5 Things About ‘The Departed’ That Made Zero Sense and 5 Things That Made Perfect Sense

Martin Scorsese’s ‘The Departed’ tracks two embedded lives in Boston law enforcement and organized crime. One man is a state police cadet who goes undercover in a South Boston crew while another is a mob plant who rises inside the same police unit. The film draws on the Hong Kong thriller ‘Infernal Affairs’ and features Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Vera Farmiga, and Mark Wahlberg.

The story moves through wire rooms, stakeouts, and coded phone calls as each side hunts the other’s mole. With so many moving parts, some turns in the plot raise logistical questions while others lock neatly into place and support the film’s internal logic. Here are five from each side.

Zero Sense: The microprocessor sting that yields no arrests

The crew brokers a sale of stolen microprocessors to buyers from overseas at a waterfront warehouse while a state police team watches from a rooftop. Cameras, binoculars, and radios are in place, and the crew removes phone batteries to avoid active interception. The buyers arrive, the goods are inspected, and the meeting ends without a recorded exchange that could stand up in court.

Despite extensive surveillance, the operation produces no immediate arrests or charges. The police still do not obtain clear images of all participants or a direct handoff of contraband, and both sides are warned to avoid traceable calls. The result is a high resource deployment that produces limited evidence and no custody at the scene.

Perfect Sense: Only two handlers know Costigan’s identity

Within the department, Captain Queenan and Sergeant Dignam are the only people who maintain the undercover file for Billy Costigan. His criminal record is fabricated to support a believable cover, and contact with command runs through private meetings rather than regular office visits. Phone numbers are controlled and the paper file remains locked away from the broader unit.

This tight compartment keeps his name out of routine databases that a mole could search. It also explains why other detectives treat Costigan as a civilian with a record, why he cannot flash a badge to get out of trouble, and why confirmation of his status requires an in person step with one of the two handlers.

Zero Sense: Madolyn’s overlapping roles with Sullivan and Costigan

Madolyn works as a state police psychiatrist and moves in with Colin Sullivan while he advances inside the Special Investigations Unit. Her work gives her routine contact with officers in the same division where Sullivan serves, and she shares a home life with him while he is engaged in sensitive cases.

She also conducts an intake session with Billy Costigan through a court referral that is part of his cover. Later she begins an intimate relationship with Costigan while still living with Sullivan. This places her in dual relationships with two people on opposite sides of an ongoing criminal investigation and creates a conflict with confidential information from both men.

Perfect Sense: Costello’s status as an FBI informant

Frank Costello is shown meeting a federal handler and supplying information on rival criminals. His work with the bureau explains why prior investigations stall and why he remains insulated from certain state charges. Files and conversations reveal that he passes along select details that are useful to federal priorities while shielding his own crew.

This arrangement clarifies why Costello pushes his people to identify the police mole without fear of an immediate federal takedown. It also accounts for moments where he appears to anticipate enforcement pressure because he knows which operations are drawing attention and which are being left alone.

Zero Sense: Queenan goes alone to the building meet

Captain Queenan schedules a face to face meeting with Costigan at a vacant building and arrives without a visible security detail. He sends Costigan down a stairwell when the crew approaches in the elevator, leaving himself alone on the upper floor while the team he supervises waits off site.

Costello’s men enter, capture Queenan, and throw him from the roof to the street below. There is no uniformed perimeter posted on the block and no immediate tactical response inside the building before the crew disperses. The sequence presents a senior officer at personal risk without clear on scene support.

Perfect Sense: The ‘citizens’ envelope that links Sullivan to Costello

Costello collects personal information from his crew in a small bank envelope marked citizens. The material is used to have someone inside the state police run background checks and report back to him. The envelope becomes a distinct physical object in the investigation because it carries the same marking across scenes.

Later that same envelope appears on Sullivan’s desk while Costigan is in his office. The match between the earlier crew envelope and the one in the police workspace provides a concrete link that shows Sullivan handled material that originated with Costello, which identifies him to Costigan without the need for a spoken confession.

Zero Sense: Deleting an undercover file from the system

After Costello is killed, Sullivan accesses a state computer terminal and removes entries connected to Costigan’s assignment. The deletion on screen shows directories and profiles being erased, which would eliminate official traces that confirm undercover status during routine checks.

Costigan later seeks compensation and documentation for his work and is told that no record exists. With digital entries gone, he cannot rely on standard payroll or personnel systems to verify his role. The erasure leaves him dependent on private proof from his handlers rather than the usual administrative trail that supports undercover operations.

Perfect Sense: Recordings that secure proof against Sullivan

Costigan records phone calls with Costello and stores the audio on a disc. He gives a copy to Madolyn in a sealed envelope with instructions to open it only if something happens to him, which places a record of conversations outside police custody and beyond Sullivan’s reach.

Another copy reaches Sullivan, and when he plays it he hears a call that captures his own role in aiding Costello. The recording ties his identity to the criminal enterprise by voice, time, and content and does not require a witness to recount the conversation from memory. This explains how the truth survives the death of key participants.

Zero Sense: The timing of Madolyn’s pregnancy and paternity

Madolyn tells Sullivan that she is pregnant shortly after she begins seeing Costigan. The scenes place the disclosure and the start of her relationship with Costigan within a tight span of story time, which compresses the window for determining paternity.

The film does not show a medical test, a follow up appointment, or a timeline that clarifies the father. The child is mentioned again briefly without additional information. The unresolved timing leaves an important personal detail without a clear answer inside the events shown on screen.

Perfect Sense: Dignam’s suspension and final return

Following Queenan’s death, Sullivan suspends Dignam for insubordination and orders him off the case. The suspension removes Dignam from daily briefings and keeps him out of Sullivan’s direct control while the unit shifts focus after the failed operations.

In the final scene, Dignam enters Sullivan’s apartment wearing gloves and protective booties and shoots him. His earlier suspension explains how he avoids internal monitoring, why he is not present during the chaotic handovers that follow, and how he still holds information passed to him privately by Queenan.

Share your own picks for what did and did not add up in ‘The Departed’ in the comments.