Netflix’s 88% RT Crime Thriller Is Officially Changing Its Best Character for Season 2

Although grim, stylish mystery thrillers will always have a built-in audience, it’s often difficult for a new streaming series to stand out from the pack in terms of story, creativity, and hooking an audience. Netflix’s 2025 crime noir Dept. Q, based on the bestselling books by Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen, quickly grew from a critically approved sleeper hit into a crowd-pleasing favorite. Admittedly, it’s hard to go wrong with Matthew Goode‘s grizzled, haunted Detective Carl Morck brooding his way through Edinburgh’s overcast streets, but the performer’s energy and Dept. Q‘s production satisfactorily coalesce. The underutilized Scottish setting, the plot’s tightly-wound momentum, the depth of Morck’s traumatized guilt and interpersonal conflict, and the misfit chemistry between him and his two colleagues as they make the best of their basement dwelling hit all the right genre beats with flair and finesse to spare.