Dept. Q Episode 2 Explained: Morck and Merritt’s parallel investigations

Dept Q. Season 1 Episode 2 Recap and Review

What happened in Dept. Q Episode 2?

Episode Two saw Morck and Akram formally begin their investigation into the disappearance of prosecutor Merritt Lingard. They spoke to several people:

Fergus Dunbar - He was the original investigating officer. He claimed there were plenty of suspects but nothing stuck. Merritt’s brother William was the only witness. There was footage of them fighting, but even if William had shoved her into the water, the fall would not have been enough to kill her.

Dr. Wallace - She was William’s legal guardian at Egley House, and refused to allow Morck and Akram to speak to him. According to her, William had aphasia, and for the past few years had regressed so that he no longer interacted with anyone. Later, when William saw his sister's photo on TV, he tossed his TV off the window and ran off.

Mrs. Claire Marsh - She was Merritt’s former housekeeper, and to this day continued to visit William at the institute every week. Whilst she may not have liked Merritt, she did not believe she willingly left her brother, whom she loved. She gave Morck and Akram one important information – that William was not born disabled, that he suffered from serious head trauma when he was 16.

Lord Advocate Stephen Burns - Merritt’s boss told the police he believed she committed suicide. He said Merritt could not let go of the Graham Finch case and the fact that he got away. He also claimed Merritt had a dark side. When Morck asked if the Finch case damaged her career, Burns said no, quite the opposite, she could have easily had his job. Then why would she commit suicide if her career was fine and she wanted to go after Finch again?

Meanwhile, we saw more of what Merritt has been going through these past four years. At the end of each month, her captors would ask her why she thought she was there. Merritt had been writing the names of people whose cases she handled on the walls, trying to figure this out. This time, she guessed that her predicament was because she refused to help Kristy Atkins, who tried to offer herself as a witness in the Graham Finch case in exchange for a suspended sentence. It was not the correct answer, and Merritt was just mocked by her female captor, an old woman who seemed to be in charge.  

Case updates

Leith Park shooting

Bruce’s team was watching the witness who recanted, Caroline Kerr. At a press conference about the new cold case department, a reporter asked if Archie Allen, the stabbing victim who was the reason the police was in that flat that day, was a paid confidential informant – a possibility that was new to Morck. 

Merritt Lingard’s Disappearance 

Please refer to the summary above.

Graham Finch Murder Case

A young woman named Kristy Atkins claimed she met Finch’s wife at a Women’s Aid refuge two years prior to the trial.

Full recap and review

Just as Morck on the outside made strides to work the case Akram practically forced him to take, Merritt on the inside was also searching within for the reason why she was abducted and kept prisoner. It was an end of month routine for her and her kidnappers, making her guess what she did that led to her current predicament. Her cell was filled with names she had scrawled on its walls, cases she handled as a prosecutor. This time, Merritt guessed that her incarceration was because of Kristy Atkins, a potential witness who came to her and whom she refused to help.

The story circled back to the Graham Finch case, which Merritt was prosecuting at that time. Kristy, who was desperate to get out of prison, told Merritt that she met Finch’s wife at a Women’s Aid refuge two years ago. Having her testify in open court would have bolstered the Crown’s claim that Finch’s wife was trying to leave him. 

Merritt tearfully told her captors that she could have helped Kristy but she chose not to. She thought Kristy was lying. Merritt gave every appearance of a woman who had been broken, who was seeking genuine pardon for her sin, except that we saw in the first episode that Merritt wanted to put Kristy on the stand. Merritt believed Kristy. It was her boss Stephen Burns who did not want Kristy to testify. 

Merritt’s attempt to manipulate her captors into freeing her did not work. They knew she was playacting. Even Merritt’s demand that they just kill her did not move them. As the old lady who looked like she was in charge of the band of two pointed out, if Merritt wanted to die, she would have stopped eating years ago. She would have found a way to kill herself. 

Merritt’s cynical way of trying to win her freedom would not have surprised her former housekeeper Claire Marsh. She described Merritt as a very private person, who kept a line between work and home so that most people did not even know she had a brother until she disappeared. That day, Claire came to work per usual and found that Merritt and William had gone; Merritt did not even bother to tell her they were leaving. Merritt was, as Morck summarised, always tense, kept secrets, rude, had no friends (Akram side-eyeing him as he said this was hilarious; he might as well have been describing himself). That Claire remained in her employ was due to William. 

It was from Claire that Morck and Akram learned more about Merritt’s brother, the police’s sole witness to that fateful day. William was not born disabled, he suffered from a serious head trauma when he was 16, an accident whose details Claire did not know since Merritt kept them a secret. Claire said that whilst William would get confused and lose his temper sometimes, he never meant harm. Claire did not believe Merritt jumped off the boat because if she had, William would have jumped after her. The bond between the siblings was real. Merritt would not have left William like that.  

The original investigating officer of Merritt’s case, Fergus Dunbar, also did not believe Merritt died from falling off the boat. Morck found him working at a church. Dunbar was initially defensive over his work on the case, but eventually cooperated with Morck’s questioning. He said that even if William shoved Merritt into the water, the fall would not have been enough to kill her. It was interesting that Dunbar himself admitted that he was not the greatest officer. Why would he have been assigned to such an important, high profile case? Would the powers that be not have made certain the best detective was in charge of investigating the disappearance of a Crown prosecutor?

