• Network: Netflix
  • Series Premiere Date: May 29, 2025
Metascore
69

Generally favorable reviews - based on 22 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 22
  2. Negative: 0 out of 22

Critic Reviews

  1. Reviewed by: Samuel R. Murrian
    May 29, 2025
    60
    Dept. Q will likely grip fans of whodunit fare well enough, but with some crucial tweaks, it's not hard to imagine it becoming a better show if further seasons are to follow.
  2. Reviewed by: James Hibbs
    May 29, 2025
    60
    For now, we have to work with what we've got, and at this point in time Dept Q feels like a work in progress - not unlike its protagonist, it's a mess with real promise beneath it all, a diamond waiting to be cut and polished.
  3. Reviewed by: Nick Hilton
    May 29, 2025
    60
    It is, in short, a lazy assembly of tropes that have worked better elsewhere. And yet, despite all that, I found myself gripped. This first series unfurls over the course of nine hour-long episodes, giving it plenty of time to grow on you.
  4. Reviewed by: Mike Hale
    May 29, 2025
    50
    Goode’s performance, while proficient, feels a little dull. He’s fine, but “Dept. Q” might have been more interesting with someone genuinely scruffier in the role.
  5. Reviewed by: Laura Miller
    May 29, 2025
    50
    The more authentic the rest of Dept. Q comes to feel, the more ludicrous and rudimentary the central “mystery” appears.
  6. Reviewed by: Jesse Hassenger
    May 29, 2025
    50
    Dept. Q has that stronger, network-style hook right off the bat, but its sense of gritty prestige never overpowers the feeling that this is a page-turner sometimes turning its pages at half speed. It’s not quite up to Frank’s usual level.
  7. Reviewed by: Brian Tallerico
    May 29, 2025
    50
    I’m not familiar enough with the source material or the film adaptation to say for sure where this story has been padded, but it simply hasn’t been done so in an interesting enough manner to justify nine hours of television.
  8. Reviewed by: Lisa Weidenfeld
    May 29, 2025
    40
    It’s very, very grim. .... Beyond that, the show struggles with its angle on Morck. .... If the show could just turn down the dial on its protagonist grimly shouting at people, this motley crew might actually cohere into a crack squad of crime solvers.