Writer/director Scott Frank has alighted upon a winner, a spellbinding series of ten crime fiction novels by Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsson, and his first nine-episode season of Dept. Q is clearly wondrous from the very opening scene. Matthew Goode is riveting as Carl Morck, a maverick, obnoxious homicide detective returning to work after being shot. Assigned to a new cold cases department in a musty basement, his first case is the mysterious disappearance four years earlier of a public prosecutor (also portrayed perfectly by Chloe Pirrie). Scott Frank directs and cowrites most of the episodes and you can see his impeccable footprint in every superbly staged scene. The plotline, featuring twist after twist, is one feature of this series that keeps the viewer on tenterhooks for nearly seven hours, but other exemplary aspects are razor-sharp, funny dialogue, and wonderful acting throughout (hats off to Alexej Manvelov and Leah Byrne as Morck’s happenstance sidekicks), scything cinematography. Dept. Q never falters in quality and pace, and will be a 2025 highlight for any sane viewer.
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