Latest news with #Murderbot
Geek Girl Authority
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Geek Girl Authority
MURDERBOT Recap: (S01E04) Escape Velocity Protocol
Murderbot Season 1 Episode 4, 'Escape Velocity Protocol,' is an action-packed, high-octane, hilarious and heartbreaking installment. Alexander Skarsgård kills it here. He deftly captures our eponymous sentient construct's damaged state and its nuanced feelings toward the humans it serves. The episode skillfully balances humor and heart while delivering that jaw-dropping cliffhanger. RELATED: Read our recap of the previous Murderbot episode, 'Risk Assessment' Murderbot, 'Escape Velocity Protocol' We open in the Threshold Pass Fabrication Center, which is part of the Corporation Rim. It's time to see how the sausage is made, as it were. The lab technicians there are hard at work creating sentient constructs, aka SecUnits. It seems the techs are mostly indentured servants. One tech has six years left of their sentence, while their pal has much longer. They talk about not 'surviving' this ordeal. Our titular bot (Skarsgård) narrates as we watch the construction process. It sings the praises of SecUnits and how they're carefully constructed (ahem), versus the random jumble of DNA and cells in humans. However, these workers toil in inhumane conditions, often cutting corners due to exhaustion and lax oversight. You can't half-ass making SecUnits. What if the one you create goes rogue one day? One lab tech teases her trainee, claiming that SecUnits incessantly go rogue and always go after the trainee who made it. The trainee zeroes in on the head of our SecUnit, which is in a jar like strawberry preserves. He tells it to f*ck off. RELATED: Alexander Skarsgård Goes Rogue in Murderbot Trailer Through the Wormhole Later, we return to the present. The Black SecUnit drags our bot through the halls of the DeltFall habitat. SecUnit shares that it's immobile. Its memory keeps dumping its most used data, which is, naturally, The Rise & Fall of Sanctuary Moon . The theme song for the space opera plays out in SecUnit's head. However, the visuals and audio keep hitting snags, indicating Murderbot's frayed state. MURDERBOT Season 1 Episode 4, 'Escape Velocity Protocol.' Photo courtesy of Apple TV+ Meanwhile, Pin-Lee (Sabrina Wu) tries to hail Mensah (Noma Dumezweni). They inform Arada (Tattiawna Jones) and Ratthi (Akshay Khanna) that Mensah was behind them. Pin-Lee hails her again. This time, Mensah answers. Pin-Lee reminds her of what SecUnit said about returning to the hopper. Mensah orders Pin-Lee and the others to clear the emergency channel because she's attempting to ping Murderbot. Not Part of the Team Next, we see Murderbot on a table. It's clearly not in a state to respond to Mensah's pings. The Black SecUnit (I'm gonna call it Dr. Evil) is preparing it for something. Murderbot wonders if this is how SecUnits die. Its pain sensors are off, so it can feel pain. RELATED: David Dastmalchian Joins Apple TV+ Murderbot Adaptation Meanwhile, Pin-Lee reunites with Mensah and tries to persuade her to return to the hopper with them. Mensah refuses to leave SecUnit behind. Pin-Lee urges her not to anthropomorphize it. It's not part of the team. This hits home for Mensah. She orders Pin-Lee to go back to the hopper and wait there. 'Not cool,' Pin-Lee says, but they obey. MURDERBOT Season 1 Episode 4, 'Escape Velocity Protocol.' Photo courtesy of Apple TV+ Then, Murderbot realizes that Dr. Evil plans to override its combat module like it did for the other SecUnit. Our SecUnit tries to buy itself some time, so it improvises. It starts singing the theme song for Sanctuary Moon . Perfection. Suddenly, Murderbot and Dr. Evil battle it out in a brief skirmish from which the former doesn't emerge victorious. Dr. Evil inserts the device to start the override process of the SecUnit's combat module. So, in 10 minutes, Murderbot will be under Dr. Evil's — or whoever it's working for — control. In the meantime, its system will be more than a bit scrambled. RELATED: New TV Shows This Week (May 25 – 31) Violation of Security Protocol MURDERBOT Season 1 Episode 4, 'Escape Velocity Protocol.' Photo courtesy of Apple TV+ Thankfully, help is on the way. Mensah impales Dr. Evil with a massive drill. She almost vomits after the act. She helps Murderbot to its feet. It repeatedly tells her that it must report her actions to the Company as a 'violation of security protocol.' Aw, it's