Suspense thriller Dept. Q is an absolute stunner on Netflix

There's no shortage of great suspense series on Netflix. But Dept. Q has just set the bar even higher. Let's take a look at just what makes the show so great, beginning with Episode 1.

The show is based on a series of novels by Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen. To date, there are 10 novels in all. Considering they've been translated into 30 languages, I think it's fair to say that the series has been a successful enterprise. There are 10 novels in all, so you can be sure there is no shortage of source material.

There have already been six film adaptations. None are on Netflix, but you can catch the first three on various streaming services. Search engines are your friends. As for this series, it's absolutely brilliant. The script is scintillating, both in the plotting and the dialogue. And the acting... chef's kiss. Matthew Goode is terrific in the lead, but everyone more than holds their own.

Episode 1 of Dept. Q draws the curtains back on the suspense

Matthew Goode plays the irascible Detective Chief Inspector Carl Morck. Irascible is too kind, now that I think about it. He's quite the misanthrope; it seems he's never met a person he doesn't loathe. That doesn't exactly make him the most pleasant coworker in his Edinburgh police precinct.

Things only get worse when he and his partner, D.I. Hardy, and a uniformed officer are shot while investigating a particularly grisly murder. Hardy is paralyzed, the young copper is killed, and Morck is traumatized by the experience. That doesn't exactly make him more lovable.

Happily for his supervisor, the pressure is on from the higher-ups to clear cold cases. The solution is to assign DCI Morck to the new department. Unfortunately, almost all of the funding goes to the precinct, and the cold case group gets almost nothing. As in, Morck is the only officer in the department.

That doesn't last for long, as an IT guy in the precinct, Akram Salim, worms his way into the new department. Good thing, too, as Morck clearly doesn't care a thing about solving anything. Luckily, Akram was a police detective in Syria and had excellent instincts and skills. By the end of episode 1, he makes the call and selects their first case.

At the same time as we learn all about the king of curmudgeons, DCI Morck, we follow a young prosecutor doing her best to win a difficult case. Chloe Pirrie is terrific as the driven Merritt Lingard. Suffice it to say, I think you'll be surprised how the two stories link at the climax of the first episode. I was very pleasantly surprised.

Goode is beyond good as the morose detective. It's quite impressive that he isn't hiding a heart of gold beneath the surly exterior. Nope, he's just a complete - well, I can't write the first seven terms I thought of. So let's just say he's not a nice person. Every character has hidden depths, a testament to the script, the direction, and the acting.

As for the plot, it has more twists than a Slinky. Okay, maybe not quite 98 twists, but still a lot. Every time you think you know what's coming next - oh, so wrong. The setting, filmed in Scotland, is at turns stunningly beautiful and starkly brutal. Kinda like Matthew Goode.

I'll be back with a review of the entire show (and a brief episode guide) tomorrow. Oh, for those wondering about the title - why it's Dept. Q - Morck's office is in an old precinct bathroom in the basement. In room Q. Yeah, a lot of respect he got there. Until these four dramas arrive, make Dept. Q your next priority?

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