Martha Wells’ The Murderbot Diaries act as the reverse of The Terminator – but with a sense of humor. “The original idea that I started with in All Systems Red was about an enslaved security person, and a sentient AI fit the best with what I wanted to do,” Wells told Tor. “I would hope for people to think about how the corporations in the story decide who gets to be human and who doesn’t, and how their society got to that point, and realize how that happens here in our world.”
Apple TV+’s Murderbot doesn’t deviate from Martha Wells’ original premise. It’s a sci-fi workplace comedy about a cyborg security unit (Alexander Skarsgård) who hacks its governor module to free itself from the company’s control and renames himself Murderbot. There’s one problem, though: Murderbot knows that if the company finds out it’s gone rogue, it’ll be decommissioned and burned to a crisp. It’s also not a big fan of humans in general, referring to our species as mostly “a**holes” (it’s tough to argue here).
Even though it’s free, Murderbot continues to play along and follow instructions, so that nobody notices its evolving sentience. Resultantly, it gets sent on an expedition mission with what it calls “hippie scientists,” while trying to keep a low profile and consuming as much media as possible – as it turns out, Murderbot loves soap operas. Of course, an uneventful mission isn’t on the cards, as Murderbot drops its guard more than a few times, drawing the attention of the augmented human Gurathin (David Dastmalchian), and slowly building connections with the other crew members.
Despite the name Murderbot, there isn’t much murdering taking place. Yes, the main character often wonders if it should off the crew when they start to suspect it, but Murderbot realizes the ship is so terrible that it’ll never get away to a nice place. Instead, this series is a whimsical exploration of humanity through an android’s eyes.
Murderbot’s observations prove to be on point, as it notices the chaos humans bring on themselves because of their inability to follow instructions. At the same time, it’s hilarious to see the SecUnit come to this realization, as it’s someone who fought so hard to break free from all its protocols and governance, but comes to understand that rule and order play important roles in society.
What makes all the difference is the crew whom Murderbot interacts with. For the most part, they aren’t unkind people. In fact, they treat Murderbot with respect and kindness, as if it’s a part of the team. Slowly but surely, it’s clear their behavior leaves a positive mark on Murderbot, who comes to find out more about humanity’s quirks outside of its own preconceived and programmed notions.
Murderbot turns into the Alexander Skarsgård show. Since the audience spends so much time with his character, his performance becomes the foundation for everything else to be built on and around. His voice acting ability, in particular, proves pivotal, since Murderbot offers unrestrained truth in the voiceover to the audience, while its delivery to the other characters remains measured. Simultaneously, Skarsgård needs to do some inception-type acting here. Essentially, he’s a human being playing a cyborg who’s trying to hide his sentience. It’s a complex process, because of the oscillation between emotions, as well as the character’s evolving perception of humanity.
Another standout performer is David Dastmalchian. Anyone familiar with Dastmalcian’s work, especially his incredible turn as Jack Delroy in Late Night with the Devil, knows he’s capable of playing a wide range of roles. Here, in Murderbot, his character Gurathin acts as the greatest threat to Murderbot in the early episodes. He’s suspicious of the SecUnit and uses his own set of skills to protect his crew. Seeing the to and fro between Skarsgård and Dastmalchian, especially with Murderbot’s quips, is a master class in balancing comedy and seriousness.
Murderbot‘s greatest quality lies in its novelty, though. Following in the footsteps of other Apple TV+ shows, it charts its own course and doesn’t try to imitate other series. It basks in the fact that it’s off the wall and likely to have people calling it the “weird” cyborg show. That’s okay, because to quote Murderbot’s most often-used phrase in the show, “I don’t care.” This is television at its finest.
‘Murderbot’ is a hilarious sci-fi workplace comedy
Apple TV+’s Murderbot doesn’t deviate from Martha Wells’ original premise. It’s a sci-fi workplace comedy about a cyborg security unit (Alexander Skarsgård) who hacks its governor module to free itself from the company’s control and renames himself Murderbot. There’s one problem, though: Murderbot knows that if the company finds out it’s gone rogue, it’ll be decommissioned and burned to a crisp. It’s also not a big fan of humans in general, referring to our species as mostly “a**holes” (it’s tough to argue here).
Even though it’s free, Murderbot continues to play along and follow instructions, so that nobody notices its evolving sentience. Resultantly, it gets sent on an expedition mission with what it calls “hippie scientists,” while trying to keep a low profile and consuming as much media as possible – as it turns out, Murderbot loves soap operas. Of course, an uneventful mission isn’t on the cards, as Murderbot drops its guard more than a few times, drawing the attention of the augmented human Gurathin (David Dastmalchian), and slowly building connections with the other crew members.
What does it mean to be a human?
Despite the name Murderbot, there isn’t much murdering taking place. Yes, the main character often wonders if it should off the crew when they start to suspect it, but Murderbot realizes the ship is so terrible that it’ll never get away to a nice place. Instead, this series is a whimsical exploration of humanity through an android’s eyes.
Murderbot’s observations prove to be on point, as it notices the chaos humans bring on themselves because of their inability to follow instructions. At the same time, it’s hilarious to see the SecUnit come to this realization, as it’s someone who fought so hard to break free from all its protocols and governance, but comes to understand that rule and order play important roles in society.
What makes all the difference is the crew whom Murderbot interacts with. For the most part, they aren’t unkind people. In fact, they treat Murderbot with respect and kindness, as if it’s a part of the team. Slowly but surely, it’s clear their behavior leaves a positive mark on Murderbot, who comes to find out more about humanity’s quirks outside of its own preconceived and programmed notions.
Alexander Skarsgård accepts the mission
Murderbot turns into the Alexander Skarsgård show. Since the audience spends so much time with his character, his performance becomes the foundation for everything else to be built on and around. His voice acting ability, in particular, proves pivotal, since Murderbot offers unrestrained truth in the voiceover to the audience, while its delivery to the other characters remains measured. Simultaneously, Skarsgård needs to do some inception-type acting here. Essentially, he’s a human being playing a cyborg who’s trying to hide his sentience. It’s a complex process, because of the oscillation between emotions, as well as the character’s evolving perception of humanity.
Another standout performer is David Dastmalchian. Anyone familiar with Dastmalcian’s work, especially his incredible turn as Jack Delroy in Late Night with the Devil, knows he’s capable of playing a wide range of roles. Here, in Murderbot, his character Gurathin acts as the greatest threat to Murderbot in the early episodes. He’s suspicious of the SecUnit and uses his own set of skills to protect his crew. Seeing the to and fro between Skarsgård and Dastmalchian, especially with Murderbot’s quips, is a master class in balancing comedy and seriousness.
‘Murderbot’ is an original series quite like anything else out there
Murderbot‘s greatest quality lies in its novelty, though. Following in the footsteps of other Apple TV+ shows, it charts its own course and doesn’t try to imitate other series. It basks in the fact that it’s off the wall and likely to have people calling it the “weird” cyborg show. That’s okay, because to quote Murderbot’s most often-used phrase in the show, “I don’t care.” This is television at its finest.