Warning: This post contains spoilers for Murderbot’s season 1 finale
Like most great things, Murderbot season 1 has come to an end. The Apple TV+ series started off as a satirical, dark-humored take on the sci-fi genre, and, over the course of 10 episodes, we have developed empathy for a sentient killer android — we even consider him a friend by the end. The finale neatly wraps up a compelling, humorous, and thrilling journey that underscores our best, yet sometimes annoying, human traits.
As Murderbot (Alexander Skarsgård) has proclaimed many times, humans are stupid, yet we care; we care too much. For Murderbot’s sake and ours, his future adventures should have him continually engaging in human affairs, learning and growing, but he’s still a touch critical. I’m glad Murderbot has been renewed for season 2, as it is a joy to watch.
Murderbot Closes One Adventure & Opens Another
In the penultimate episode of season 1, we left off with Mensah (Noma Dumezweni), Gurathin (David Dastmalchian), Pin-Lee (Sabrina Wu), Ratthi (Akshay Khanna), Bharadwaj (Tamara Podemski), and Arada (Tattiawna Jones) coming face-to-face with the shady crew of GrayCris Blue as they try to intimidate the surveyor group for information about their encounters with an alien artifact. Gurathin and Pin-Lee work together to launch the rescue beacon.
Meanwhile, the rest stay back to let Murderbot execute his plan, which fails, and Mensah ends up having an in-person meet-up with GrayCris against Murderbot’s explicit wishes. The initial plan fell through and everyone acted on what they thought was best. Murderbot put himself in a compromising position to do right by his newfound family, but it is their collective efforts for each other that get them to safety. The drama doesn’t stop there. Murderbot and Mensah are in the blast radius for the rescue beacon, and Murderbot makes a decision: save Mensah, no matter the cost.
From beginning to end, Murderbot was thematically sound, the action was effective and paced out nicely.
After they leave the planet, Murderbot becomes in danger of being erased or decommissioned. The situation quickly evolves from being a righteous attempt to hold a mega-corporation accountable for its actions to a mission to save a family member. Murderbot season 1 leaves behind the action and drama for an emotion-driven finale that places the fate of the title character at the center.
The finale is very satisfying as it doesn’t linger on the lawsuit or what happened on that desolate planet; it aims to have a conclusion that sums up the emotional and mental progression of the once anti-human and pessimistic SecUnit. The ending is hopeful — hopeful about what Murderbot will experience next, hopeful that his bond with the surveyor group is an enduring one, hopeful that maybe the audience will stick around for more.
Great Performances Carry The Season 1 Finale Of A Great Show
Murderbot‘s series finale solidifies what is so great about this show — its cast. The production design feels authentic, the pacing is lovely, the set designs are impeccable, the writing is stellar, and the score is on point. However, it is the performances that capture one’s attention.The standouts in the finale are Noma Dumezweni and Alexander Skarsgård as they really turn up the emotional dial of the show. Mensah has watched her team overcome great adversity thanks to Murderbot. While there was tension among the group due to conflicting feelings about the revelation that Murderbot called itself that, and was 100% in control of its actions from day 1, Mensah has developed a feeling of responsibility over the autonomous SecUnit.
Their relationship is almost paternal, which isn’t so different from her relationship with the other members besides Gurathin. Dumezweni’s ability to convey the weight of Mensah’s emotional state and her sincere care for Murderbot is outstanding. In turn, Skarsgård relinquishes much of the robotic movements and adopts a softer presence to illustrate the humanization of his character. Of course, he doesn’t shed it completely, but this is the direction that makes the most sense for the former SecUnit and where we leave him in the finale moments of season 1.
The standouts in the finale are Noma Dumezweni and Alexander Skarsgård as they really turn up the emotional dial of the show.
Murderbot ends in a way that is very consistent with how season 1 developed over its previous nine episodes. It isn’t the most exciting of episodes as the members of PreservationAux are safe, but it is an emotionally heavy one as we witness Murderbot meet a grisly fate. The uncertainty that everyone feels about its safety is palpable, and for a brief moment, all seems well after they are reunited.
However, the finale then returns to the show’s central question: What life can an autonomous android have now that they are really free? Mensah and the other characters are insistent on Murderbot staying with them, ensuring it will be free to do what it wants in the Preservation Alliance (a colony of worlds free from Corporation Rim).
That should be a happy ending, but, surprisingly (maybe not for readers of Martha Wells), the finale hammers the point of the importance that Murderbot makes a decision on its own and not to follow the will of others simply because they want it, and it is a safe option.
Then we say goodbye to Murderbot and PeresvertionAux.
From beginning to end, Murderbot was thematically sound, the action was effective and paced out nicely. The emotional throughline remained strong, and the performances were very well executed. The writing was impressive as it tied every element together neatly. From the dark humor to the heartfelt dialogue, there is a lot to commend, and it’s largely due to the strong foundation that is Martha Wells’ book series and the general appreciation for sci-fi from Murderbot‘s creative team.
This show, and the books on which it is based, are supported by the many, many decades of sci-fi and space operas that have populated pop culture and built the foundation of an expansive genre that both engages in the growth and possibilities of science and technology, while also exploring truly deep and meaningful themes about humanity.
This is the foundation Murderbot is built on, and it is so thoroughly satisfying. It has fun with the genre as a whole and also carves out a space for it to flourish. I couldn’t be happier that the creative team get another chance to give us more Murderbot in season 2.
- Excellent performances throughout the season
- An emotionally fulfilling ending that leaves us wanting more
- Murderbot is a great show on every level
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
