‘Murderbot’ Episode 5 Review
Episode five of Apple TV+’s sci-fi comedy Murderbot brings us to the halfway point of the show and marks something of a change in direction.
After Murderbot shot itself in the previous episode to prevent being taken over, it’s brought back to the base and fixed up. During the process, Gurathin discovers the big secret it’s been hiding.
I’ve not been the biggest fan of this show so far, and while I wouldn’t exactly say that I liked this episode, I certainly disliked it less. It was a bit better than the previous four, and there are a few reasons for that.
Really, the show hasn’t moved forward very much, despite us now reaching the halfway point. I think this is partly due to the runtime, which is very short for a streaming show. When you add together all five episodes, it comes to barely two hours. Cutting it into a six-part series would have been much better. As it is, there are either entire episodes that achieve nothing, or just as you’re beginning to get into the story, the credits roll.
Even so, this episode was a bit better paced, with less time spent on pointless, cringey attempts at humor that go on for far too long. There’s also a change in the story, as everyone finally realizes that the SecUnit has broken its programming and doesn’t actually have to do anything they say. It creates a nice shift, as now they know it’s been helping them and has saved their lives multiple times simply because it’s the right thing to do. This also allows for some more “natural” conversations, as Murderbot doesn’t need to hide its true thoughts and can actually speak its mind out loud, which gives some opportunities for funny lines.
There’s also the introduction of a new character, Leebeebee, a member of the other survey team who apparently survived the attack on the base when their SecUnits went rogue. I don’t think she’s telling the truth, though, or at least not the whole truth. It seems like she’s keeping something back about why she was on the planet. After all, why would such an advanced base with so much expensive technology need someone to do the laundry? It’s just not adding up.
I guess there will be more revealed here, as we still don’t know who’s been sabotaging the mission. We end with another quick cut, as the emergency beacon that would have summoned help to get them off the planet is destroyed, and the hopper spins out of control.
All in all, then, a bit of an improvement over the previous four episodes. There are still the same number remaining, and I’m not entirely sure what direction the show will go in, but hopefully it keeps improving like this.
