The previous episode of Matthew Goode's crime drama on Netflix saw Merritt learning that Sam Haig, who she'd been sleeping with, is dead. And according to her kidnappers, it's because of her. Just add that to the list of people on her conscience. Carl Morck and team also know about Sam Haig now, and follow that thread in their investigation. Here's a recap of Dept. Q episode 4 on Netflix. Spoilers below.
Merritt ignoring Kirsty Atkins has dire consequences
It turns out Sam was a reporter insisting on meeting Merritt to talk about possible corruption at the Crown Office. She refuses to cooperate at first. If you remember back to the first episode, she mentions to her boss Stephen Burns that he didn't let her use a key witness in the Graham Finch trial. Well, that witness turns out to be Kirsty Atkins, which we assumed when we saw that flashback between her and Merritt trying to use her information as leverage.
Kirsty had been asking Merritt for help because she was being threatened, by Finch's men. Though Merritt doesn't help her and the young woman ends up in a coma. The information she had is that she knew Finch's wife as she had come in at a support group for women being abused. But, her information was never able to be used because of Stephen Burns. At the end of the episode, this leads to Merritt agreeing to speak with Sam. So, did Stephen figure that out and is he behind all of this?
Dept. Q investigates the Sam Haig link
Carl and his team start to look into Sam Haig and the circumstances surrounding his death. He liked rock climbing as a sort of therapy and the day he died went up alone, so the assumption is that he fell. Though they don't really learn much else, including from his editor who doesn't have an idea of what he was working on. Ok.
At the paper after questioning the editor, a reporter comes up to Carl and tells him that the dead officer's fiancee has given birth to their daughter, and she blames Carl for his death that day and he should have been the one to die. Carl violently pushes the reporter out of the way and says that he agrees maybe it should have been him. Like, I know this is a fictional show, but how is Carl getting away with treating people like this? Honestly.
As for Akram, Moria warns him about playing police when he isn't one and that he needs to be careful after the incident with the squatters at Merrit and William's home. We also learn that Rose was initially put on desk duty after she suffered PTSD on the job. She was in the passenger side of the car in pursuit of a suspect when a pedestrian was hit because of them. Oof.
The team gets William out
Though there isn't much progress, there is another piece of information the team learns. Merrit and William's mother comes from old money and her family is loaded. The credit card Merritt was using for her hotel escapades can be traced back to a trust account. Though that's where the money trail ends, as well as their mother, Lila Graham's family.
After his sister's disappearance, the money went to William. Unsurprisingly, the woman in charge of the institute he's staying at has been using his money for his care, in a way. Though she's also been using it for herself. Surprise, surprise. Carl, Akram, and Rose take William to stay with Claire and it's a sweet moment to see them reunited for good. Now a new question arises, is Merrit's disappearance in connection to the family fortune?
Be sure to check out all of our episodic recaps of the series, here. Dept. Q is now streaming on Netflix.