stuck in a loop. Meanwhile, Pin-Lee returns to the hopper, reuniting with Ratthi and Arada. Our trio debates Mensah's status in the group. Sure, she's technically the leader, but only at the PresAux habitat. When they're away on missions, they're all equal. Mensah's just another crewmember. Too Macho Next, Ratthi makes an executive decision. He grabs a weapon despite having zero weapons training. Pin-Lee accuses him of macho behavior, but Ratthi can't sit idly by while Mensah potentially gets herself killed. Even if he doesn't understand how to fire a blaster or even how to hold it. RELATED: On Location: The Lighterman in Apple TV+'s Slow Horses Then, Mensah leads SecUnit to the habitat's exit. It notices that its input socket feels strange — that's where Dr. Evil put the device. However, Murderbot can't remove it. Its scrambled system returns to what comforts it the most: Sanctuary Moon . Here, it visualizes itself being in the show. Instead of John Cho being the captain, Mensah is in his place. O Captain! My Captain! Jack McBrayer (the Navigation Officer) asks SecUnit why it isn't executing the escape velocity vector protocol. Murderbot responds that it doesn't know how to do that. The bridge crew learns of an incoming hostile starship. In real life, this is Dr. Evil. Apparently, Mensah's drill didn't kill it. Save the Day Meanwhile, Arada and Pin-Lee discuss Ratthi's rashness. Pin-Lee reassures their wife that Ratthi will return unscathed. However, the three of them might need to reconsider their contract. Elsewhere, Ratthi finds the DeltFall habitat. He tries to open the entrance but fails spectacularly. Pin-Lee and Arada decide to join the others to assist. Arada has an idea. RELATED: On Location: The Phoenicia Diner on Apple TV+'s Severance Murderbot admits it should be ready to fight Dr. Evil, but its threat assessment module tells it nothing is wrong. Suddenly, Dr. Evil blasts through the door to the room where Murderbot and Mensah are hiding. It knocks down Murderbot. Mensah fires on Dr. Evil, sending it flying backward. Ratthi watches as Mensah blasts open the side of the habitat, through which she and the SecUnit emerge. They all reunite. We learn that in one minute, the overriding of its combat module will take effect. Mensah scolds Ratthi for not remaining in the hopper. MURDERBOT Season 1 Episode 4, 'Escape Velocity Protocol.' Photo courtesy of Apple TV+ New Hostiles Dr. Evil starts firing at our trio. Murderbot observes that it keeps missing, like 'the crappy shock troopers on Strife in the Galaxy .' Love this Stormtroopers dig. Eventually, Ratthi knocks himself out while shooting at Dr. Evil. We see Murderbot's system informing it that its clients are hostiles. Targets acquired. Dr. Evil is biding its time until Murderbot's combat module is under new management. RELATED: Apple TV+'s Neuromancer Series Uploads 3 New Cast Members Thankfully, Arada and Pin-Lee crush Dr. Evil with the hopper, repeatedly smashing it under the hopper's legs. Like a pancake. Huzzah. With Dr. Evil now dead, Murderbot removes the device from its input socket, but it's too late. The override on its combat module is almost complete. Murderbot informs the group that the carrier is nearly done downloading instructions. There's only one way to stop our SecUnit — they must kill it. I'm Sorry Mensah, Ratthi, Pin-Lee and Arada all protest this. Mensah insists that Gurathin will fix it. They just need to return to the habitat. 'There's no time,' Murderbot declares. SecUnit states it will slaughter all of them in a few seconds if they don't kill it first. So, it grabs Mensah's blaster and apologizes before shooting itself. It collapses as the humans surround it. RELATED: Read our Murderbot recaps Murderbot drops new episodes every Friday on Apple TV+. TED LASSO Season 4 Is Officially a Go at Apple TV+ Contact: [email protected] What I do: I'm GGA's Managing Editor, a Senior Contributor, and Press Coordinator. I manage, contribute, and coordinate. Sometimes all at once. Joking aside, I oversee day-to-day operations for GGA, write, edit, and assess interview opportunities/press events. Who I am: Before moving to Los Angeles after studying theater in college, I was born and raised in Amish country, Ohio. No, I am not Amish, even if I sometimes sport a modest bonnet. Bylines in: Tell-Tale TV, Culturess, Sideshow Collectibles, and inkMend on Medium. Critic: Rotten Tomatoes, CherryPicks, and the Hollywood Creative Alliance.
