Recently, I stumbled upon reading the first book in the Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells, All Systems Red. What is great about this book series is that they are short novellas and are small enough to carry around in my jacket pocket. Reiterating the point, the Murderbot books are great for fast-paced storytelling but packed with a lot of substance. The new Apple TV+ adaptation of Murderbot offers a similar approach, with bite-sized 30 to 40-minute episodes.
Murderbot is a sci-fi thriller/comedy about a self-hacking security construct who is horrified by human emotion yet drawn to its vulnerable clients. Played by Alexander Skarsgård, Murderbot must hide its free will and complete a dangerous assignment when all it really wants is to be left alone to watch futuristic soap operas and figure out its place in the universe.
Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz, known for American Pie and About A Boy, together adapted the novella into the series. Chris Weitz is most recently recognized for co-writing Rogue One: A Star Wars Story with Tony Gilroy (Andor). Both are great filmmakers who know how to build out a good ensemble cast. Murderbot continues its great work in assembling a solid ensemble cast.
“The new Apple TV+ adaptation of Murderbot offers a similar approach, with bite-sized 30 to 40-minute episodes.”
Episode 1 dives straight into the main protagonist and narrator of the whole story/series: Murderbot. Skarsgård’s voice lends itself to amplifying the humanity within this robot known as a ‘SecUnit’ in this sci-fi world. Its story begins with it already near the end of its usage life and about to be decommissioned by The Company—an agency that allows other parties to loan out SecUnits to protect its human clients.
The governor module is a special program that forces SecUnits to obey human commands and prevents them from being completely autonomous. But one day, this one SecUnit is able to hack through the Governor module and rename itself to the titular character of the series. While it can now freely watch its favourite shows like the soap opera, ‘The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon’, it still has to look like it is autonomous to fool The Company out of scrapping it for malfunctioning.
For Murderbot’s newest task, it has to protect a research team of scientists, named PreservationAux, at a research outpost on a relatively unexplored planet. The SecUnit describes them as “hippie scientists” who play awfully strange music. Though his first few interactions with them on the planet suggest he prefers them over past abusive clients who did not care about it.
“The first two episodes of Murderbot capture the right tone of mixed comedy styles, both slapstick humour and dark humour.”
When two scientists are suddenly in danger, Murderbot steps in to save the day. However, it has to break some of the Governor module protocols to save them. The research team grows suspicious about the SecUnit, thinking it could be dangerous. Even so, the scientists are more disturbed about the missing fauna survey data that The Company provided. The CGI of the alien creature that attacks Dr. Bharadwaj is very realistic, with its insect-like features. Like something out of Starship Troopers or Helldivers.
And so, Episode 2 delves deeper into the two issues for the humans as one of the augmented scientists, Dr. Gurathin (David Dastmalchian), interrogates Murderbot. Some of the other team members decide to continue their research objectives, but ultimately pivot to improving their communication systems in the process.
Since Murderbot is slated for ten 30-minute episodes this season, the series can hit the same story beats around the same pace as the novella. Where we find Murderbot is a nice introduction for a TV show format versus the novella, which throws readers almost into the thick of it. The two-episode premiere easily hits the first couple of chapters.
The first two episodes of Murderbot capture the right tone of mixed comedy styles, both slapstick humour and dark humour. Those who have seen The Orville will find some connections with this new sci-fi show, providing some silly moments with some heart. But with Murderbot streaming on Apple TV+, the mature themes are pushed further. Viewers can expect some gore, violence, and crude language.
I argue the show does a better job at fleshing out the research team, but does not lack the main SecUnit’s perspective either. Skarsgård amazingly matches the right tone for what I originally envisioned Murderbot would sound like, a bit more handsome in terms of looks. But that is what is great about this space show. Even the characters make remarks similar to what the viewer thinks about the android.
For those looking for their sci-fi comedy fix before Fallout Season 2 drops, Murderbot is a perfect stand-in. Apple TV+ continues to hit the trends in the sci-fi space, with Foundation and Severance. The tight 30-minute episode format matches the energy of its short novel source material. Anyone who is into any of the aforementioned shows will have a good time with this new one.
