Latest news with #COLLECTIVE
Elle
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Elle
'Dept. Q's Chloe Pirrie Reveals The Surprising Change Netflix Made From The Book
It's the show on the tip of the world's tongue, but there are notable differences between Netflix's adaptation of Dept. Q and the novel series by Jussi Adler-Olsen that the nine-episode show is based upon. For the uninitiated, Dept. Q, which is inspired by the first in Adler-Olsen's novel series, The Keeper of Lost Causes, tells the story of Detective Morck in the wake of his attack being assigned to lead a newly-assembled cold case unit. With a Mötley Crüe of unlikely peers, Detective Morck is tasked with his unit's first investigation: the mysterious disappearance of prosecutor Merritt Lingard (Chloe Pirrie) several years earlier. FIND OUT MORE ON ELLE COLLECTIVE Indeed, in a new interview, Pirrie has elucidated a little further about the origins of her character, who, she reveals, is actually a politician in the novel Mercy. While the Merritt Lingard's job in the novels differs from that in the Netflix series, the essence of the character's journey remains the same. 'Ultimately, she's a person whose past catches up with her,' Pirrie said. 'In really, the most hideous terrifying way, that the human brain could imagine. Which is something Scott [Frank, the series creator] is so good at, that thing of crafting a story where you torture the characters in various ways, with their darkest secrets and fears.' That's not the only creative difference the streaming platform made with the books. The novels, which are written by a Danish author, are set in Copenhagen — but the Netflix series was set in and around Edinburgh. It was, in fact, Pirrie's previous role in ITV murder mystery The Victim (opposite her Dept. Q co-star Kelly Macdonald, no less) that fuelled her preparation for her role as Merritt in Dept. Q. 'I did quite a lot of research then [for The Victim] about how it works. And there's all these amazing shows on TV now, like the Murder Trial series, which is about real life cases. And so there's a lot actually out there of footage of people doing this job. It's a very particular job with its own set of rules and social conduct,' she said. Dept. Q is available to stream on Netflix now. ELLE Collective is a new community of fashion, beauty and culture lovers. For access to exclusive content, events, inspiring advice from our Editors and industry experts, as well the opportunity to meet designers, thought-leaders and stylists, become a member today HERE. Naomi May is a freelance writer and editor with an emphasis on popular culture, lifestyle and politics. After graduating with a First Class Honours from City University's prestigious Journalism course, Naomi joined the Evening Standard as its Fashion and Beauty Writer, working across both the newspaper and website. She is now the Acting News Editor at ELLE UK and has written features for the likes of The Guardian, Vogue, Vice and Refinery29, among many others.
Elle
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Elle
Netflix's 'Dept Q' Ending, Explained — And How It Perfectly Sets The Scene For Season Two
Netflix's newest whodunnit, Dept. Q, tells the story of Detective Carl Morck (Downton Abbey's Matthew Goode), a reckless-but-ingenious investigator who has recently returned to work after being shot by an unknown assailant. The nine-episode series, which debuted on the platform on May 29, tells the story of Detective Morck in the wake of his attack being assigned to lead a newly-assembled cold case unit. With a Mötley Crüe of unlikely peers, Detective Morck is tasked with his unit's first investigation: the mysterious disappearance of prosecutor Merritt Lingard (Chloe Pirrie) several years earlier. FIND OUT MORE ON ELLE COLLECTIVE But what actually happened to Merritt Lingard? And what exactly does the ending of Dept. Q tell us about the potential for a second season? The first season of Dept. Q opens with Morck having been shot while investigating a crime, and while the series never directly answers the question of who shot Morck or why they did, he does begin to piece together a theory of his own as the series progresses. Morck believes that the shooting was committed by two criminals who were working to distract from the real crime, the killing of the young police officer. Morck hypotheses that the killer had no reason to return to the scene of the crime nor to flee while Morck and Hardy (Jamie Sives) were still alive — unless it was all a ruse to cloak their real motive. The police, per Morck's suspicions, were lured to the scene of the crime as a trap, acting on a report from a nonexistent daughter of the victim. When Morck poses this theory to his team, he finds it's not met with total disdain and instead, at the end of the series, we see Constable Jacobson (Kate Dickie) assign Hardy to run down the facts, paving the way perhaps for a potential second season. When we first learn of Merritt Lingard's disappearance, we learn that while on a ferry with her