Murderbot review: Apple TV+'s sci-fi series delivers thrills and comedy
Alexander Skarsgard (left) is a cyborg guard and David Dastmalchian a scientist in Murderbot, showing on Apple TV+. PHOTO: APPLE TV+
Murderbot (M18)
Apple TV+
★★★★☆
Poor Murderbot. The titular cyborg guard has secretly hacked his obedience circuits and become a sentient being with free will. But he does not long to escape slavery, nor does he want to become human. All he wants is to be left alone to watch soap operas.
His human masters are a group of scientists with the survival instincts of infants, who muddle around a planet filled with elephant-size centipedes and other dangers, forcing him to rescue them over and over.
That is the premise of American novelist Martha Wells' The Murderbot Diaries books (2017 to 2023), which the Apple TV+ streaming series Murderbot has maintained.
The Weitz brothers, Chris and Paul, are the show's creators. They bring the same laid-back drama-comedy energy seen in their 2002 movie adaptation of Nick Hornby's 1998 novel About A Boy.
Murderbot's first season, which premiered on May 16, is a faithful adaptation of All Systems Red, the 2017 novella that launched the book series.
Here are three reasons to binge the science-fiction action comedy.
Accurate, funny satire
The narrator in both the book and the show is a security unit, or SecUnit for short, who calls himself 'Murderbot'. Played by Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgard, the unit observes quietly but judges harshly. To his eyes, his human masters are emotionally weak, needy bags of meat.
The series is grounded in a workplace sitcom set-up – the grumpy nerd main character forced to get along with a bunch of kooky colleagues.
The story milks that premise by making the scientists goofy Silicon Valley stereotypes – giddy optimists who discuss their feelings too much for Murderbot's liking.
The misanthropic robot secretly calls them 'hippies' because he is frustrated by their touchy-feely work style and preoccupation with gender-fluid, polyamorous relationships. Decisions take forever because consensus must be present. That – and the group hugs and singalongs – makes him roll his mechanical eyes.
Murderbot himself is a parody of masculinity. He hates emotions in real life but, like many men, is addicted to melodramatic entertainment that makes for hilarious show-within-a-show interludes.
Noma Dumezweni in Murderbot.
PHOTO: APPLE TV+
Strong performances and set design
Apple TV+ has built up a storehouse of quality fantasy and science-fiction content, from Silo (2023 to present) to Severance (2022 to present) to Foundation (2021 to present). These shows, and Murderbot, look good – money has been spent on sets, props, locations and digital effects.
Casting is also strong. Skarsgard is surrounded by solid actors, including John Cho, who plays the pompous starship captain in Murderbot's favourite soap opera, Sanctuary Moon. David Dastmalchian as a scientist who suspects that Murderbot has free will and Noma Dumezweni as the team leader provide credible supporting performances.
No mystery, no problem
Too often, science-fiction shows are propelled by a Big Mystery or Big Twist. What lies outside the silos in Silo? Why does the employer in Severance require employees' brains to be compartmentalised?
That form of storytelling often leads to disappointment – the final unveiling must feel momentous yet inevitable – and many fail to hit the mark.
Murderbot ditches sci-fi mysteries in favour of workplace drama-comedy tinged with corporate espionage and spiced up with the thrill of occasional attacks by house-size insects.
It is a low-stakes, often rambling affair that relies on the ensemble of characters bickering good-naturedly – when they are not busy trying to bed each other or fighting giant bugs.
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