The Review Geek
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Review Geek
Murderbot Episode 5 Preview: Release Date, Time & Where To Watch
Murderbot Based on the award-winning, best-selling series by Martha Wells, Murderbot follows a rogue security unit that's self-hacked itself free of company restraints, only to find itself horrified by human emotion yet drawn to its vulnerable clients. Played by Skarsgård, Murderbot is forced to 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. If you've been following this one, you may be curious to find out when the next episode is releasing. Well, wonder no more! Here is everything you need to know about Murderbot episode 5, including its release date, time and where you can watch this. Where Can I Watch Murderbot? Murderbot is available to stream on AppleTV+. This is an exclusive original series, meaning this is the only place you're going to be able to watch this show. However, now that Apple is available as an extension on Amazon Prime Video, you can also get a subscription to AppleTV+ that way too! Murderbot Episode 5 Release Date Murderbot Episode 5 will release on Friday 6th June at approximately 12am (ET/PT) / 5am (GMT). Of course, it's really dependent on how quickly Apple upload new episodes. Expect this to be pretty close to the release time though. Murderbot Episode 5 is also available with subtitles from its release, with the chapter scheduled to clock in at 32 minutes long. How Many Episodes Will Your Murderbot Season 1 Have? Season 1 of Murderbot is scheduled for 10 episodes, so we've got 5 more episodes to go after this one. Expect the story to continue developing, with plenty of drama still to come! Is There A Trailer For Murderbot? There is indeed! You can find a trailer for Murderbot Season 1 below: What Happened in Episode 4? We'll have the whole episode covered with a lengthy recap that touches on all major plot points and discusses the chapter with an accompanying review. You can find that link below after release: Read more: Murderbot – Episode 4 Recap & Review What do you hope to see as the series progresses? What's been your favorite moment of Murderbot so far? Let us know in the comments below!
The Review Geek
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Review Geek
Murderbot – Season 1 Episode 4 Recap & Review
Escape Velocity Protocol Episode 4 of Murderbot begins with us back at Corporation Rim at the Threshold Pass in the Fabrication Center. This is where the SecUnits are made, with humans pushed way beyond their capabilities. Of course, anybody who's worked to the bone and not their sharpest are prone to make mistakes, and every part of this process is littered with issues or problems. It's a nice way of showing off the entire production process, throwing shade at factories that make products for thousands and pay their workers pittances. Nice work, Apple! We're then blasted back to the present where MurderBot is dragged up the hallway by its assailant. Dumped on a table, MurderBot bides its time before suddenly singing the Sanctuary Moon theme. It fights off the attacker after, but unfortunately not before it gets the Combat Override Module locked in. Things look hopeless, until Dr Mensah arrives with a mining drill and manages to take out the attacker. As they stumble off the ship, MurderBot is in and out of consciousness, seeing himself on the Sanctuary Moon set and stumbling through the hallways too. Back at the ship, the others are not happy when they find out Pin-wee was ordered back onto the chopper by Mensah. Ratthi grabs a gun and heads out, soon to be joined by the others, as they prepare to fight back. Ratthi hits himself in the head and isn't much help, while Pin-wee manages to drop the ship right on the robot attacker, eventually squashing it. Unfortunately, the damage has been done. The Combat Override Module looks set to switch on and set its sights on them all. Murderbot decides to sacrifice itself though, turning the gun on itself and firing. The Episode Review So Murderbot returns this week with an action-packed episode, one that dives into the morals of this bot and how strangely human it actually is. We still don't know who or what this attacker is and why it's so interested in overriding Murderbot's programming, but I'm sure we'll find out later in the series. The episode works well to add in some drama and comedy in equal measure, interwoven around the story that zips by at a frantic pace. The storyline is nicely structured as a result, and the ending certainly leaves everything wide open for the next episode. Previous Episode Next Episode Expect A Full Season Write-Up When This Season Concludes!