disabled brother William (Tom Bulpett), she went missing. What what remains unclear is whether she fell overboard or whether she was pushed. Lingard was spotted having some sort of disagreement with her brother before she vanished; is he somehow involved in her disappearance? Morck instructs his new assistant Akram (Alexej Manvelov) to investigate every possible eventuality. Akram is an IT expert assigned to Department Q to keep him out of Jacobson's hair, but he's also a Syrian expat with a mysterious past — one that makes him a serious asset to the newly formed department. Akram argues the facts from the beginning; that Lingard's body never washed up on any shore, and that she was a high-powered solicitor who could have easily made enemies. Morck then begins uncovering clues: the first being a man wearing a mysterious hat with a bird emblazoned on it, drawn by William Lingard. Through conversations with the Lingards' housekeeper, Claire (Shirley Henderson), and Merritt's boss, Lord Advocate Stephen Burns (Mark Bonnar), the Department Q team becomes convinced that Merritt Lingard was, in actual fact, kidnapped, not knocked overboard. In the hunt for Lingard, Morck and Dickson uncover a crucial clue — she was having a relationship with a now-deceased journalist, Sam Haig (Steven Miller), who approached her about corruption in her department. But the detectives quickly hit a snag, struggling to pin down Haig's movements in the days before his death. They then discover that Haig was having a separate affair at the same time as his dalliance with Lingard (with his friend's wife, no less), which leads them to conclude that he couldn't have been in two places at once, and therefore the 'Haig' that Lingard was seeing was a actually some sort of catfish. Yet all of this somehow manages to tie into the question of how Merritt's brother, William, suffered his life-changing injury. In flashbacks, throughout the series we see young Merritt's relationship with Harry Jennings (Fraser Saunders), the local teenager who would later be accused of beating William into a nonverbal state during a robbery gone wrong. But in the final episodes of Dept. Q, we learn that Harry's antisocial brother Lyle was actually the one who beat William after following him that night. Merritt had sewn the seed for Harry and Lyle's aborted robbery-turned-assault after telling her boyfriend about her mother's jewellery and how it could be the key to them escaping the island. Harry died trying to escape from the police — a death that Lyle and his mother blamed on Merritt. Department Q eventually discovers a relationship between Sam Haig and Lyle Jennings. The pair knew each other as children at an institution for troubled boys, and Jennings latched onto Haig, even calling him by his brother's name. The pair reconnected as adults — and Jennings killed Haig by throwing him from his favourite climbing spot. Jennings then assumed Haig's identity, started a relationship with Lingard and, ultimately, kidnapped her, holding her on the grounds of the Jennings' shipping company, Shorebird Ocean Systems. In a beautiful full-circle way, Department Q comes to the salvation of Merritt Lingard. Morck and Akram then run into a problem: after finding Lyle's mother's address, they realise that they don't know how to depressurise the chamber without killing Lingard. As Hardy explains over the phone how to use the controls, the pair are surprised by takes a bullet in the shoulder for Akram, who then dispatches Lyle Jennings with the help of his own mysterious combat training. Ailsa Jennings flees the scene and shoots herself after being confronted by a police cordon, before Lingard is safely removed from the chamber. We might close the series with Morck returning to work — case closed — but there's plenty more where that came from. We still don't know who shot Morck, and with his partner gaining in strength every day, the Department has a full team assembled and ready to solve more mysteries. Dept. Q was based on a book series by Danish crime fiction author Jussi Adler-Olsen. There are actually 10 books in the series, which follows former homicide detective Carl Mørck, who is put in charge of a cold case unit called Department Q, which suggests that there's plenty more where this came from... Dept. Q is now streaming on Netflix. ELLE Collective is a new community of fashion, beauty and culture lovers. For access to exclusive content, events, inspiring advice from our Editors and industry experts, as well the opportunity to meet designers, thought-leaders and stylists, become a member today HERE. Naomi May is a freelance writer and editor with an emphasis on popular culture, lifestyle and politics. After graduating with a First Class Honours from City University's prestigious Journalism course, Naomi joined the Evening Standard as its Fashion and Beauty Writer, working across both the newspaper and website. She is now the Acting News Editor at ELLE UK and has written features for the likes of The Guardian, Vogue, Vice and Refinery29, among many others.
