Now that Dept. Q Season 2 is confirmed, it must address these 5 questions left unresolved in Season 1

Dept. Q Season 2 ( Image via YouTube /  Netflix )
Dept. Q Season 2 ( Image via YouTube / Netflix )

Since Dept. Q Season 2 is now officially announced, and most viewers are reminiscing about the first season with a mixture of emotions. Although it provided suspense and a good storyline, it did leave behind confusing gaps and elements that seemed unresolved. These loose ends have kept everyone online discussing, with fans questioning whether they were lapses, intentional ambiguities, or merely narrative selections left open to future explanation.

With Season 2 looming, it's time to dissect the most important questions that stood out in Dept. Q Season 1. From motive to investigative sense, these are the five loosest threads that viewers are hoping will finally receive their day in court. Whether or not the show decides to explain them explicitly or leave the mystery in place, these issues are at the core of the Dept. Q Season 2 anticipation.


How did Lyle manage to kidnap Merritt on the ferry in Dept. Q Season 2?

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One of the most debated scenes in Season 1 was Merritt’s abduction on the ferry. Lyle sneaks up behind her, covers her head, and drags her away, yet she doesn’t recognize him, even though they shared a past. Fans flagged this as implausible, especially since his mother conveniently distracted Merritt at that exact moment.

Others propose that the scene could have been written in this manner to illustrate Merritt's trauma and panic, which can warp perception in dangerous situations. Others consider it a huge narrative omission. If Dept. Q Season 2 returns to this detail, which will serve to build on whether this was an example of psychological realism or an instance of forced plot convenience.


Why did Lyle murder Sam immediately before Merritt disappeared?

The killing of the actual Sam, just one day before Merritt went missing, made some people very suspicious about Lyle's reasons. Some of the fans considered that he might have wanted to kill Sam so that he could impersonate him without danger, while others were suspicious of the coincidence of it all. It gave the scheme a less premeditated and more haphazard appearance of clearing the way.

Here too, vagueness can be intentional. By not making Lyle's motives clear, the series left doubt as to whether he acted out of fear, on impulse, or after thinking it through. Nevertheless, most feel Dept. Q Season 2 needs to go back and look at this scene, for it determines how one thinks about Lyle as a character, was he a mastermind or just careless?


Why did investigators not inspect the hyperbaric chamber sooner?

The delays in the investigation surrounding the hyperbaric chamber incurred a lot of criticism. In spite of various clues leading towards Merritt's location, Carl and his team didn't go there until later. For investigators being depicted as sharp and methodical, it didn't seem consistent. Fans would normally refer to it as a plot convenience and not police work.

Of course, there are some defenders who say that crime thrillers frequently employ delayed discoveries in order to generate suspense, and Dept. Q Season 1 was no exception. Nevertheless, this fact was such that audience members would wish that Dept. Q Season 2 confirms or explains why an otherwise clear lead was disregarded. Without it, it runs the risk of being one of the weak points of the show.


What motivated the local officer to shield Lyle and misrepresent Harry?

The local officer's purpose continues to be one of the most opaque subplots. He seemed to protect Lyle from repercussions and even manipulated the tale involving Harry. His actions in covering for Lyle have been interpreted by fans as corruption, indebtedness, or personal loyalty, but the show never saw fit to clarify.

Leaving this undeveloped could have been strategic, since the overall theme of systemic breakdown permeates the investigations. But most hope Dept. Q Season 2 will bring answers, because this subplot has implications for the case's overall believability. Was the officer actually corrupt, or was his action motivated by other stressors? Viewers still crave answers.


Why didn't Merritt know Lyle, considering their common history?

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Maybe the most obvious unresolved issue is why Merritt failed to recognize Lyle, even though they were close in the past. The two were described as having been intimate, making her failure to identify him seem improbable. Some of the fans opined that physical changes accounted for it, with others considering trauma-triggered memory blocking.

This is the most critical problem for Dept. Q Season 2 to solve, because it has a direct impact on the validity of the main conflict. If Merritt's inability to acknowledge him was a deliberate creative decision to illustrate how trauma plays with memory, it must be explained. Otherwise, it can become interpreted as a plot hole that undermines her entire narrative.


Each of these five questions was a moment when Season 1 had fans split between interpreting ambiguity as artistic choice or as storytelling error. Some of these dangling threads may have been left open by design to build suspense, while others compromised the plausibility of the storyline from a fan perspective.

With Dept. Q Season 2 is on the horizon, and hopes are high that some of these holes will be filled in. Whether the solutions come explicitly or are inferred, resolving them would enhance the show's overall cohesion and give closure to arguments that have kept fans debating since Season 1 concluded.

Even if open-endedness is part of the narrative, these questions will frame how viewers assess the path Dept. Q Season 2 takes.

Also read: Netflix orders Dept. Q Season 2 after strong debut, with key cast returning

Edited by Zainab Shaikh