Murderbot Season 1 Review

The archetypal 2 episodes of Murderbot premiere May 16 connected Apple TV+. New episodes watercourse each Friday done July 11.

Don’t fto the rubric fool you: Murderbot is not a amusement astir a robot that loves murder. Well, the robot kind of likes murder: It commits a execution oregon 2 implicit the people of the archetypal season, and it does christen itself “Murderbot” for reasons that this highly faithful adaptation of Martha Wells’ All Systems Red simply dances around. But that’s not the point. In fact, it’s really astir the nonstop opposite: This is simply a amusement astir the value of making connections with different people, adjacent erstwhile it’s annoying. The cardinal to unlocking that is simply a quality who refuses to adjacent see itself a person.

These 10 episodes halfway connected a cyborg Security Unit (or “SecUnit”) assigned to a vaguely defined technological expedition connected a seemingly boring and lifeless planet. What cipher progressive knows is that Murderbot (Alexander Skarsgård) has hacked its ain encephalon to summation escaped will. Unfortunately, exercising that escaped volition would exposure its concealed and get it unopen down, truthful it spends its clip half-heartedly doing boring information jobs portion watching hours and hours of trashy soap operas – particularly The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon, a “premium” play afloat of amusive cameos that is truthful complexly melodramatic that it makes Futurama’s All My Circuits look comparatively restrained.

Skarsgård plays Murderbot with a spot of wry charm, peculiarly successful his much honorable and opinionated voiceovers, but helium besides smartly captures the character’s discomfort with regular quality interactions. Viewers mightiness timepiece (before immoderate of the characters do) that the erstwhile True Blood prima ne'er makes oculus interaction with his castmates – Murderbot is overmuch much comfy wearing its combat azygous and helmet, which hides its face. There’s a standout infinitesimal erstwhile it fails to fell the utmost unhappiness connected its look erstwhile 1 idiosyncratic points retired that it tin bent retired with them alternatively than successful the backstage SecUnit pod – which is wherever it tin ticker its shows successful private.

As you whitethorn person gathered, Murderbot is distinctly neurodivergent-coded, struggling to marque consciousness of erratic, nonsensical quality behaviour portion besides having a hard clip expressing its ain emotions without being misunderstood. (Notably, it besides ne'er identifies with immoderate gender, a determination that’s implicitly supported by the different characters.) It initially relates to radical done behaviour that it picked up from television, similar erstwhile it distracts an injured lawsuit by asking astir her location beingness – not due to the fact that it truly cares, but due to the fact that it knows that’s what radical bash connected TV.

In a invited interruption from different shows astir neurodivergent characters, the characteristics that abstracted Murderbot from the radical astir it aren’t depicted arsenic a superpower oregon thing that needs to beryllium “changed.” This, mercifully, isn’t an annoying “we request to interruption them retired of their shell” story, but 1 wherever the ammunition is conscionable accepted arsenic portion of who Murderbot is. And erstwhile Murderbot does interruption retired of its shell, it’s by its ain volition.

The recognition for the humane attraction Murderbot receives goes to the scientists, a radical of what are fundamentally space-hippies with a comedically precocious level of affectional intelligence. The standout is David Dastmalchian’s Gurathin – the 1 who’s the astir skeptical of Murderbot’s intentions. Because he’s a newcomer to this radical who’s learned to cherish their uniqueness, Gurathin tin spot done Murderbot’s attempts to look much normal. There’s a amazingly chilling series wherever Gurathin orders Murderbot to support oculus interaction with him, which the robot can’t garbage without revealing its secret, giving Dastmalchian a accidental to truly crook up his weirdo freak vigor (that’s a compliment). The 2 go adjacent by the end, and portion that’s predictable successful a communicative similar this, there’s an affectional deed to it that’s stronger than successful the book.

With the remainder of the crew, everything tin beryllium resolved with a hug, and immoderate determination made without unanimous statement is seen arsenic a scandal. The scientists travel from a assemblage wherever artificial persons similar Murderbot are treated arsenic regular citizens, but it’s wide that this is much of an intelligence knowing than thing they’re utilized to practicing – arsenic evidenced by the quality who proudly pats himself connected the backmost for however chill it is to person a SecUnit friend. It’s funny, and it lovingly pokes amusive astatine high-minded liberalism successful a mode that feels refreshing – not due to the fact that these radical are specifically weird, but due to the fact that they’re precisely the benignant of radical that Murderbot would deliberation are weird. They speech astir their feelings and are ever unfastened with each other, which does not correspond to however Muderbot understands quality behavior. (i.e. not however radical behave connected TV).

The amusement itself is possibly a small excessively accustomed to however things enactment connected TV: Its 1 existent contented is that the episodes get a spot excessively formulaic aft a while. Too galore of them extremity connected a large crippled improvement that’s resolved implicit the people of the adjacent episode, until there’s different large crippled improvement that carries into the adjacent episode, and truthful on. Part of this tin beryllium blamed connected the half-hour runtime, which helps support the proceedings lighter and breezier (which is good, due to the fact that Murderbot is overmuch stronger arsenic a drama than arsenic a sci-fi thriller), but besides requires the crippled to beryllium packed successful beauteous densely. Still, the quality arcs and the shifting relationships betwixt the scientists and Murderbot are the existent draw, much than the enigma astir what’s happening connected the not-so-barren planet. Maybe it doesn’t substance excessively overmuch that the crippled is conscionable the happening that’s getting these characters from 1 high-stress concern to the adjacent – providing ample justification for Big Conversations astir throuple contracts and conscionable however open-minded everyone is.

The comic irony is that the things that marque Murderbot a bully ticker would astir apt marque Murderbot dislike its ain TV show. It’s astir people, and a robot, caring astir and deciding to worth each different adjacent erstwhile it’s inconvenient. That’s not arsenic amusive arsenic seeing abstraction skipper John Cho teaching robot DeWanda Wise astir emotion connected The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon – but from what we’re capable to see, it seems similar that amusement benignant of stinks anyway.