TV Obsessive
This week, on The TV Obsessive Podcast Episode 102, Caemeron and Ryan discuss the first two episodes of Murderbot. But first, in the news:
- Max is set to be renamed HBO Max
- Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has been pushed to 2026
- Release dates for The Bear and Alien: Earth
- The Office spinoff is called The Paper
- Krysten Ritter will join Daredevil: Born Again Season 2
- Michael J. Fox will be in Shrinking Season 3
- The Buffy reboot has cast its Slayer
On Murderbot S1E1, “FreeCommerce” & S1E2, “Eye Contact”
Written and directed by Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz
Alexander Skarsgård plays a robotic security unit (SecUnit) that has grown tired of protecting humans, but its Governor Module requires that it obey human commands. Eventually, the SecUnit is able to overwrite the module and gives itself the name Murderbot.
To avoid capture and being destroyed, Murderbot hides this information, instead filling its time watching television and waiting for it next assignment. The Preservation Alliance—which does not actually believe in using SecUnits because it represents slavery—reluctantly rents Murderbot so their terraforming project will be funded.
When two of the human members of the mission are injured by a giant alien before Murderbot can get rid of it, Dr. Gurathin (another member of the team) suspects something is wrong with their SecUnit because it displayed empathy and compassion for one of the injured team members.
The planet the Alliance is working on proves to be glitchy and has problems correlating to their maps, which the team can’t explain. The team tries to make contact with another survey team, but we learn they are all dead on the other side of the planet.
Meanwhile, Murderbot, who is a refurbished unit, has unexplainable flashbacks to a violent massacre.
- Thoughts on the style, humor and narration
- What does Murderbot want?
- Noting the mysteries the premiere sets up
Next Time on The TV Obsessive Podcast…
We continue our coverage of Murderbot with a look at Season 1 Episode 3.