Elle
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Elle
The Best TV Shows To Watch, Based On Your Horoscope
Have you ever wondered which TV show truly speaks to your star sign? Given that so much of our horoscope can influence the way that we act, think and interact with others, the same can be said for finding stories and characters that align with the way that we see the world, and ourselves. So, whether you're a glamorous Leo, a Taurus seeking opulence in life or a Gemini that lives for the drama and duality, each zodiac sign has a show that fits with its traits, desires and hidden complexities. Below, we detail the only astrological guide to your next TV obsession that you'll need. FIND OUT MORE ON ELLE COLLECTIVE Few shows surpass The Last Of Us when it comes to delivering high emotional stakes, with dramatic storytelling that sees strong characters adopt a survivalist mentality. As a fire sign, Aries pride themselves on being bold, fearless and protective of their loved ones, much like the characters in this series. A true Taurus will never shy away from the finer things in life, whether it's through opulence or romantic love, making Bridgerton a show that aligns with sign's passion for the beautiful things in life. Gemini, it's no secret that you are drawn to the duality of life, you're in touch with your intellect and emotions, which often brings out an unstoppable curiosity within you. You is the perfect thriller that will satiate your need for plots with unexpected turns, mystery and intrigue. As one of the more emotional and intuitive signs, Cancers are all abut tapping into their vulnerable side. What It Feels Like for a Girl will take you on a journey that uncovers the raw emotions of the characters through difficult and honest conversations dynamics. When it comes the fashion, friendship and drama, Leos go big or go home, which deeply resonates with themes of And Just Like That. Blessed with big personalities and interesting lives, the revival of the show connects with Leos' continuous need for personal reinvention. Not much gets past the deeply analytical and detail concious Virgo, who is bound to get stuck into a refreshing crime thriller like Department Q. From beginning to end, the series is filled with deep plots and sharp intensity which make it a no brainer for the order orientated Virgo. Satisfy your inner Libra that craves the beauty, harmony and human connection in life with Nicole Kidman's Nine Perfect Strangers. A show that boasts a luxe setting while the characters aim to find the balance between inner peace and life's chaos will make this a Libra's ideal watch. One of the darker signs, Scorpios are known for being drawn to power, strength and passion, much like many of the themes in The Handmaid's Tale. With storylines that contain rebellion and resistance, it's a show that Scorpios will love. As one of the fire signs, you thrive on all things that allow you to explore your youth and freedom. Not only this, you enjoy challenging authority and understanding the world through lived experiences, meaning a show like Adolescence will speak to your constant search for the truth and life's deeper meaning. There's no denying that Capricorns crave ambition, structure and complex dynamics, making The Better Sister (and its portrayal of characters who are after success) a show they'll not want to miss. This earth sign will be glued to the strong female leads and slow-burn mystery. Aquarians, you're known for your progressive thinking and innovation so it's no wonder that you'd resonate with a show like Black Mirror. Filled with futuristic tech themes that question our morals and society, this anthology series will speak to your humanitarian spirit and curiosity. Perhaps one of the most dreamy and artistic signs, yet emotionally complex, Pisces, you love shows that are set against surreal backdrops, yet don't fall short on portraying layered characters with messy feelings - making The White Lotus the perfect solution.
