Don’t read too much into the name. There is not a huge amount of murder in Murderbot, but there’s plenty of thinking about it. At the heart of this comedy sci-fi — based on the Murderbot Diaries books by Martha Wells — is a synthetic lifeform (Alexander Skarsgård) that has had it with humans.

 

This lifeform is a fleshy artificial being tasked with defending humans, who treat it like crap. A governor module in its system prevents it from making any choices of its own, but when it overrides its governor, it gains free will. Its first act of independence is to name itself Murderbot, because it sounds cool. Alas, even as master of its own mind, Murderbot cannot seem to free itself of humans and their tiresome, illogical ways.

 

Keen not to immediately expose its new sentience and risk destruction, Murderbot allows itself to be sent on an interplanetary mission with a bunch of bickering hippie scientists. New to this whole ‘making your own’ choices thing, it tries to work out how to go its own way but finds itself starting to bond with its largely useless team.

Developed by Paul and Chris Weitz, Murderbot is a fun spin on the typical ‘robot goes wrong’ tropes. This one would rather like to kill all its crew, but it never seems quite the right time. As the supposedly safe planet reveals itself to be riddled with monsters and other baddies, Murderbot’s instinct is to help the humans. The show plays cleverly and lightly with themes of what makes us human. The scientists are even less liberated than Murderbot, who grows fascinated by their lack of purpose and resistance to doing anything but what they’re told.

 

Like its title character, Murderbot often seems undecided about what it wants to be. With its short episodes — around 25 minutes — and workplace-comedy set-up, it primes you to expect a sitcom, but it doesn’t have sitcom rhythms or structure. It’s plot-light, and its comedy is less in jokes than Murderbot’s observations of humanity. It is, by its nature, largely about just watching people exist in their myriad peculiar ways. Longer episodes may have given more room to flesh out the supporting cast and deepen the story rather than needing to rush to a pre-credits cliffhanger.

Skarsgård is always lots of fun in the lead, delivering his frequently violent opinions on his crewmates in deadpan voiceover. He’s particularly good in the fourth episode, the season’s best, when Murderbot’s circuits go haywire and he thinks he’s in an actual space sitcom. It’s a flash of a goofier, wilder direction this show could go in if it carries on beyond this season. Then, Murderbot could be a killer.

As a comedy, it’s not especially funny, but an intriguing premise, weirdo mood and enjoyable performance from Skarsgård carry it over the line.

 

Boluwatife Adesina
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Boluwatife Adesina is a media writer and the helmer of the Downtown Review page. He’s probably in a cinema near you.