Who is Sam Haig in Dept. Q and how is he tied to Merritt Lingard?

Netflix's Dept. Q presents a knotty mess of past damage, pilfered identity, and generational culpability around a bone-chilling mystery that revolves around missing prosecutor Merritt Lingard.

It is created from Jussi Adler-Olsen's Danish noir novels and reimagined by The Queen's Gambit's Scott Frank.

Dept. Q sets Copenhagen aside and uses Edinburgh as the backdrop where some past-it detective Carl Mørck heads a cold case team that's looking into Merritt's mysterious vanishing.

Although the case seems hopeless at first glance, the investigation quickly reveals a principal figure who plays a pivotal role in unscrambling the mystery, Sam Haig.

At first he appears to be a cameo player, Sam Haig's name surfaces in episode five as a person connected to Merritt's history.

But as Dept. Q investigates further, it is apparent that Sam is more than an aside in the narrative; he is the missing piece of the equation.

The twists that arise following his unveiling not only redefine the team's perception of Merritt's vanishing but also reveal a sinister plot devised by someone sitting in plain sight.

Sam Haig in Dept. Q is a young writer who was murdered by Lyle Jennings, who then stole his identity to get close to Merritt Lingard and orchestrate her abduction.

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What was Sam Haig's relationship with Merritt Lingard in Dept. Q?

In Dept. Q, Sam Haig is introduced as a young author who reportedly had a romantic relationship with Merritt Lingard just before she went missing.

The romance, previously played down as a rumor, takes a focal point in the investigation when surveillance film catches Merritt at a hotel two days prior to her disappearance, reportedly with Sam.

This revelation flips the case in a direction that implies Merritt might have gone voluntarily with someone she knew.

But the deeper Carl Mørck and his team investigate Sam Haig's past, the more discrepancies turn up. Sam was allegedly writing a book about his experience at Godhaven, an old prison facility, and had gotten back into Merritt's circle of friends at that time.

What had started out as a coincidence soon becomes suspicious. It's ultimately discovered that Merritt had met Lyle Jennings, Sam's alleged companion at the hotel, years before through her close friendship with his brother, Harry.

That common past, tainted by tragedy, is the setting for a far more nefarious plot.

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What really happened to Sam Haig in Dept. Q?

During a heart-wrenching twist in episode nine of Dept. Q, audiences discover that Sam Haig was not Merritt's covert lover or escape accomplice, he was a victim.

The individual who had inserted himself into Merritt's life as Sam Haig was actually Lyle Jennings, who killed the actual Sam and took his identity.

This discovery redefined all that the investigators had thought they knew. In a flashback, the show shows Lyle attacking Sam in a rock-climbing gym, brutally beating him and making it look like he died in an accident while climbing.

He then appropriates Sam's property, such as his ID and keys, and starts impersonating him.

By impersonating Sam, Lyle was able to approach Merritt and gain her confidence, eventually tricking her into captivity. His rationale was personal, he held Merritt responsible for the death of his brother Harry.

Years prior, Merritt and Harry were going to escape together. But after Harry burgled the Lingard house in order to steal valuables to finance their flight, he was inadvertently attacked by Merritt's father, William. Although William survived, the attack chain reaction caused Harry to run away and end up dead by jumping off a ferry.

Lyle's sorrow turned to anger and became an active revenge, and Sam Haig, someone he had known at Godhaven, proved to be a handy pawn.

Lyle considered Sam an easy target, someone close enough to imitate but distant enough that his vanishing act would not raise suspicions right away.

His impersonation of Sam was deliberate, enabling him to fool Merritt and those who were around her.

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Interested viewers can watch Dept. Q on Netflix.