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Ailsa Jennings is the overarching antagonist of the first season of the Scottish Netflix series Dept. Q. Ailsa is one of two captors of prosecutor Merritt Lingard, along with Ailsa's son Lyle, out of revenge for the death of Harry Jennings.
She's portrayed by Scottish actress Allison Peebles.
Biography[]
Ailsa was a long unstable, dangerous matriarch. She flicked lit cigarettes at her husband Clive one night, resulting in him dying in a house fire. Throughout the childhoods of her sons Harry and Lyle, she was violent and manipulative to them both, beating them, giving them silent treatments, and locking them in a hyperbaric chamber in Clive'a abandoned factory. Harry was more persistent in defying Ailsa and refused to give her the submission she wanted. Lyle, however, was the little brother who became so imprinted on the trauma he saw the dangers in his family as "normal", leaving Harry Lyle's primary protector.
Lyle had a long record of animal cruelty, stalking children, assaults, and even nearly killing a boy in the chamber. Ailsa was briefly sectioned for months after her crimes were found out. Harry longed to escape with Merritt, who was his girlfriend when they were kids, so he burgled homes to steal money and valuables to get money to support them both. He was packing things at Merritt's house when her brother William arrived. Lyle had followed them, bludgeoning William to the point of severe brain damage to make sure he didn't see Harry, who he hoped to keep on their home island of Mhòr. Harry made Lyle leave, and Merritt suspected Harry of beating William. The police chased Harry to the ferry, where he fell overboard and died. PC John Cunningham realized Harry was innocent of the assault, burying his mistake and leaving Harry to take the blame.
Ailsa and Lyle blamed Merritt for encouraging Harry to leave and his eventual death. They planned revenge by sending her harassing messages, which drove her to go bsck to Mhòr for answers. Lyle also posed as Sam Haig, a man he met in juvie, to seduce and keep tabs on Merritt, Lyle killing Sam to cover his tracks. When Merritt was on the ferry with William, Ailsa lured Merritt into a vulnerable position, before Lyle shoved her in a car. The mother and son locked Merritt in the chamber, where they told her they were punishing her for someone they hurt and to guess why in a month. When she failed, they'd ask her every month after and keep her for longer as she kept failing, Merritt remaining captive for four years. The Jennings told Cunningham they threw Merritt overboard to intimidate him to not arrest him, and William was placed under the custody of Dr. Fiona Wallace, who drained the Lindgards' money.
DCI Carl Morck was assigned Merritt's case when the cold case department was newly formed. Although her failed prosecution of Graham Finch for spousal murder at the time of her disappearance seemed like a motive, Merritt's past and her activities with Lyle as Sam overshadowed that suspicion. Ailsa continuously kept detectives and Cunningham from looking around the factory, even being prepared to shoot them if they came in when she was home. Merritt was ready to fight back, so when she got pliers to pull out an infected tooth, she sabotaged the chamber to blow compressed air at Ailsa, knocking her out. Merritt crawled out and called the emergency hotline for help, but Lyle stopped her and shoved her back in the chamber. Woth hints from Lyle, Merritt realized precisely why she was there, saying she wasn't sorry Harry was dead and still believing he beat William.
Ailsa and Lyle then left Merritt to suffocate in the chamber, Lyle having killed Cunningham when he found her. Morck and Akram Salim arrived at the factory and killed Lyle to stop him from murdering them and Merritt. Ailsa already took the ferry to the mainland, but police were waiting to arrest her. She shot herself in her head to avoid imprisonment.