The gripping saga of Dept. Q Season 1 finale wrapped up an enthralling season filled with unexpected twists, shocking secrets, and superb sleuthing by DCI Carl Morck (Matthew Goode) and his team, who eventually solved the mystery of Merritt Lingard’s (Chloe Pirrie) disappearance.

How did this nine-episode crime series on Netflix wrap up? Was Merritt recovered safely? Did she reunite with her brother William (Tom Bulpett)? Were those responsible for her abduction brought to justice? And did DCI Morck, along with Akram (Alexej Manvelov), Rose (Leah Byrne), and Hardy (Jamie Sives), manage to emerge victorious?

Buckle up, Dept. Q fans. The eventful Season 1 finale of Scott Frank’s adaptation of Jussi Adler-Olsen’s novel series didn’t disappoint.

Curious about how the first season of Dept. Q concluded? Decider provides an insightful breakdown of the Season 1, Episode 9 finale. Continue reading for a detailed account of who abducted Merritt Lingard and their motives, how DCI Carl Morck and his team cracked the case, and other pivotal moments from the season finale. Be advised, significant Dept. Q spoilers are ahead.

Who Kidnapped Merritt Lingard On Dept. Q? And Why?

First things first: If you have yet to finish Dept. Q Season 1, but are desperate to know who kidnapped Merritt Lingard and why, we’ve got the answer. As to be expected, Merritt’s kidnappers play a major role in the finale, so you’ll want a refresher.

Early on in the season, viewers learned that two people — a man and a woman — had been holding Merritt captive and torturing her in a hyperbaric chamber for four years. Not even Merritt knew who took her or why until later in the season when the big reveal came. Turns out, Ailsa Jennings and Lyle Jennings kidnapped Merritt to get revenge for the death of their late son/brother Harry Jennings, the boy who allegedly beat up Merritt’s brother William when they were teens. But that’s not all! When Lyle Jennings showed his face to Merritt through the window of the hyperbaric chamber, she realized that Lyle was the man she knew as Sam Haig. Lyle concocted an elaborate plan to pose as Sam Haig, the journalist who gained Merritt’s trust and had a romantic relationship with her. AHH!!!!!

Who Is Lyle Jennings? And What’s His Connection To Sam Haig?

Dept. Q‘s finale opens with Carl and team watching a decades-old tape of young Lyle Jennings being interrogated after his brother’s death. In the chilling footage, Lyle revealed that his mother regularly physically and emotionally abused him and Harry, and would even lock them in the hyperbaric chamber for days. Lyle was also in disbelief of his brother’s death, and the tape revealed that he’d been following Sam Haig, a boy who was at Godhaven correctional facility with him and resembled Harry. We also learned that Sam was the person who kicked Lyle in the eye.

Rose’s extensive research also revealed there was no record of Lyle Jennings after he was transferred to the Enhanced Personality Disorder unity at a psychiatric center. However, she did find an L. Jennings with an address in Longay (right across from Mhòr) who also worked for the ferry. Rose spoke to the landlady and was waiting on L. Jennings’ driver’s license to see if they got their guy. But they weren’t the only ones investigating…

After hearing audio of Merritt’s concerning 999 call that placed from Ailsa’s phone, Detective Cunningham showed up on Ailsa’s doorstep to inquire about the call, the bruise on her face, and the whereabouts of her “dangerous” son, saying, “I warned him. I told him exactly what would happen if I caught him around here again.” Cunningham gave the sense that he had a longstanding relationship with the Jennings family and knew far more about Lyle’s situation than we were led to believe earlier in the series. Despite his concern, he got back in his police car and drove away… almost. Haunted by that 999 recording, Cunningham got out of his car, investigated the Jennings family property, and stumbled upon Merritt screaming for help in the hyperbaric chamber. At first, Cunningham appeared horrified. But when Lyle showed up by his side, we learned the officer wasn’t as surprised by the Jennings’ ties to Merritt’s disappearance as he should have been.

“Boy, tell me I am not looking at what I’m looking at. Tell me that is not Merritt fucking Lingard. Tell me you remember our deal,” Cunningham said. Four years ago, Lyle told Cunningham that Merritt accidentally fell overboard on the ferry, and the officer convinced himself that what was done was done. When asked to keep quiet again, however, Cunningham refused, so Lyle beat him to death with a hammer in front of Merritt.