William now lived at Egley House, a treatment facility run by Dr. Wallace, who also happened to be his legal guardian. Dr. Wallace refused to allow Morck and Akram to question him. She said William had aphasia; part of the brain responsible for language, expression, and comprehension was damaged. Whilst he could communicate non-verbally in the past, he has regressed over the years. He spent his days drawing pictures. Morck’s casual threats of looking into the institute’s financial records and getting the health department to inspect the facility did not work. What did was Akram’s polite questioning of the receptionist Maggie, who pointed them to Claire Marsh, who still visited William once a week. 

Apart from drawing pictures, William also watched TV, and when he saw his sister’s picture on the news, he chucked his TV out the window and ran off from the facility that had been his home since Dr. Wallace found him in a council care home. 

The one person who believed Merritt killed herself, and told the police so, was her boss, the Lord Advocate himself. Stephen Burns showed up at the Q squad’s charming office, he claimed, to introduce himself, since he knew at some point they would have questions. He had one of his own – why choose Merritt as the first case? Morck danced around that and claimed the file just screamed all wrong.

There was studied politeness in the conversation between the two men. Morck asked his questions casually, even softly, but the vein of interrogation was obvious, especially to a prosecutor like Burns. For his part, Burns gave answers that were straight enough, yet there still was something squirrelly about him. When Burns asked Morck if he thought Merritt was still out there, Morck said he didn’t, but anything's possible. The duel of minds was a good watch, with neither man quite catching the other, but both knowing there was far more to what they were willing to say.

Akram interrupted Morck’s interrogation game because Moira had sprung a surprise press conference to announce the creation of the cold case department. It is impossible to make Matthew Goode look truly bad, but as far as it was possible, Morck did look terrible, like a man who was shot in the head and spent the last four months barely sleeping, trying to stave off anxiety, blaming himself for the death of a young policeman and the paralysis of his partner and best friend. When he read the statement that was shoved to his face, that went well enough. However, when some reporters started throwing questions, the flashbacks began. One reporter brought up something that was new to Morck, the possibility that the first victim at Leith Park, Archie Allen, who was stabbed, was a paid confidential informant. He even asked if the cold case department was created as a distraction to the Leith Park investigation.

Moira put a stop to the questions, and Burns took over the press conference. Morck stumbled out of the building having a full blown panic attack. It was Akram who followed him and calmed him down. 

As Morck and Akram pieced together Merritt’s guarded past, Episode Two also opened the door to a possible institutional coverup of both the Leith Park shooting and Merritt’s disappearance. As the scope of the mysteries grew, I’d like to end this recap with a small scene that demonstrated Dept. Q’s strength and excellent decision to cast Matthew Goode. 

When Morck arrived at the rehab facility for his usual visit with Hardy, he found the bed stripped down, with an aide putting fresh linen. With Hardy’s suicide attempt still fresh on his mind, the camera focused on Morck’s horrified face, on the slow processing that he might have lost his best friend. When he finally spoke, his voice was small, scared. 

Thankfully, Hardy was all right, he was just away likely at physical therapy. The pain and guilt was still on Morck’s face as he watched Hardy lifted up the bed by two male aides. They both knew Hardy would not have wanted Morck to see that. Morck opted to leave instead of hanging out with his beer, but before he did so, he left a copy of Merritt’s file for the one person whose investigative skills he respected. Morck could not help Hardy with his heartbreaking death wish, but he might have left him something that could will him to live.  

Rating: A

Strays

🔎The latest on the Leith Park investigation: Bruce and his team were watching Caroline Kerr, the witness who changed her mind. Morck pointed out that in a neighbourhood like that, everyone knew everyone, and they probably knew Caroline was being watched by the police. He also called out Bruce for not knowing Caroline’s child’s name; he expected her to risk her life for their investigation, but he did not even bother to know the name of her baby.

🔎Like the jerk that he was, Morck interrupted Akram’s prayer in the office. Later, when he was having a panic attack and Akram was calming him down, Akram told him not to interrupt him whilst he prayed. It was good timing, the one time he had Morck’s full attention, and Morck agreed.

🔎Whilst Akram refused to get specific with his past job in Syria, he was open enough about his family, and spoke of his two daughters.

🔎Akram to Morck: ‘I am learning so much from you sir.’ Hahahaha. This was the show’s second reference to Morck’s less than stellar mentorship skills. 

🔎That Akram easily scaled Claire’s fence whilst Morck looked like he could break a hip was another funny scene, but also a visual commentary on how out of shape Morck was given his struggling mental health.

🔎Dr. Wallace was writing a book about William. The episode took time to underline Dr. Wallace’s expensive lifestyle, from her clothing and jewelry, to her well-appointed office, to that spiffy car she drove. 

🔎Morck’s stepson Jasper has been skipping school. When Morck angrily came home (he shut down Jasper’s loud music by turning off the entire house’s electricity), he found that Jasper had a girl in his room. 

🔎Akram went to Rose to ask for records of Merritt’s cases. Rose, who used to be a junior in Morck’s old team, was surprised that Morck allowed Akram to investigate with him. Rose warned Akram that Morck was using him.

🔎Something happened to Rose that relegated her to desk work. She assured Moira she was taking her meds and there were no recent incidents as she insisted it was time for her to get back, but Moira refused.

🔎Morck noticed that Dr. Irving was wearing a wedding ring, which she was not wearing on their first session. Morck’s move was smooth but ineffective, and he left before the session was over. 

🔎Morck’s ex-wife Victoria did not even call after he got shot in the head. He called her, told her that Jasper hated him, that he has been missing school, that he (Morck) was better off alone.

Writers: Chandni Lakhani and Scott Frank

Director: Scott Frank

Original Air Date: May 29, 2025

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