Murderbot Season 1 Review: Deadly and Deadpan Sci-Fi Comedy
In Murderbot, Alexander Skarsgård plays a security cyborg who just wants to be left alone to watch his stories.
It’s hard to see a show titled Murderbot and not want to see what is going on with that. Then you realize that it’s airing on Apple TV+, which has a solid track record with sci-fi shows, and the interest increases. Then add David Dastmalchian and Alexander Skarsgård to the mix, and it basically becomes required watching. While season 1 feels a bit thin despite being just ten episodes, there is plenty here to enjoy in Paul and Chris Weitz’s adaptation of the Martha Wells books.
Skarsgård plays the titular Murderbot, a refurbished cyborg Security Unit, or SecUnit, that hacked the module that required it to follow human directions. Despite naming itself Murderbot, it cosplays as a fully functional SecUnit so as not to be melted down into scrap and disintegrated tissue. It’s not a huge fan of humans, preferring instead to check the perimeter so it can watch its favorite shows like Sanctuary Moon.
Typically, Murderbot’s disdain for humans would be reciprocated by the clients that it works for, but in this instance, it is partnered with an extremely empathetic group of environmental scientists who want to create some kind of bond with it. Crew leader Mensah (Noma Dumezweni) is a mom at heart, and that carries over into how she treats the people she works with, including the not-quite-human SecUnit.
The lone holdout in full acceptance is the enhanced human, Gurathin (David Dastmalchian). He has had negative dealings in the past with The Company, the corporation that created the SecUnit. Despite Gurathin’s hesitations, Mensah and the rest of the crew trust Murderbot. Married couple Pin-Lee (Sabrina Wu) and Arada (Tattiawna Jones) are busy trying to figure out what to do with Ratthi (Akshay Khanna), who is desperate to become a third. And the kind Bharadwaj (Tamara Podemski) is dealing with PTSD after she was nearly eaten by a hostile animal on the planet.
Honestly, the biggest downfall of Murderbot is that there isn’t quite enough story to stitch it all together. With only ten episodes, nearly all under 30 minutes, a tight story should be relatively easy to pull together, but it still feels empty when the season wraps. But this also doesn’t feel like a strict character study like The White Lotus, so by the end, I just felt like I was missing something.
That said, Skarsgård is so charming in his lack of charm as the SecUnit that Murderbot absolutely has some appeal. Its desire to just be left alone to watch its favorite shows, coupled with the way we see it using aspects of the show to better understand and communicate with the rest of the crew, feels incredibly relatable. Nearly all of the humor lies at Skarsgård’s feet, and he consistently delivers with his droll affectation. This works whether it is simple disdain for the stupidity of the humans, its adoration of what it labels Premium Quality Entertainment, or if it’s blowing the head off of a villain. Skarsgård’s deadpan delivery is fantastic and carries the show.
The other standout is Dastmalchian, and every scene that he and Skarsgård share on screen is fantastic. Dastmalchian is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors and adds an automatic level of interest in whatever project he’s working on. His wariness of the SecUnit works, especially as we understand more of Gurathin’s backstory. He could just be the internal baddie, but instead, he is a layered character that we care about by the end of season 1.
Visually, Murderbot is a ton of fun. It has a retro-future vibe that is fantastic, and the visual effects for the monsters are well done. And it may be a small thing, but the animation in the opening credits is just phenomenal and sets the tone of the show perfectly. After years of television shows abandoning opening credits, I appreciate a well-crafted title sequence.
While Murderbot season 1 doesn’t quite reach the heights of some other Apple TV+ shows, there is plenty here to make it an enjoyable show for sci-fi fans. And at least a few are going to see this as Premium Quality Entertainment.
Rating: 3.5/5
The first two episodes of Murderbot air on Apple TV+ on May 16.