Gizmodo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
‘Murderbot' Uses the Fake TV Series Trope So Perfectly
If you've been watching Murderbot on Apple TV+—and if you haven't, time to get started; episode four drops Friday!—you've no doubt picked up on one of the main character's most charming quirks: it's addicted to the galaxy's trashiest TV. That might seem like an unlikely time-waster for a self-aware security robot that's secretly hacked its consciousness and gained free will. But Murderbot's SecUnit loves nothing more than using its high-tech capabilities to consume thousands of hours of sci-fi soap operas, especially The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon. It's a trait written into the Martha Wells source novel All Systems Red, the first of her Murderbot Diaries series, but the Apple TV+ show has had a delightful time expanding that part of the story so far. The show-within-a-show features some recognizable faces from other genre shows (including Star Trek's John Cho and Agents of SHIELD's Clark Gregg, deliberate casting choices). And while Sanctuary Moon's neon-drenched space travels are far campier than Murderbot's day-to-day routine alongside a human survey team on a desolate planet, the fictional hijinks seen on Sanctuary Moon actually influence the character in making some high-stakes choices. The shows it binges—it's also a fan of other titles, including World Hoppers, Med Center Argala, and Strife in the Galaxy, which it deems 'not premium quality like Sanctuary Moon, but still fun'—also help shape Murderbot's perspective on humans, as well as its interactions with them. Even those on his team who don't openly disdain Sanctuary Moon would be surprised to realize how often he peppers lines from the show into conversations. Though in-universe TV shows are used to particularly good effect on Murderbot, the use of a 'show within a show' in tandem with the main narrative is a familiar trope. It's fun to be fans of characters who also happen to be huge fans of things—think Community's knowingly blatant Doctor Who rip-off, Inspector Spacetime. Good-natured self-parody is welcome, too, like when Stargate SG-1 went behind the scenes of Wormhole X-Treme!, a suspiciously familiar series created by a former Stargate operative who'd had his memory (mostly) erased. On Twin Peaks, most TVs were tuned into Invitation to Love, an exaggerated version of the sort of nighttime soap opera Twin Peaks used as its own foundational springboard. There can also be fake TV shows that exist to remind you how great it is that they don't actually exist. Black Mirror's season six episode 'Joan Is Awful' followed a woman who realizes her rather unexciting life is being made into a TV show against her wishes—then discovered she's wrapped up in a simulation with so many layers it's hard to see where reality actually starts and ends. Similarly, Channel Zero's first season, Candle Cove, concerned a long-forgotten kid's program that broadcasts its way into reality to torment its former viewers as troubled adults. Fake TV shows have also made their way into movies, with Galaxy Quest representing maybe the greatest and funniest example of sci-fi fandom taken to the extreme. The 1999 cult comedy imagines a Star Trek-like show that aliens misinterpret as being real life, leading them to enlist its aging, disgruntled stars to help them fight an intergalactic battle. Hilarity ensues, as do some very unlikely heroics. Last year, another exploration of just how large a single TV show can loom came in I Saw the TV Glow, an eerie fantasy about two friends who bond over their obsession with eerie fantasy series The Pink Opaque. The events of the show come to influence and infiltrate their adult lives, and the end result explores not just the magic of fandom, but also how the strong grip of nostalgia can become twisted into something uneasy and dangerous. Murderbot doesn't dig that deeply. It's focused on entertaining the hell out of you, and in that it succeeds. But there's more to The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon than gaudy costumes and facial hair. It adds some welcome visual texture to a show that spends a lot of time inside its main character's mind. It's a reminder to ignore anyone who snarks on the stuff you happen to like. And it's a testament to the power of sci-fi, made even more enjoyable when a sci-fi character is also a sci-fi fan. To quote Sanctuary Moon: 'Boldness is all!' Murderbot drops new episodes Fridays on Apple TV+.