What Really Happened To William On Dept. Q?

Meanwhile, Carl asked William and Claire down to his office to talk through the same revelation Lyle would soon share with Merritt. Harry didn’t attack William all those years ago. William heard a noise in the house, hit Harry thinking he was an intruder, and Lyle responded by beating William bloody. In present-day, after seeing Lyle’s driver’s license, William confirm he was the same man in the bird hat he saw on the ferry and outside of their house, so Carl and Akram raced to question Ailsa Jennings on the whereabouts of her son.

What Happened To The Real Sam Haig?

As a clean-shaved Lyle was packing his bag and prepping to flee the property, he took a photo of himself at Godhaven down from his mirror and flashed back to meeting a man, the real Sam Haig, as adults. Sam apologized for hurting Lyle’s eye and asked his permission to write a book about their time at Godhaven. Before Sam left, he invited Lyle to go rock climbing with him at Cullen Crag, which Lyle used to take him down. In an effort to trap Sam, Lyle showed up at the climbing site one day and intentionally caught his acquaintance’s eye. Sam thought he was stealthily following Lyle to Cullen Crag without him realizing, but it was all part of Lyle’s plan to catch Sam off guard, attack him, and stage his death by rolling him off of the mountain.

Does Merritt Lingard Die In Dept. Q? Or Does Carl Rescue Her In Time?

While the mother/son duo were content with torturing Merritt for four years, the time had come to finish her off once and for all. They turned off everything in the control room except the chamber’s pressure, hid Cunningham’s dead body in the trunk of his cop car, and fled the scene, leaving Merritt to die of high pressure suffocation while listening to a looped recording of herself saying, “I firmly believe that those who commit a violent crime don’t ever truly get away with it. The court might set them free, but be it conscience, karma, or the universe, they are ultimately one way or another punished for what they’ve done.”

As the heat rose and pressure mounted, Merritt’s physical and mental states further deteriorated. She braced for death and began hallucinating the young Jennings boys, her younger self, and her parents. With time running out, Carl and Akram arrived on scene, unknowingly almost got shot by Ailsa, and were saved by the bell — or in this case, a call from Rose, who learned from Lyle’s YO’s file that he once locked a teenage boy in a hyperbaric chamber for several days. So who’s to say him and his mother wouldn’t do the same to Merritt?

After realizing a portion of the Jennings business, Shorebird Ocean System (SOS), was declared a hazmat site four years ago around the time of Merritt’s disappearance, the partners raced to investigate the site. They found Cunningham’s body along with a trapped, barely conscious Merritt. But as they raced to stabilize the hyperbaric chamber’s pressure in the control room, Lyle returned and shot at Akram. In a meaningful move — especially given the way the series began — Carl leapt in front of his partner and took a bullet for him. Just when it seemed like the two were doomed, Akram whipped out a knife, stabbed Lyle in the neck, and fatally shot him with his own gun.

With minutes to spare, Hardy told his pals how to turn down the pressure, and Merritt was rescued using a hyperbaric stretcher. After failing to escape authorities, Ailsa shot herself. And after his major win, an exhausted Carl returned home where she found Martin and Jasper squeezing therapeutic tennis balls at the kitchen table alongside Rachel (Kelly Macdonald).

Three months later, Merritt visited Moira’s (Kate Dickie) office to thank her for reopening the case and shared that she was headed back home to Mhòr with William to reconnect with their dad. After taking time off to heal himself and secure funding for his department, Carl returned to work as well with Rose, Akram, and Hardy, who ends the season by screaming “What the fuck” upon seeing the large staircase that leads down to their new office.

Who Shot Carl Morck And Hardy?

A loose end that wasn’t neatly tied up in Season 1 is the Leith Park shooting. The finale saw Moira (Kate Dickie) struggling to move on from the case, but after learning the team had a solid connection between the victim (Archie Arran Allen) and P.C. Anderson, she was able to let go a bit. After following up on claims that the victim’s daughter called in a wellness check, and learning no such daughter existed, a whole new line of inquiry about Anderson’s relation to the crime opened — thanks, of course, to Carl. So stay tuned to see if the case is addressed again down the line.

Dept. Q Season 1 is now streaming on Netflix.