What is Dept. Q's IQ Score?

Dept. Q has an IQ Score of 143/200 on TV Intelligentsia's Intelligence Quotient framework, placing it in the Stimulating tier. The score breaks down to 37/50 Cognitive Stimulation, 29/50 Educational Value, and 43/50 Craft & Quality.

Is Dept. Q educational?

Dept. Q is moderate on educational value, 29/50 on TVI's rubric. Some learning happens, but it isn't the show's primary work.

How does TV Intelligentsia calculate IQ Score?

TV Intelligentsia's current published formula is round((Cognitive Stimulation × 0.4 + Educational Value × 0.35 + Craft & Quality × 0.25) × 4), scoring titles from 0 to 200 across five tiers. TVI publishes a three-dimension breakdown only when those values reproduce the displayed composite. The framework is published at tvintelligentsia.com/methodology/.

Dept. Q , IQ Score 143/200

Dept. Q has an IQ Score of 143/200 on TV Intelligentsia's Intelligence Quotient rubric, placing it in the Stimulating tier.

By Jordan Robinson, MD, MPH·Updated 2026-07-23·Methodology

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143/ 200

Stimulating

Consistently challenges the viewer and rewards attention

Score Breakdown

Cognitive Stimulation/50

Educational Value/50

Craft & Quality/50

IQ = round((Cognitive × 0.4 + Educational × 0.35 + Craft × 0.25) × 4) · How we score →

What these dimensions mean

Cognitive Stimulation: how much the title demands of your mind, its structural complexity, ideas, and sustained intellectual engagement.
Educational Value: what you take away, across academic content, emotional intelligence, critical thinking, life skills, and knowledge transfer.
Craft & Quality: production excellence in service of the work, its direction, writing, performance, and aesthetic intent.

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Why you should trust this score

Scored under Jordan Robinson, MD, MPH

Physician and founding editor. Maintains the adult catalog against the published rubric and reviews the rubric application.

Methodology

Published rubric, v1.3

Formula

round(C × 0.40 + E × 0.35 + Q × 0.25) × 4

Database scale

2,587 titles, version-controlled

How we stay independent. We accept no studio money. We pay for our own streaming subscriptions. Our reviewers see no sponsor data, no affiliate revenue, and no screener access in exchange for coverage. More about how we work →

The TVI Take

Scott Frank relocates Jussi Adler-Olsen's Danish cold-case novels to Edinburgh, with Matthew Goode as a damaged detective exiled to a basement unit reopening abandoned files. Frank builds the case through interrogation and character rather than incident, and the show treats the lead's trauma as part of the investigation instead of decoration.

The patient construction and the ensemble around Goode place it among the stronger crime dramas of its year.

Where to Watch

Stream