‘DEPT. Q’ ON NETFLIX
   
The benefit of streaming series is the lack of necessity to jump right in within days of its launch. Netflix, among other streaming services, curates its new series to allow time for the binge-watch experience.


   

“Dept. Q,” much like other police procedurals, may be consumed in the short order of however quickly one wishes to watch all nine episodes. This drama series, set in Scotland, is a worthy candidate for a marathon commitment.
   
The main character, Detective Chief Inspector Carl Morck (Matthew Goode), is a miserable misanthrope. If he were a physician, his bedside manner would be no more pleasing than that of Jack the Ripper. His police colleagues think of him as a jerk, only in words expressed profanely.
   
The series opens at a crime scene where Morck is joined by detective James Hardy (Jamie Sives) and a patrol officer to examine a man stabbed in the head. A masked man appears from the shadows and starts shooting.
   
The patrol cop’s body camera captures the shooting spree, resulting in his death, with Hardy being paralyzed and Morck surviving a bullet passing through his neck. A few months later, Morck is ready to return to work after going through a medical evaluation.
   
Not having been humbled by a near-death experience, Morck is still a pain to his superiors. His boss, Moira Jacobson (Kate Dickie), finds out that a new department is being set up to handle cold cases. What better way to not deal with Morck than to send him to a basement office.
   
Meanwhile, during a high-profile murder trial, prosecutor Merritt Lingard (Chloe Pirrie) is floundering during the proceedings and losing the faith of her superiors. She’s also being threatened by anonymous text messages.
   
The prosecutor disappears on a ferry boat ride, and her mentally disabled brother (Tom Bulpett) who is along for the journey offers no clues. The timing may seem odd, but Merritt’s vanishing turns out to be a cold case.
   
At Morck’s office, boxes of cold cases show up, and his assistant Akram (Alexej Manvelov), a Syrian tech contractor, ends up picking the case of the woman who went missing without a trace four years ago.
   
“Dept. Q” is a gritty crime thriller, and as such, it goes down some dark alleys, which frankly seem suitable terrain for the grumpy detective, who on occasion still has to endure some counseling from therapist Dr. Rachel Irving (Kelly Macdonald). 
  
The primary case being investigated by Morck and Akram, who are joined by ginger-haired Rose (Leah Byrne) as a result of being sidelined from her job as constable, takes a lot of twists and detours.
   
While the case work is acutely intense and thorny at times, what really works best here is driven by complex characters, from Morck’s brash arrogance and biting sarcasm to Akram’s probing efficiency and Rose’s pluck.
   
There is another new streaming series involving a cold case department at the Los Angeles Police Department, with a somewhat analogous premise of a troublesome detective banished to the bowels of police headquarters for a similar assignment. More about that in a future column.

‘WE WERE LIARS’ ON AMAZON PRIME
  
In Amazon Prime’s “We Were Liars,” the Sinclair family, ruled by the media magnate Harris Sinclair (David Morse), includes three adult daughters and their offspring who enjoy the life of East Coast royalty during the summer months on their private island.
   
A terrible accident happens during “Summer 16” when Cadence Sinclair Eastman (Emily Alyn Lind) has a terrible near-death drowning near a rocky shoreline, resulting in a severe case of amnesia.
   
Prior to the accident, Cadence spends the summer with her best friends who call themselves the “The Liars.” The group consists of cousins Mirren Sinclair Sheffield (Esther McGregor) and Johnny Sinclair Dennis (Joseph Zada), and friend Gat (Shubham Maheshwari).
   
Cadence’s mother Penny Sinclair (Caitlin FitzGerald) is recently divorced. Mirren’s mother Bess Sinclair (Candice King) is estranged from her husband, and Carrie Sinclair (Mamie Gummer) has an addiction problem.
   
When “Summer 17” arrives, Cadence is desperately trying to find out about the cause of her brain injury, and no one is willing or able to shed light on what really happened. 
   
Meanwhile, Cadence had moved past the platonic stage with childhood friend Gat, whose Indian heritage doesn’t sit too well with Harris. The test of “Summer 17” is for Cadence to get answers, which are not forthcoming.
   
What’s more interesting than teenage angst and mischief are the strained relationships of Carrie, Penny and Bess, who must face unpleasant truths about their privileged heritage.
   
When a character in the last episode says she’s not into fairytales any more, that’s a feeling that rumbled through my mind in the early stages, which is one argument for “We Were Liars” to have clocked in like a two-hour movie.
   
A dynasty of rich white people cavorting during idle summers on a private island off the Atlantic coast holds not much interest over the long haul as things become a bit tedious and repetitive. 

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.