Elle
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Elle
'Stranger Things' 5: What We Know So Far About The Final Season
All good things must come to an end—even Stranger Things. The hit Netflix sci-fi thriller, which first arrived in the summer of 2016, will conclude with its fifth season, which has no release date yet. The show's creators, Matt and Ross Duffer, announced the news with a bittersweet letter to fans on February 17, 2022. 'Seven years ago, we planned out the complete story arc for Stranger Things,' they wrote. 'At the time, we predicted the story would last four to five seasons. It proved too large to tell in four, but—as you'll soon see for yourselves—we are now hurtling toward our finale. Season 4 will be the penultimate season; season 5 will be the last.' FIND OUT MORE ON ELLE COLLECTIVE After Stranger Things' season 4 premiered in 2022 (with quite the jam-packed finale), the wait for the next and final chapter continues. Here's what we know so far. Season 5 will premiere in November 2025, with four episodes coming out on November 26, followed by three episodes on Christmas, and the finale on New Year's Eve, ending a nearly three-year-long wait since season 4. In May 2023, the Writer's Guild of America voted to strike for fairer wages and other issues facing TV and screenplay writers, such as the use of AI and the 'mini-rooms' that have become the norm, making it far more difficult for writers to earn a living. The Duffer brothers announced via the show's official Twitter account that they would be halting production in support of the WGA and the writers on the picket line, further delaying the release of season 5. 'Duffers here. Writing does not stop when filming begins,' they explained. 'While we're excited to start production with our amazing cast and crew, it is not possible during this strike. We hope a fair deal is reached soon so we can all get back to work. Until then -- over and out. #wgastrong.' The SAG strike, which ran until November of 2023, also delayed production. Stranger Things reportedly resumed filming in January 2024. Production began on Jan. 8, 2024, with writers sharing a photo of the cast gathered together with the Duffer Brothers. Photos taken on Thursday, January 18, and posted by TMZ, show the cast filming in Atlanta, with David Harbour and Winona Ryder coming to set and the kids shooting emotional final scenes for the series. In one picture, Millie Bobby Brown and Finn Wolfhard can be seen having a conversation on top of a hill. Others take place on a radio station set. They reached the halfway point of filming in July, which Netflix announced with a behind-the-scenes video from set. The footage teases a few things: Vecna is back, the kids are in high school, and there are some pretty massive set pieces. The actors also reflect on their journeys with Stranger Things. Millie Bobby Brown says, 'I started when I was 10. I'm not turning 20 years old. Feels very weird.' On Dec. 20, 2024, Netflix announced that filming on the final season had wrapped, sharing some adorable behind-the-scenes pics of the cast and crew. Most of the main cast is expected to return, including Harbour, Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Finn Wolfhard (Mike), Noah Schnapp (Will), Natalia Dyer (Nancy), Sadie Sink (Max), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin), Joe Keery (Steve), Priah Ferguson (Erica), and Winona Ryder (Joyce). And at least one new cast member will join in season 5, as Netflix announced during its 2023 TUDUM event: Terminator actress Linda Hamilton. While announcing the halfway point of filming, Netflix also shared three new additions to the Stranger Things 5 cast: Nell Fisher (Bookworm), Jake Connelly (Between the Silence), and Alex Breaux (Waco: The Aftermath). For her part, Brown is ready to return—but only once more. She admitted to Seventeen that she's eager for season 5 to be her last. 'I'm definitely ready to wrap up,' she said. 'I feel like there's a lot of the story that's been told now. It's been in our lives for a very long time. But I'm very ready to say goodbye to this chapter of my life, and open new ones up.' Brown added, 'I'm able to create stories myself that are important to me and focus on the bigger picture. But I'm really grateful [for the show].' But she was a bit mournful when the end finally came. On Friday, December 20, she shared an emotional video in which she is thanking the cast and crew on Instagram, along with a bunch of pictures from her years on set. 'Isn't graduation supposed to bring relief? Like you're glad to leave behind the teachers and classmates. Not me,' she said in the black-and-white video. 'I am nowhere near ready to leave you guys. I love each and every one of you and I will forever carry the memories and bonds we created together as a family. I love you, thank you.' Brown got teary during her speech and was met with applause and cheers. How do you sum up this epic story, which transcends dimensions and stretches far beyond the borders of Hawkins, Indiana? The Duffers have a plan; we're just not privy to it yet. We do know one thing, though: Expect tears. 