished from.
It’s intense, it’s creepy, and it’s masterfully done.
Department Q is now streaming on Netflix.
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