‘Murderbot’ Episode 10 Review

AppleTV+’s sci-fi comedy ‘Murderbot’ has ended its first season after ten episodes. The team have returned to the Corporation Rim and are negotiating to keep their SecUnit now that their mission is over.

As I thought it would be, this episode is more of an epilogue to the main story, which really came to an end last week. Now, it’s just the team trying to save Murderbot from being scrapped by the Corporation, as they try and buy him back and blackmail the company by threatening to reveal what really happened to them.

It’s a bit of an underwhelming end to the season. Much like the rest of the show, and real barriers or difficulties are easily swept aside with convenient plot devices, in this case an old acquaintance we’ve never even heard of before. So the idea that there’s any stakes or tension here is just not the case.

Then there are a lot of things about the show that never seemed to be properly resolved. Who were GrayCris? Are they connected to the Corporation? Why did they bother killing so many people to get the alien relics, when they could just have taken them? If the Corporation wasn’t involved, then why are they so desperate to keep things quiet? If they were involved, then just why bother? Mensah would have turned in the relics anyway, so it really makes little sense.

Probably the biggest unanswered question though is why, how, or even if, Murderbot did really massacre some workers. It’s been hinted at since episode one, with a fragment of an old memory that’s remained there despite two memory wipes. This seems like it’s an important question, as it would be a central part of his character if true.

I expect this could be left hanging for the second season, which has already been commissioned by AppleTV (though I’d expect a three year wait before we see it). Clearly the next season will focus on Murderbot as he goes out into the world as a free agent, to find where he belongs which, I’ll be honest, sounds like a more interesting concept than what we got this season.

This hasn’t been a very good show. It felt off in almost every way. It wasn’t funny enough to be a comedy, or serious enough to be a drama. It swung around in some uncomfortable middle ground full of cringey humor that never quite landed. The plot was weak and all over the place, full of convenience, and the characters irritating and unlikable, with no real growth over the series (with the possible exception of Garuthin). Add to that the short episodes that left it badly edited, and it was a show that really didn’t do anything for me. Maybe if they’d done ‘The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon’ instead, now that could have been some quality television.