'We do have an outline for season 5 and we pitched it to Netflix and they really responded well to it,' Ross Duffer told The Wrap in May 2022. 'I mean, it was hard. It's the end of the story. I saw executives crying who I've never seen cry before and it was wild.' Actor David Harbour, who plays Hopper, had previously confirmed to Variety that he'd learned the season 5 ending and thought it 'quite moving and quite beautiful.' In the Duffer Brothers' February 2022 letter to fans, they added, 'There are still many more exciting stories to tell within the world of Stranger Things; new mysteries, new adventures, new unexpected heroes.' Might that mean a spin-off in the future? 'But first we hope that you stay with us as we finish this tale of a powerful girl named Eleven and her brave friends, of a broken police chief and a ferocious mom, of a small town called Hawkins and an alternate dimension called the Upside Down. As always, we are gracious for your patience and your support.' The showrunning duo also confirmed there would be no 'reset' going into season 5. Matt Duffer told Empire, 'Usually at the end of a season, we tie things up with a nice bow, before a little tease that says, 'Hold on, something is unraveling.' As we move into season 5, we won't have to do that. There won't be a reset from where we finish this season [season 4].' And the Duffers kept their word: Season 4 ends with a cliffhanger, as the Hawkins crew prepares for one last battle with the Upside Down. We can also expect Will Byers to come out. As actor Noah Schnapp confirmed to Variety, 'it's 100% clear that he is gay and he does love Mike,' later adding, 'There's so many different things they have to address. Obviously, we hope for a coming out scene, and I also want to see them address this connection to the Mind Flayer and how that fits into the world. And I've always been wondering, why was Will the first victim and the first one captured?' Vecna isn't necessarily gone for good. Jamie Campbell Bower told NME, 'I don't think he's slunk off licking his wounds in misery. He's rebuilding, and he's out for blood.' He could stronger than ever in season 5. As for Eleven, we don't know what's going to happen to her in the final season, but Millie Bobby Brown seems to know her character's fate, and it's making fans nervous. In March 2024, the actress spoke with Capital FM about the series' conclusion. 'I haven't read the end,' she said. 'I know what happens to my character because I kind of forced myself into the writers room.' 'Basically, I messaged the directors, "Can I come over and have a meeting with you?" And then I came over, and there was a whiteboard,' she explained. 'I just saw my ending and thought, "Oooooh," and then I walked away very slowly.' The internet was nervous about her reaction, believing that Elle may be in for a dark finale. During Netflix's 2025 preview in January, Matt Duffer said that the final season is 'our most personal story. It was super intense and emotional to film—for us and for our actors. We've been making this show together for almost ten years. There was a lot of crying. There was SO much crying. The show means so much to all of us, and everyone put their hearts and souls into it. And we hope—and believe—that passion will translate to the screen.' The Stranger Things writers hinted that there'll be eight episodes when they tweeted a photo of a whiteboard separated into eight columns, each numbered from episode 1-8. They later tweeted the first page of the script for season 5, episode 1 on Nov. 6. It's titled 'Chapter 1: The Crawl.' The episodes will probably be shorter than season 4's super-sized ones—except for the finale. 'The only reason we don't expect to be as long is, this season [season 4], if you look at it, it's almost a two-hour ramp up before our kids really get drawn into a supernatural mystery. You get to know them, you get to see them in their lives, they're struggling with adapting to high school and so forth, Steve's trying to find a date, all of that. None of that is obviously going to be occurring [in season 5],' Matt Duffer said on the Happy Sad Confused podcast in 2022, per Deadline. When it comes to the series finale, 'We're more likely to do what we did here, which is to just have a 2.5 hour episode,' he added. During a preview for Netflix's slate in January 2025, Ross said that 'this is our biggest and most ambitious season yet. It's like eight blockbuster movies.' Netflix teased the episode titles in the video below. Probably not immediately after the events in season 4, if that's what you're expecting. Ross Duffer told TVLine in 2022, 'I'm sure we will do a time jump.' Which makes sense, given how quickly our lead actors are growing up. 'Ideally, we'd have shot [seasons 4 and 5] back to back,' Ross added, 'but there was just no feasible way to do that.' Sure enough, the duo confirmed that there will be a one-year time jump between the events in seasons 4 and 5. Season 5 will be set in the fall of 1987. Yes. We just don't know what it will be about yet. (Though Finn Wolfhard has apparently already figured it out.) 'There's a version of it developing in parallel [to season 5], but they would never shoot it parallel,' Ross Duffer told Variety. 