Dept. Q concludes its fantastic first season on Netflix in gripping fashion

Netflix has another great series with the addition of Dept. Q. to its stable of top suspense thrillers. Hopefully you've already binged on this one. If not, allow me to nudge you in the proper direction.

If you're a fan of taut thrillers and near-suffocating suspense, you've found your new obsession. Based on a series of suspense novels by Swedish author Jussi Adler-Olsen, Dept. Q follows Detective Chief Inspector Carl Morck as he works police cases that had fallen by the wayside over time. The Netflix series more or less follows the plot of the first book, The Keeper of Lost Causes.

The series is no longer set in Denmark, but in Scotland. I'm just glad it wasn't set in Boston, as Netflix originally envisioned it. I don't need to see Mahky Mahk playing another gritty detective, thanks. I like his work, but Matthew Goode is impeccable as the incurably aserbic DCI Morck. The setting in Scotland contributes mightily to the overall feel of the series as well.

Dept. Q reveals light at the end of a dark first season

I've called this the first season of Dept. Q several times now. I'll admit that's largely based on my own hopes. Netflix is no stranger to canceling terrific shows after one season, like The Brothers Sun. Wait, you haven't seen this amazing dark comedy crime series, even though it stars absolute cinema goddess Michele Yeogh? OMG, let me tell you [editor's note: save this for another time, stay on topic]

Okay, fine, Dad. As for Dept. Q, you've already learned the basics from the first brilliant episode. After we meet DCI Morck, his assistant Akram, and the troubled prosecutor Merrit Lingard, the game's afoot, as some hack playwright first said some four hundred years ago. Morck has his first cold case, and the gears begin to grind.

Determined as he is to throw spanners, reputations, and assorted people into those gears, Morck and his team manage to make some headway in the ensuing four episodes. The subject of their case has been kidnapped, although at this point, the detectives only know that she's missing. Meanwhile, we see that the kidnappers are dialing up the pressure on their victim - and eventually, you can take that literally.

Episode 6

Morck believes the accused in a prior murder case, Graham Finch, may have ties to his current investigation. At the same time, Morck discovers that the young police officer who was killed in the attack that wounded him and his partner was the real target. Yes, it all ties together, eventually. The show takes time to develop its exquisite twists.

We see Merritt meet with the reporter Sam Haig via flashback. She learns that Haig is investigating not just the man she's currently prosecuting, but the Crown Office itself; in other words, her boss. We return to the present time and our kidnap victim. Held all this time in a large hyperbaric chamber - think of the family size Michael Jackson probaly wished he's bought - she finds that the airlock is damaged. An avenue of escape? Well, you'll just have to tune in next week - or in a second, because Netlfix, yo.

Episode 7

Carl and Akram discover that Lord Advocate Burns (again, think District Attorney) was threatened by the accused murderer, Finch. Confronting Graham at a private club, Morck learns that Sam Haig, the reporter, tipped Graham off to potentially damaging testimony. It turns out that Haig was once incarcerated as a juvenile offender, and there he met a friend of - insert drumroll - the kidnapped victim.

Desperate to recall the person she'd allegedly wronged, she thinks of an old boyfriend, Harry Jennings. But she has more pressing issues. With a pair of pliers given to her by her captors to pull an infected tooth - ugh, I know, right? - she jams the airlock, injuring one of the kidnappers. She manages to call the police, but is recaptured. If this poor woman had any luck at all...

Episode 8

Finally, some resolution for DCI Morck. He tracked down the assailant in his shooting and kills him during the arrest. Sadly, it's just a dream and he isn't one step closer to finding peace. Back in the real world, he and Akram visit the juvenile detention faciluty, and learn that Sam Haig had attacked Lyle Jennings, brother of the woman who's suffered at the hands of her kidnappers for years.

Speaking of her, she recalls a key name from her past, Harry Jennings. Years ago, she'd casually mentioned to him that if only she could sell her mother's jewelry, she could escape her sad life at home. All this time, she'd believed that Harry had stolen the jewelry, only to die while trying to escape pursuit. Confronted by her kidnapper, she realizes just who he is. Surprise: he has no intention of releasing her.

Episode 9

Alerted by that call in Episode 7, the local constable on Mohr closes in. Let me just say he's met with some resistance. Carl and Akram interview the kidnap victim's brother, who identifies the perpetrator. As it turns out, we've seen this fellah before. We then learn what really happened to both Harry and Sam.

Knowing more police are likely on the way, the kidnappers abandon their victim in the pressure chamber. As promised, they literally dial up the pressure so that she'll die in gruesome fashion. Our detectives arrive - but in time? Listen, this series already has had several poignant deaths, and pulls no punches. You'll just to have watch it yourself.

Okay, I'll give you one clue, but it's not about the ending. More about a possible continuance, appropriate for a crime show. Netflix has submitted the Dept. Q for the Emmy Awards in several categories. If the corporation wasn't invested in the show, they woudn't literally invest even more money in an awards campaign. Let's hope that's a good sign.

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