Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Starring: Matthew Goode, Chloe Pirrie, Jamie Sives, Alexej Manvelov, Leah Byrne, Kelly Macdonald, Kate Dickie, Patrick Kennedy, Mark Bonnar
Where to watch: Netflix (9 episodes, about 1 hour each)
To watch or not to watch: It is an intense and fast paced thriller which keeps the viewer hooked throughout the runtime. But in true Netflix fashion, it has a ton of plotholes.

Carl Morck (Matthew Goode) is a police officer who is returning to work after being involved in a shooting where his partner and best friend was hit in the spine. Morck is understandably disturbed by that experience, so even though he has a good reputation, the powers that be are reluctant to put him on the front line. So, the solution to this is to put him in charge of cold cases in the basement bathroom of the building (to be fair, the bathroom is HUGEEEE). The first case given to him is the disappearance of an ambitious lawyer Merritt Linguard (Chloe Pirrie) who was last seen on a ferry with her specially abled brother 4 years ago. The department christened Dept Q has only one member in Morck, until he is joined by a rag-tag team made of Rose (Leah Bryne) who is a police constable desk-bound after a traumatic experience, Akram Salim (Alexej Manvelov) who was a police office from Syria and is essentially a civilian now and Morck’s bed-bound partner DI James Hardy (Jamie Sives). Not all of them are department-sanctioned, so maybe they are not even being paid??? This point is unclear. Anyway, in the parallel the other detectives are investigating the shooting which put Morck and Hardy out of commission.

The basic way these detective shows work is by making the main guy and his nature the main plot of series, and this show is no exception. These guys are majorly romanticised versions of flawed, where an incident has deeply and adversely affected their psyche (the said incident is usually caused because of their own actions and stubbornness), but they are tough and therapy is for suckers and it is more manly (they are all men) to just make everyone around them (and their significant others) suffer for their pig-headedness. They are somehow revered too?!
Apparently Morck is the only police officer worth his salt in the department who sees clues to the crime against him and his partner, as he drops in on the detectives on his case and pours out his wisdom and helps solves the case better and quicker, because why not. There are multiple facets to the Merritt Linguard case. There is a lot this series tries to tackle, and coupled with a slow pace, it is not able to do justice to any. The pace is also modulated – as soon as the viewer starts feeling tired and bored, it springs a new piece of evidence/suspect to keep the hook in. On an initial watch, anyone would be totally mesmerised by the series and no shade on anyone. It is very atmospheric and there is a lot going on with the characters (less with the case) which appeals to the human nature of curiosity to know how much other people are messed up, that all 9 episodes don’t seem too daunting for a binge watch. But wait a bit after watching it, and you realise that if you remove Morck’s scepticism, there is little left as to substance.

Overall, as a viewer this is a time for introspection where you need to decide if you want to watch a show for an immediate thrill where you need to carve out almost 9 hours of your time, or you want to watch something which requires thinking and leaves you with feels after some time has passed. If it is the former, then this show is the perfect option for you. It is an adrenaline rush and you just need to let it play out with little or no weight on psyche, but if you apply yourself even a little bit, you might not like it as much. And we need all kinds of shows, to be honest, but it is the frequency of these kinds which is borderline alarming, specially coming from the house of Netflix. Quantity is inversely proportional to quantity, too many shows, and most of them not good. That’s the only complaint. Enjoy (or not)!