What is Dept. Q's IQ Score?

Dept. Q has an IQ Score of 159/200 on TV Intelligentsia's Intelligence Quotient framework, placing it in the Stimulating tier. The score breaks down to 40/50 Cognitive Stimulation, 38/50 Educational Value, and 42/50 Craft & Quality.

Is Dept. Q educational?

Dept. Q is strong on Educational Value, 38/50 on TVI's rubric, which rates the density and integration of substantive information within the 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 159/200

Dept. Q has an IQ Score of 159/200 on TV Intelligentsia's Intelligence Quotient rubric, placing it in the Stimulating tier.

By Jordan Robinson, MD, MPH·Updated 2026-08-22·Methodology

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159/ 200

Stimulating

Consistently challenges the viewer and rewards attention

Score Breakdown

Legacy score. Published under our earlier workflow, before the current standard took effect in August 2026. A founder reviewed and approved it against our methodology, under a process that does not meet the standard we hold now. What this means →

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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: observable narrative complexity, conceptual density, ambiguity, inference, and sustained intellectual demands in the work.
Educational Value: the density and integration of substantive academic, historical, scientific, cultural, ethical, or practical information in the work.
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, v1.3.1

Formula

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

Database scale

2,606 titles, version-controlled

How we stay independent. Editorial scores are not for sale. TVI may take on paid advisory or research work, but no commercial relationship buys coverage, advance access to scores, favorable treatment, or a change to a published finding. We pay for our own streaming subscriptions, and no reviewer sees sponsor data or affiliate revenue tied to a score. More about how we work →

Correction history

Correction, August 17, 2026: duplicate records for Department Q and Dept. Q were merged. The surviving score changed from 143/200 to 159/200 under the published merge policy. No new viewing was performed.

Read the complete public corrections log →

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.

People & Production Scott Frank · Left Bank Pictures · Netflix 12 connections