I read the novella All Systems Red by Martha Wells (the first in the Murderbot Diaries series) prior to watching the Apple TV+ adaptation that simplified the title down to just ‘Murderbot’. As any who have read some of my past posts could probably tell, I find the art of adaptation really interesting. What the adapters add to or cut away from speaks volumes to their motivations, or the motivations of the execs signing the checks. Adaptations are just like anything else; their quality runs the gamut from the well cast but terribly written Dark Tower movie adaptation, to the landmark Lord of the Rings trilogy. As far as the Murderbot adaptation goes, I was uncertain at first, but it stuck the landing in the end. Let’s dig in, and I’ll do my best to avoid any spoilers.
For those unfamiliar with the premise of the Murderbot Diaries in general, it is a sci-fi series following a bio-mechanical android created to act as a security unit, or SecUnit. The first entry in the series, All Systems Red, shows us the titular SecUnit doing his best to protect the clients assigned to him as they conduct research on a hostile alien planet. The tricky part is, this SecUnit has hacked his governing module, giving him autonomy when all such units are supposed to be fully under human control. As a result, this SecUnit, who calls himself Murderbot due to the hazy memories of a previous malfunction, does his best to fulfill his role without drawing undue scrutiny. He protects the humans, but any attempts at social interaction terrify him. He much prefers to watch the space opera tv shows he has downloaded to his internal storage. It is a comedic story that examines what it means to be neurologically different than the mainstream, while also including alien fauna and sci-fi shootouts. I give it a hearty recommend.
So, back to the adaptation. How does it do? Well, at first, it felt like it was making a classic mistake in this space: dumbing down the characters. I’ve seen this time and time again when Hollywood gets its hands on a story. They feel the need to have every character make the stupidest possible decision, often against previously established motivations, in order to further the plot. More often than not, it comes off as the lazy writing that it is. However, when it comes to Murderbot, while they did dumb down some of the characters, they did it for what I felt to be a good reason in the end. This makes all the difference. To clarify a bit, the scientists Murderbot is assigned to protect are from an independent planet outside the Corporation Rim. As a result, they aren’t so keen on the indentured servitude or outright slavery that corporations regularly engage in. They feel uncomfortable around Murderbot, as they rightly view such practice as the subjugation of an intelligent being. You could label these scientists as space hippies, and you wouldn’t be far off. The thing is, in the books, they hold these views and are utterly capable at their jobs. Dr. Mensah, leader of their expedition, shows herself as decisive and calm in the face of terrible danger. The rest of the crew, while perhaps not as outwardly calm, each come through in their own capacity. In the show, however, the writers really leaned into the space hippie vibes. Which, don’t get me wrong, I love me a space hippie at times. But, having read the source material, the first couple episodes just felt a bit odd due to the change. They made them far less capable, made them ill-prepared to be thrust into a hostile alien planet. It made for some laughs, sure, but I still wasn’t sold on the shift. However, as the episodes progressed, I started to see more of why they’d done it. They wanted to give the characters more of an arc across the season. They wanted us to watch as these scientists grew in the face of difficult odds. This became particularly clear with Dr. Gurathin, the scientist who most distrusts Murderbot. Without giving away spoilers, the final episode of the season made me tear up a bit and banished any doubt I had in the adaptation. They stuck the landing, and I’m ready to watch season 2. Also, the lead actor for the series, Alexander Skarsgård, does a fantastic job in my opinion.
That’s all for this time. All the best.
M. Weald
M. Weald 