In a perfect world, the SecUnit who calls itself Murderbot (Alexander Skarsgård) could just watch television shows and ponder its place in the universe. But no. It has to deal with humans not quite knowing how to act around it, endure their emotional tirades, and even put itself into life-threatening situations to keep them from dying gory, painful deaths. Is there no justice in the galaxy?
The third episode of Murderbot is out now on Apple TV+, and it keeps things rolling right along for the streamer's sci-fi comedy series. Beware FULL SPOILERS for the episode ahead.
Murderbot Episode 3 review: "Risk Assessment"
"Risk Assessment" gives us another short, sweet burst of Murderbot fun, ending in a cliffhanger as Murderbot finds itself in a very dangerous situation. I do love these half-hour episodes, even if I would gladly watch more. The show leaves viewers wanting more rather than overstaying its welcome, and I appreciate that.
This episode stays firmly focused on the mission to see why the other group of surveyors on this alien world aren't responding to communications. The DeltFall group is far better equipped than our intrepid scientists in PreservationAux, but for some reason they have gone totally silent. Surely it's just a comms glitch? Murderbot doubts it, and by the end of the episode, we find out it was right to do so.
The majority of "Risk Assessment" takes place aboard the hopper shuttle, which is ferrying Murderbot, Doctor Mensah (Noma Dumezweni), Ratthi (Akshay Khanna), Pin-Lee (Sabrina Wu), and Arada (Tattiawna Jones) across the planet. Murderbot really wants to keep watching campy TV; in this case Strife in the Galaxy, which is even trashier than The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon. I like that Murderbot is showing us the breadth of the SecUnit's television diet, from its favorite shows to those it considers crap. And as we see later in the episode, even the crappy shows can have an impact.
Murderbot's wish to just keep watching TV is constantly interrupted by the humans on the hopper, Ratthi makes an ill-advised attempt to befriend the SecUnit, a satellite glitch cuts off all communication with their home base, and Mensah thinks she can use the SecUnit to vent about how stressed she is about their mission. If Preservation Alliance wants to stay independent, they need money. And without success on missions like this one, they won't have enough.
That's not Murderbot's problem though, and it does its best to wiggle out of each and every one of these situations. Skarsgård remains excellent in the part. In this episode we come to care a little bit more about each of the humans on the mission, often after they chafing against Murderbot's absolute revulsion at having to deal with them. I felt bad for Mensah when Murderbot noped out of their conversation, even though she was taking advantage of the SecUnit by thinking she could treat it as a captive audience. The character dynamics are growing more interesting.
That's also the case for the characters who don't go on the mission, Bharadwaj (Tamara Podemski) and Gurathin (David Dastmalchian). We only briefly see them back at the habitat, but it's enough for Murderbot to see that Bharadwaj is still suffering from PTSD after nearly being devoured by a giant alien worm. As for Gurathin, it seems an awful lot like he's up to no good, sneaking into Mensah's room to snoop around. But the intricate story Murderbot spins about Gurathin's actions falls apart once it realizes he's not there to spy on Mensah or sabotage the mission, but to sniff her pillow and sob into it with unrequited love. Which of course the SecUnit finds even more repulsive than if Gurathin was a spy.
Danger at the DeltFall habitat
Eventually, Murderbot and its team do finally make it to the DeltFall habitat, which is seemingly abandoned. They land outside, and after another goofy conversation where it's revealed Ratthi slept through weapons training, the rest of the group sets out to find out what's going on. The alien landscape highlights another strength of the series, which is that it's not afraid to paint its settings in colorful, interesting ways. From tiny crabs with glowing fungus on their shells to multicolored trees and bursting geysers, there are a lot of little details that make this world feel unique.
Murderbot insists on going alone into the DeltFall habitat, because it thinks the chances are extremely high that it's not going to find anything good there. And lo! All it finds is a whole lot of death. The entire DeltFall group was murdered, along with some of their more advanced SecUnits. We're not left wondering what happened for too long, as Murderbot discovers two SecUnits which seemingly killed each other. This is something which also happened in a plotline on that very schlocky show Strife in the Galaxy, and since that show is filled with unrealistic plotlines, Murderbot senses that something is off. This suspicion gives it the edge when one of the seemingly dead SecUnits springs to life and tries to kill it. TV saves lives! Or at least, this life, in this instance.
After defeating the rogue SecUnit, Murderbot realizes that someone has inserted an override into it, gaining control of the construct and turning it into an enslaved killing machine. Before we can think too hard about the implications of that, another SecUnit pops up behind our hero and shoots it, and the episode cuts to black. Tune in next week!
Murderbot Bullet Points
- I cracked up at the fact that Arada is bringing wind chimes to DeltFall as a gift. Yes, Murderbot has kind of turned the Preservation Aux team into hippy caricatures, but I'm willing to roll with it for now because it's been pretty fun.
- The visual effects in this series are great, especially all the little details in Murderbot's heads up display. I like that the little messages popping up in front of it often add extra layers to scenes, or bits of information that don't get immediately spoken in dialogue right after. It rewards a close watch.
- Like Sanctuary Moon, Strife in the Galaxy has a cast of guest stars who appear in Murderbot only when their show is on. The actors we saw in this episode are Ron Kennell as Colony Solicitor, Leah Kilpatrick as Iverson Missouri, and Alicia Rosario as Haptic Ray.
- While Murderbot is adding a lot of material that wasn't in Martha Wells' book All Systems Red, I'm really enjoying that so far just about every single plot beat from the novella has appeared in the show. This is one of those rare instances where a TV show has the space to expand on a book, and is doing it while simultaneously keeping the original story very much intact.
Verdict
"Risk Assessment" is another good episode of Murderbot. This one feels a little like a transition episode, bringing us from the relative safety of the Preservation Aux habitat out into the wilds, where death awaits. By the end, things are ramping up sharply as Murderbot finds itself on the wrong side of a blaster gun. Obviously it's not dead; we'd have no show! But the suspense is building, and this was a nice calm before the storm as the SecUnit was forced to deal with its human companions.
Episode grade: B
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newsletter and check out our YouTube channel.