Synopsis from Netflix:

A brash but brilliant cop becomes head of a new police department, where he leads an unlikely team of misfits in solving Edinburgh’s cold cases.

Thoughts:

I just finished watching Department Q. It’s definitely not the type of show I would usually watch because of the violence and excessive use of explicit language. Carl, the main character, is not very likable, but I think I have a soft spot for brash characters with a soft spot deep down inside. The main characters are all flawed and broken, and yet there is resilience and strength. The mysteries and how the story unfolded were addictive, and I hope there will be a second season.

Linguistic Notes:

Watching Department Q was an interesting experience for me, especially when it came to the language. The vocabulary was definitely different from what we use in the US. It was interesting how even though it was in English, there were times I just couldn’t understand what the characters were saying. I initially thought that watching a British show would only be about getting used to different accents, but it turns out there’s much more to it than that.

I actually made the mistake of thinking Department Q took place in England at first, but that’s definitely incorrect. While it is a British television series, it’s set in Scotland. Through the dialogue, it eventually became quite clear that there’s a distinct divide between British and Scottish cultures, something I hadn’t fully appreciated before watching the show. I started to notice the differences in both the accents and vocabulary between British and Scottish English – they weren’t just different from the US, but from each other as well.

One thing that really stood out was the amount of cussing in the show. It left me wondering if that’s how people commonly speak there, or if it was a stylistic choice for the series, similar to how some US shows use strong language.