It is interesting how the proposals are changing in terms of series and movies, and while it is true that many maintain the essence or inspiration of past proposals, others vary or positively transcend into a little explored terrain that will undoubtedly cause an impact on at least an important part of those of us who are attentive to see new and innovative proposals. There are not many series or movies in which directors or producers seek to evolve, sometimes it seems that they prefer to stay on safe ground to maintain profitable numbers, but to ignore this part is what can make a content memorable over time.
So I present to you “Murderbot”, an Apple TV+ series currently airing and directed by Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz. It stars Alexander Skarsgård, a very good actor who gives life to an anxious and depressive robot who has to deal with the horrors of human groups. The genre of this series is science fiction and comedy, but there are also elements of drama and action that greatly enrich the plot. So far 7 chapters have been aired out of the 8 that this 1st season will have. I was struck by the fact that each episode is less than 30 minutes long.
To give you some context, in this series we move to the future, there are travel through wormholes and humanity has already populated other planets, and in that sense, technology has also advanced to the point that robots or androids are built for all kinds of functions. So our protagonist, Murderbot, who has the function of being a security robot, hacks its software and manages to break free from the control of its manufacturer, but he knows that he must keep up appearances because if they realize that he is no longer under control, they will look for him and destroy him.
This robot has the particularity of being very analytical with human attitudes, likewise, he seems to suffer from depression, but he curiously calms it by watching a TV series called “Sanctuary moon”, a comedy full of drama that has taught Murderbot how to react to different circumstances when he is in the presence of human beings. I must admit that the fact that a TV series is the catalyst to calm the anxiety or depression of a robot I found very funny and a genius of the creator of this story.
Thus, Murderbot is involved in a mission to protect a crew that explores different planets for terraforming purposes, or something like that, and well, that's where we start to see how he begins to relate to each of the crew members who have quite different personalities, honestly they are quite a colorful and funny group.
Murderbot — Official Trailer | Apple TV+
Beyond the science fiction of this series, which is not negligible, the comedy applied from the point of view of interpersonal relationships and how an entity such as a robot is progressively relating to a group of humans, learning from the good things and ignoring and abhorring the negative things, there are many opportunities in certain circumstances in which to learn and reflect on human stupidity, I notice a fairly strong criticism of society which is disguised with irony and absurd comedy.
The truth is that this is not a series about a killer robot, but about how a more sane and logical entity progressively understands that humans are self-destructive, selfish, ambitious and with dozens of flaws, which makes him loathe them, but he also learns that there are elements of nobility, friendship and loyalty that stand out from the negative attitudes of society. If you are going to watch this series be prepared to laugh, as I said, more than a science fiction series, it is a comedy series full of ironies. I'm looking forward to the season finale and the seasons to follow, I'm sure it will be renewed.