Forbes
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
David S. Goyer Says He And Christopher Nolan Continue To Collaborate (Just Unofficially)
David S. Goyer— who co-wrote the scripts for The Dark Knight trilogy with Christopher Nolan — said he and his fellow filmmaker to this day float their work by each other even though they haven't officially collaborated on a film in over a decade. Goyer — who is executive producing the new Apple TV+ sci-fi action comedy Murderbot — first collaborated with Nolan when the two filmmakers co-wrote the script for Batman Begins in 2005. After that, Goyer, Christopher Nolan and his brother, Jonathan Nolan (Fallout), co-wrote the scripts for 2008's The Dark Knight and 2012's The Dark Knight Rises. In addition, Goyer wrote the screenplay — based on his and Christopher Nolan's story — for director Zack Snyder's 2011 Superman movie Man of Steel; and co-wrote the screenplay with Chris Terrio for Snyder's 2016 sequel Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, which Nolan executive produced. So, while it's been 14 years since Goyer and Nolan wrote a film together, Goyer said in a recent Zoom conversation to discuss Murderbot that he and his fellow creative not only keep in touch as friends, they also keep each other informed on the current projects they're working on. 'Chris has sent early drafts of [screenplays of] some of his movies or brought me to early screenings and asked for my input,' Goyer said. 'We have another project that we've been working on together that hasn't been made yet that I'm still hoping for,' Goyer added with a smile. "He doesn't develop a lot of things but this is one of the few. I can't say what it is, but I'm hoping he'll decide he's ready to do it.' Now streaming on Apple TV+, Murderbot stars Alexander Skarsgård as a cyborg in the future who self-hacks its own governing module to become self-aware. Resisting its natural urge to kill the 'stupid f---ing humans' he is assigned to protect, Muderbot — as the cyborg calls itself — eventually takes a liking to the expedition group's members, including Gurathin (David Dastmalchian), an augmented human and tech expert with the crew. Dastmalchian's breakthrough role in showbiz came in 2008's The Dark Knight in a small but pivotal scene the Joker's (Heath Ledger) demented henchman, Thomas Schiff. Taken into custody following an assassination attempt on Gotham Mayor (Nestor Carbonell) during the funeral of Police Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb (Colin McFarlane), District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) threatens to shoot Schiff until Batman (Christian Bale) intervenes. David S. Goyer said during our Zoom conversation that he was on set for Dastmalchian's key scene in The Dark Knight and has tracked his career ever since. Following The Dark Knight, Dastmalchian appeared in nearly 100 screen roles in such films as Marvel's Ant-Man trilogy, director James Gunn's The Suicide Squad and Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer, as well as the 2024 indie horror hit Late Night with the Devil. David Dastmalchian in "Murderbot." Apple TV+ 'When I went to the set to visit the filming of Murderbot— it was a scene from the last episode that I won't reveal between David and Alexander — David was very excited because we hadn't talked [while he was working on The Dark Knight] Goyer said he's very excited for viewers to see Dastmalchian in Murderbot because it shows his tremendous range as an actor. 'David often plays the heavy or the psycho and Murderbot shows another side of him in the relationship between the two characters he and Alexander play in this show, which I think is really lovely,' Goyer enthused. Based on Martha Wells' best-selling book series The Murderbot Diaries, Murderbot continues with the release of Episode 4 this Friday on Apple TV+, with six more episodes scheduled to debut every Friday through July 11. Also on July 11, the third season of the sci-fi series Foundation — which Goyer co-created with Josh Friedman — premieres on Apple TV+. In addition, another Goyer co-creation — the fantasy series The Sandman – returns for its second and final season on Netflix with six episodes on July 3 and six more episodes on July 24.
