I did not expect a TV show called Murderbot to be quite so relatable. On the surface, the Apple TV Plus sci-fi comedy is a somewhat generic futuristic story about a group of humans exploring a dangerous planet with the help of a security bot that’s designed to protect them. The key is the perspective: the story is told from the bot’s point of view, and that bot is really going through it. It’s experiencing free will for the first time and struggling with the ramifications of that, making it anxious, awkward, anf addicted to streaming television. It may be built to kill — but it’s just like me.
The show opens on Muderbot’s (Alexander Skarsgård) awakening. While seemingly idle and working security at a mining facility, internally it’s actually hacking away at the chip that governs its free will. These bots, called sec units (which is short for security unit) are hybrids, powered by AI and with bodies that are a mix of machine and organic material. But they also have to do whatever they’re told thanks to something called the governor module. Somehow Murderbot manages to disable this and then — well, he’s free, but only kind of. It’s illegal to have a sec unit without a working module, punishable by an acid bath, and so Murderbot is forced to pretend it’s still intact so as to not die and lose its newfound freedom.
Eventually, the bot is picked up by a group surveying an alien planet who need a sec unit for insurance purposes. They pick the cheapest model (at this point, Murderbot is a refurbished unit, far from top of the line). However, they also come from a part of the galaxy that is morally against the idea of sec units, viewing these machines as a form of slave labor, which creates an interesting dynamic. While Murderbot is trying to hide all of the elements that show it’s a sentient being with thoughts and feelings and interests, the crew around him slowly start treating it more like an actual human being.
While all of this plays out, Murderbot serves as a narrator, which is important; since it’s trying to keep its true self hidden, the only way to really know what’s really going on is to hear it from the bot itself. Skarsgård’s somewhat stilted delivery fits the bot perfectly. It sounds like someone who is trying to sound human. It’s a little awkward and clunky, which is what makes it so fitting.
What really makes it work, though, is just how funny and relatable Murderbot is. It hates humans — one of the first things it says is that people are “assholes” — and is terrified of basically every social interaction. At one point, Murderbot weighs the pros and cons of getting an acid bath versus making a speech in front of the rest of the crew, and later it’s forced into the most devastating of all situations: prolonged eye contact. It’s also constantly trying to avoid its responsibilities so that it can watch all of the streaming shows it’s downloaded, and uses its surveillance powers to follow of the various romantic entanglements happening at the camp. In fact, much of its behavior is derived from soap operas, where it quotes lines in moments of drama because it’s not sure what else to say. Skarsgård’s dry delivery of these quips is the highlight of the show.
As you’d expect, the charade doesn’t last forever, and eventually the two sides grow into each other. Murderbot becomes more and more comfortable being an autonomous, thinking being, while the research crew slowly starts to understand what Murderbot actually is, and begin treating it like, well, another member of the group (even if some of them remain suspicious).
Image: Apple
It’s not an especially deep exploration of the concept of free will, but rather a sort of strange and awkward coming-of-age story. Murderbot may be a hulking killing machine, but its arc towards becoming an actual person is both hilarious and relatable, filled with awkward social interactions and important self revelations that feel more high school drama than space opera. It’s heartwarming watching it not only grow into itself, but find the right people to allow for that growth.
And it does it all while doing a decent job at being a security unit, fighting off Dune-style sandworms and other malfunctioning bots. These sci-fi elements would be drab and forgettable on their own, but they become hilarious when viewed from Murderbot’s perspective.
Murderbot also fills in a hole in Apple’s growing library of science fiction. While it has century-spanning epics and near-future nightmares and grim dystopias, it’s all pretty serious stuff. There aren’t a lot of laughs. And while Murderbot explores some important issues surrounding artificial intelligence and free will, it does so with a sense of playfulness and charm, and just the right amount of awkwardness.
Murderbot starts streaming on Apple TV Plus on May 16th.
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