The six hippie scientists from the non-corporation planet that Murderbot (Alexander Skarsgård) is tasked with protecting on their mining mission are as follows:
- Mensah (Noma Dumezweni), the admired mission leader, parent of seven, and terraforming expert who is secretly prone to panic attacks
- Pin-Lee (Sabrina Wu), the non-binary lawyer and Dr. Arada’s spouse
- Arada (Tattiawna Jones), the biologist who is secretly in love with Dr. Ratthi
- Ratthi (Akshay Khanna), the space travel expert who is secretly in love with Pin-Lee
- Bharadwaj (Tamara Podemski), the geochemist and soap hoarder, and
- Gurathin (David Dastmalchian), an augmented human who can interface with data systems but not as good as Murderbot
The camera feeds around their little habitat are constantly monitored by Murderbot, though it doesn’t care about their interpersonal actions or emotional distress since those are not its responsibility. Their feelings and wish to discuss them more importantly distract from watching its shows. It’s thanks to a scene from “The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon” that it dropped its helmet and showed its face to Arada after she and Bharadwaj were attacked in the previous episode. Gurathin immediately realises this is outside of a SecUnit’s normal abilities, and everyone is creeped out. But what can they do? For one thing, on Preservation Alliance AIs are equal to humans. For another they won’t be picked up for another month and even if help is sent for it is a week away.
The shoddy maps supplied by the company haven’t identified all the threats on the planet, whether by accident or design. So there’s only one thing for it: a road trip in their little shuttle, which everyone calls the hopper. Though when Mensah and Bharadwaj take all necessary precautions, this doesn’t mean bringing Murderbot along. The effects of this sequence, which Mensah peeks over a sand dune to see why a creature similar to the one which attacked Bharadwaj didn’t attack her, are beautifully stunning in their simplicity. The fact that Mensah takes the time during her trip to express concern for Murderbot is important proof of her empathy, and of course highly irritating to Murderbot. What he’s worried about is that her discovery is either so dangerous, or so valuable, that either way it’s extremely bad news for our plucky little team. And that’s without the bad news revealed in the final twist.
The antagonism between Murderbot and Gurathin is also extremely funny, especially since they are resemble each other more than the others in the expedition. Mr. Skarsgård is howlingly funny in their big scene, with microexpressions at odds with the train of thoughts we hear in voiceover. The disgust with which he says the word “sex” as if it is choking on it is a total joy. Mr. Dastmalchian also has a very good line in expressing physical discomfort and distrust, not because he wants to but because he thinks he has to. Brothers Paul and Chris Weitz (who again co-wrote the episode, with Chris directing this time) understand the sarcasm and snarky comments that men who feel powerless make constantly down in the bones. What is interesting is the choice to make Murderbot play fair. When Gurathin asks it to put its helmet down, it does without the slightest remark. And when Gurathin makes an incredibly awkward attempt at an interrogation, Murderbot respects his game, though its discomfort at being spoken to is clearly a problem.
Though the other subplot – in which Arada, Pin-Lee and Ratthi sign a contract to officially become a throuple – is probably going to be worse. The sexuality fluidity on display here is great! Openness to non-traditional relationships is still unusual on television! But if you are alone on a strange planet very far from home, is it a great idea to alter your sexual relationships, even if everything is open and above-board and a contract has been signed? It sure isn’t!
The set and costume designs, which emphasize gray and orange colours and hexagonal shapes, are a nice throwback to the heyday of seventies sci-fi without feeling retro. The little interplay when Pin-Lee calls a former partner of their crazy, leading Arada to frown and correct, “She was dysregulated,” shows a very fresh and casually modern attention to mental health issues. These first two episodes have set up the ground rules, the characters and the stakes with a masterful ease that’s matched by the funny performances. Teenagers will eat this up like free candy, but I suspect the true market is those adults who only read books marketed to teenagers. While sometimes it’s super fun, all adults know it’s very dangerous for free candy to be the only thing you consume. Like Murderbot says, what could possibly go wrong?
Murderbot is now streaming on Apple TV+. New episodes air on Fridays.
Learn more about the show, including how to watch, at the Apple TV+ site for the title.
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