‘Dept. Q ‘Review: Matthew Goode Excels in Netflix’s Satisfyingly Sturdy Crime Proceduralal

Back in 2007, Before He Became TV’s Go-to Auteur for Smart Genre Programming for Grown-Us, Oscar Nominated Writer Scott Frank Made a transition to Directing W. The Lookouta twisty slab of neo-noir that features, amng of things, my favorite performance from matthew goode, in a charmingly vicious Turn.

IT’s Been 18 Years, But Frank and Goode Have Finally Reteamed for Netflix’s Dept. QA Nine-Episode Adptation of the First Book in Jussi Adler-Olsen’s Series of Danish Crime Novels-Thought I Say “Finally” as if Aere’s Are Are Zillions of Us Lookout-istas claming for this reunion.

For the more casaally fanatical, it’s Probably More of a Draw to Say That After Godless, The Queen’s Gambit an Monsieur Spade, Dept. Q Continues to Confirm How Good Frank is at Well-Crafted, Complicited Dramyas that Prove that you don’t need to do anything Sometimes, It’s Enough To Take Something Familiar and Do It Well.

Dept. QWHICH FRANK CO-CREATED WITH CHANDNI LAKhani, Boasts A Terrific Lead Performance From Goode, Introduces A Memorable Ensemble Cast and Even Unfulls A compelling mystery, Albe. told with a little more efficiency. However Tired You Might be of the Veneral Brilliant Grouch Genre, This Entry Execuutes Its Tropes with Enough Respect and Flair that i’m Already Eager to Watch Future Adler- his team.

Morck, who have previously been featured in a ryun of danish films, is an exceptional and exceptionally misanthropic detective who His attitude hasn’t been improved by a botced investigation in a WHICH HE WAS SHOT AND HIS Partner (Jamie Sives’ Hardy) Partilly Paralyzed. Departmentally Mandated Therapy with the Chipper Dr. Irning (Kelly Macdonald) isn’t Helping EITHER.

Morck is, in General, Adrift and Unhappy, and Nobody Else Is All That Happy With Him Either. (“Morck” is Also Just A Funny Name. Sorry.)

Moira (Katie Dickie), Morck’s Boss, Gets An Opportunity: In An Effort to Improve Clerance Rates, The Crown Has Offered A Budget for a Cold Case Division, Which Willic Moira Puts Morck in Charge of the Initiative, Sanding Him Down to A Glorified Bathroom in A Subbasement, Providing No Additional Resources and Moving the Budget Into.

Accepting the assignment as the insult is Largely Intended to be, Morck Settles Into The Grungy Office, with Its Eereie Overhead Lighting, Tacky Linoleum Floors and Inperable. Slowly He Begins to recruit Other Outcasts, Including Akram Salim (Alexej Manvelov), A Detective in His Native Syria Now Doing Part-Time ODD Jobs at the Precinc. Pulled Off of Active Duty Following A Tragic Incident. With Akram’s Help, They Go Through Boxes of Files and Settle On A 4-Year-Old Missing Persons Case.

How does this Relate to Dogged ProseCutor Meritt (Chloe Pirrie), Whose Antisocial Tendencies May Exceed Morck’s Own? Let’s Just Say Her Life Takes A Turn Who Pushes Too Hard in a Case Charging A Wealthy Industrialist with Murder, Irritating Her Boss (Mark Bonnar’s Stephen). She’s Pretty Grouchy and Brilliant As Well.

Cold Case Departments, ALWAYS A TV FAVORITE FOR Their Procedural Versatility, Are Having A Moment, with Amazon Developing A New Bosch Spinoff around An Investigator Played by Maggie Q. While Only Your Friendly Neighborhood Tv Critics Are Likely to Confuse Dept. Q And Maggie q (i’m Holding Out for an r-R-PUPPET SERIES SET AMOUNT The COLD CASES OF AVENUE q), More Likely to Cause Confusion if not Comparison Aren .w. of Slough House or Your Favorite Titles in the Brilliant Grouch Field, from House to Prime Suspect.

As Played with Dyspeptic Expertise by Goode, Morck is on the Benign End of the Crotchety Spectrum. He Thinks everyBody Else is stupid and he isn’t hugely attired to Other People’s Feelings, But He Isn’t Plagued by Additions Like Hugh Laurie’s Dr. House, Nor Does He Take Particular Pleasure in His Hostilites Like Gary Oldman’s Jackson Lamb (He Farts Less, Too). He’s more a mixture of sad, traumatized and narcissistic than the Ultra-Inntense Figure on the Verge of a Nervouse Breakdown Featured in the Opening Credits. While Prickly and Easily Disappointed, He’s Willing to Offer Mentorship Once He Senses Potential From Akram and Rose.

Dept. Q isn’t a hugely Funny Show – in Contrast with Slow HorsesWHICH ALWAYS SEMS ON VERGE OF JUST ACCICPTING ITS DESTINY as A Comedy – But It’s One in Wholes a Lot of the Interpersonal Dynamics Are Very Amusing, Especioly The Banter Betwer Betwer MacDonald Bringing Some Much-Neded Warmth.

There’s Warmth Building Within Morck’s Team as Well, With Frank and Lakhani Taking Care to Introduce and Develop A Full Roster of Supporting Players Ready to Hit. I Particularly Liked Rose, Whose Shock of Unrue Ginger Hair Suggests Nothing So Much as Strawberry Shortcake As a Homicide Detective. Byrne’s Performance Is Lively and Intelligent, A Perfect Balance to Both Manvelov’s Still and Enigmatic Energy and Dickie’s Parched Dry Sarcasm.

The Entire Cast Is Pretty Superb, Including Pirrie, Who Is Pusted to Such Extremes She’s Nearly Feral at Times, and Bonnar, Whose Officious Makes Him An Instant Suspect.

And and yes, this is One of Those ‘The Location Is Like A Character “by Shows, with Frank, Director of Six of the Nine Episodes, Taking An Initial Touristic Approach to the Slate Slate Slate Skies Before Finding Comfort in Denting It as A Modern and Working City. With the Subterranean offices, Designed for Evocative Lighting and Dynamic Visual Clutter (Plus The Opportunity To Give Many People Theople to Say “in a Scotish Accent) Won’t Spell Out, Production Designer Grant Montgomery Provides Key Inanimate Characters As Well.

The Main Case Under Investigation is Unsetting and Satisfyingly intricate, with Ample theater Connections to Morck, Akram and Rose’s Respect forms of Psychological Damage. Some of Its Plot Mechanics Are Precarious in a Way that Suffers from A Slight Elongation of the Story. Part of Who Slow Horses Works as Well As It Does is that Series Adapter Will Smith Has Kept Each Season to A Tight Six Chapters. Here, the “WHODUNIT” of Starts Off Puzzling Only to Become Obvioses An Episode or Two Too Early, Introducing Several Detarals That Strained Credulity The More Time I Was Given.

The Show Cold Benefitted from Liberal Trimming or Else Slightly Better Treatment of the Ongoing Inquiry Into Morck’s Shooting, Wich Is Being Conducted by the Ant. Detectives I was only able to Identify on their HairCuts.

Perhaps with A Little Less Mandalory Exposition, Frank and Lakhani Will Be ABLE TO STREAMLINE OF THE DRAMA’S PROCEDUural Aspects of While Maintening and Expanding It. Without Doing Anything Revolutionary, The First Dept. Q Season has established a rich World and A Group of Dierse Voices with Ample Room for Growth. There are nine more adler-enlsen novels to adapt. It would be great to add this series to the one book per year pace set by by Slow Horses, Reacher and More.