The complex ending of Netflix's Department Q explained by Chloe Pirrie, who plays Merritt

Cosmopolitan

a day ago

If you're anything like us then you may have spent the last 24 hours going down a complete rabbit hole and binging the entire season of Department Q in one sitting. What can we say? When a thriller has this many surprising plot twists, timeline layers and mistaken identities you need to be sat for nine solid hours.
The new Netflix series follows Detective Carl Morck (Matthew Goode), who is assigned a new cold case department after his previous assignment results in his partner's injury and the death of another officer. He decides to work with his new team and try to solve the case of prosecutor Merritt Lingard, who has been missing for four years.
So what happened to Merritt? And did the team manage to save her? Here's all your important questions about the Department Q ending, answered.
That would be Lyle Jennings and his mother Aisla. During Merritt's teenage years she got into a relationship with a teenage boy called Harry Jennings. The two planned to run away together as they were both unhappy in their own homes. Merritt's wealthy mother who abandoned the family when Merritt was younger, had left a number of jewellery pieces which would earn lots of money.
So the pair discussed for Harry to steal one of the rings when everyone was out of the house. However, Merritt said for Harry not to go through with it in the end, but he did it anyway. When Harry turned up that night, Merritt's brother William was actually there. William hit Harry as he'd broken into the house.
That's when Harry's younger brother Lyle showed up and beat William to a pulp, leaving him in a coma which he then comes out of as non-verbal. Harry takes the wrap for what Lyle did, and as he tries to evade the police he runs away onto a ferry but is caught by the police and falls overboard to his death.
Because of this Lyle and Aisla blame Merritt for Harry's death, and therefore kidnap her on that day four years earlier while she was on the ferry with William. They then take her to tank and get her to try and work out why she's there.
No there's not two Sam Haigs. During the story we're told Merritt was sleeping with a reporter named Sam Haig. But turns out the real Sam Haig knew nothing about Merritt and died in a 'climbing accident' the day before she was kidnapped.
The person who was actually having sex with Merritt was Lyle Jennings pretending to be Sam Haig. Lyle and Sam had gone to a younger offenders institution during their teenage years together. And just before Sam's death they reunited as Sam wanted to write a book about their experience in the institution.
Lyle then impersonated Sam to get to Merritt, who he also appeared to have quite a romantic obsession with. Lyle then also killed the real Sam Haig and made it look like an accident.
They did! During the ninth episode Carl and Akram travel to the island after working out Lyle Jennings was impersonating Sam Haig. They arrive to find the Jennings family land deserted.
They head down into the abandoned warehouse and discover the police officer Cunningham's car and then his dead body stuffed in the boot. The pair then discover Merritt and try to find a way to release her safely from the pressure tank.
Just as they're doing this Lyle comes in and shoots Carl on the shoulder, thankfully Akram manages to throw a knife and injure Lyle, before the pair kill him.
They then managed to save Merritt and have her put in a hyperbaric stretcher so she could be released safely and adjust to the pressure.
Aisla attempted to leave the island but when she arrives off of the ferry the police are waiting for her and so she ends her life with the gun hidden in her car.
Following the case wrapping up, the series jumps three months in the future. We see Merritt at the police station, having spoken to everyone and thanking them for saving her. However, she doesn't get a chance to speak to Carl, who Moira said had taken some time off.
Just as Merritt leaves she bumps into Carl and apologies before moving on. She doesn't recognise him and he doesn't say anything. It's a confusing moment given that Carl saved Merritt's life you think they'd want to speak.
However, Chloe Pirrie, who plays Merritt in the series, revealed to Cosmopolitan UK, the moment is not supposed to be sentimental, with the show's creator Scott Frank always wanting to lean away from that type of ending.
"Scott describes himself as allergic to sentimentality," she explained. "And I think there is something really powerful about not quite giving us what we [the audience] want in that moment. And they kind of miss each other, which is quite human and quite like real in life. It does something slightly unexpected. And I find that quite beautiful in a way."
And we have to agree, it was a really great (if not slightly confusing) moment.
Department Q is available on Netflix now