'I think actually we're going to start delving into that soon as we're winding down and finishing these visual effects, Matt and I are going to start getting into it.' Matt Duffer added, 'It's going to be different than what anyone is expecting, including Netflix.' Intriguing indeed. During Netflix's 2025 preview, Matt Duffer teased potential spinoffs. 'There are more Stranger Things stories to tell and in the works,' he said. 'It's a bit early at this point to talk about them, but we're deeply involved in every one—it's very important to us that anything with the Stranger Things name on it is of the highest quality and not repetitive—that it has a reason to exist and always blazes its own path. And also, it needs to basically just be... awesome.' In the meantime, the play Stranger Things: The First Shadow, a prequel about Henry Creel before he became Vecna, is playing on the West End and soon headed to Broadway. Not yet, but so far, we have a slew of behind-the-scenes photos from production above. The writers gave their very first tease of the script. In November 2023, they shared a snippet from 'Season 5. Chapter 1. Scene 1.' This story will be updated. ELLE Collective is a new community of fashion, beauty and culture lovers. For access to exclusive content, events, inspiring advice from our Editors and industry experts, as well the opportunity to meet designers, thought-leaders and stylists, become a member today HERE. Erica Gonzales is the Deputy Editor, Culture at where she oversees coverage on TV, movies, music, books, and more. She was previously an editor at There is a 75 percent chance she's listening to Lorde right now.
Elle
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Elle
Everything We're Expecting From 'Dept Q' Season Two
Currently, the TV circuit has been giving us back-to-back thrillers (The Better Sister, Nine Perfect Strangers and Code Of Silence), and on May 29, Netflix delivered its own offering: Dept. Q. A nine-part series which sees the grouchy Detective Carl Morck (Matthew Goode) assigned to a police department in Edinburgh, where he is tasked with the assignment of solving the cryptic disappearance of prosecutor Merritt Lingard (Chloe Pirrie) who has been missing for four years. Created by American screenwriter, director and producer Scott Frank (Godless, The Queen's Gambit), the series is based on the book series by Danish writer Jussi Adler-Olsen. If like us, you've finished the series already and are keen to know more about the series' potential return for season two, keep on reading below. FIND OUT MORE ON ELLE COLLECTIVE While season two of the series is still yet to be confirmed, a number of the show's cast members have expressed that they'd be more than on board for returning for another round of Dept. Q, which of course, is always a promising sign. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Goode revealed wasted no time sharing his thoughts, 'It's begging for it,' he said, of the series' potential return. Elsewhere, he told Yahoo that there is hope of a second season. 'I was saying to Scott [Frank] the other day, what we really need to do is a season two, and we need to get Alexej into eight weeks of Krav Magar training so the fight scenes in season two can be amazing. It's going to be a sort of Syrian Bourne.' Meanwhile, Frank told the BBC that while the previous seasons that he has worked on were 'meant to be one and done,' Dept. Q has the potential for more. 'There was no more to say but I'd love to do more with this and the next book in the series is even more interesting and relevant.' At the beginning of the season, we see Carl and his former partner James involved in an on-duty shoot-out, which ends in a young police constable dying, his partner paralysed, and Carl scarred for the foreseeable. We have not yet seen who shot Carl but is quite possible that it could be revealed in season two to give more context to his trauma. After Carl saves Merritt's life, the two are unable to properly meet due to Merritt barely being conscious after the ordeal. When she wakes up, she asks to meet Carl to thank him, however, she is told that he is taking time off of work. The two do end up meeting - but not realising who the other is - when they bump into one another by an elevator. Carl does not reveal his identity to Merritt, so she does not realise the significance of their brief encounter. As the series has not been confirmed and Scott has provided little information it's hard to say. However, if he plans on following on with the sequence of the Adler-Olsen's books, the second season would be centred around the second book, The Absent One (the first being Mercy). This would see Carl go on to solve yet another case, whereby he is tasked with solving the double murder of a brother and sister, which occurred two decades ago. While one of the suspects is already in prison for the crime, Carl is not convinced that the case has been adequately settled. ELLE Collective is a new community of fashion, beauty and culture lovers. For access to exclusive content, events, inspiring advice from our Editors and industry experts, as well the opportunity to meet designers, thought-leaders and stylists, become a member today HERE.
