The Reason Murderbot’s Tone Feels Off

Tone, then, becomes the issue. Anyone who read All Systems Red, or any of Wells’ subsequent stories or novels, read Murderbot’s acerbic wit and deadpan observations in their own way, and Skarsgård’s delivery, no matter how good, may not be what they imagined. Every adaptation risks running afoul of reader expectations, but the show’s straightforward plot runs thin at times, and when Murderbot’s narration doesn’t land it just feels flat.

Not that this is Skarsgård’s fault. While some may be asking Why is this unit being played by such an absolute unit?, having a handsome weirdo in the lead was the right move. Ever since his vampire days, Skarsgård has perfected playing bloodless skinjobs. But as Murderbot’s plot ping-pong’s around no one seems to be sure if they’re on a workplace comedy or a sci-fi thriller, making the stakes confused or nonexistent.

Ostensibly, Murderbot is a mystery on two levels. On the first, there’s the PreservationAux crew and their scientific fact-finding mission on a world thought to be relatively innocuous. PreservationAux had to take a SecUnit to get insurance for their mission, and while they don’t trust the corporation from which they got their equipment, including Murderbot, they do need it. It’s only when they get there and discover very bad things that they realize how much. Something has gone wrong on this planet, and Mensah and her crew need to find out why.

Second mystery: Murderbot’s true nature. While it may be struggling to play it cool and not give away the fact that it has hacked its control systems, the crew doesn’t really see it as a threat. Only Gurathin, an augmented human, suspects something is amiss. If anything, they worry about how humanely they should treat it. Slowly, as Murderbot becomes more fascinated with their lives and realizes they’re not the “assholes” it might have thought, they learn to be a team.

Perhaps this is where Murderbot struggles most to find its footing. Each of Wells’ characters was fleshed out, even though they are observed only from Murderbot’s perspective. In Murderbot, they are just as well-rounded, but the show seems preoccupied with their quirkiness—the polycules (cool!), the neuroses. Murderbot never dwelled too much on those parts of their humanity. Murderbot wants, then, to be a quirky sci-fi dramedy with hints of a deeper anti-corporate message—a welcome reprieve on the streaming network most known for big downers like Silo, Foundation, and Severance—but it struggles to be all those things at once.

Midway through the season, Murderbot does shake off some of its clunkiness. As a viewer, you can get used to its wild tonal unevenness. But given the release schedule for the show—two episodes Friday, then one every week until early June—some would-be fans may never get there. In All Systems Red, Murderbot, illustrating its harm-reduction-seeking nature using one of its favorite TV shows, frets “I hate having emotions about reality; I’d much rather have them about Sanctuary Moon.” Viewers may never get there with this show.