7 Times Murderbot Was the Most Relatable Sci-Fi Hero Ever

Apple TV+’s latest sci-fi hit, Murderbot, has been a large success for the streaming service. The series has held onto an impressive 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and that has a lot to do with the relatable cast of characters. The titular character, played by Alexander Skarsgård, is a socially awkward construct (a SecUnit) that would rather spend all day watching TV. Instead, it’s forced to do its job, which typically involves saving the humans who have put themselves in a dangerous situation, again. Everyone who has had to pause a series mid-episode can feel that frustration. Murderbot may be an unwilling sci-fi hero, but that’s part of what makes it so relatable.

Murderbot is based on The Murderbot Diaries, a novel series written by Martha Wells. While many changes have been made to the adaptation, the show has largely kept to the heart of the story. Perhaps even more importantly, Murderbot’s character has not been drastically altered. It’s still a Rogue SecUnit with social anxiety, a consuming addiction to daytime TV, and possibly the worst bosses in existence. In other words, Murderbot has quickly become one of the most relatable sci-fi heroes of all time, and we’re here for it. Yes, we know Murderbot would probably hate that. Spoilers for Murderbot follow!

1) Knowing the Company’s Equipment Is Garbage

While not everyone leans into self-deprecating humor, a large subset of the population does. It’s a way of poking fun at oneself, and sometimes is even a way of looking at our faults without taking it too harshly. It’s not that different from utilizing dark humor as a coping mechanism when you stop and think about it. So seeing Murderbot call itself out like this is highly relatable.

Self-deprecating jokes aside, there’s something so understandable about Murderbot knowing full well that everything the Company makes is a piece of garbage. While it’s often the butt of many jokes within Murderbot, it’s also a source of constant frustration. It’s impossible to tell, at a glance, if something is malfunctioning or compromised, because that’s the quality of equipment the PresAux group has been forced to work with. Let’s be real, is there anything more frustrating than working with a malfunctioning piece of tech?

2) Successfully Distracting Gurathin

Fans of The Murderbot Diaries went into the Apple TV+ show knowing that Gurathin was going to cause all sorts of problems for Murderbot, and we were not disappointed. If anything, the show leaned even heavier into this archetype for Gurathin, pushing him from a “disliked character” to “potential antagonist.” Episode 8, “Foreign Object,” really drove that point home when Gurathin crossed a line, invading Murderbot’s limited privacy.

Obviously, Gurathin’s antagonism makes it all the more satisfying when Murderbot finds ways to strike back. Our favorite moment happens during Episode 2, “Eye Contact.” Gurathin is testing the waters and doing some questionable ethical things, if one subscribes to the belief that constructs are people (which Gurathin clearly does not, yet). Starting with ordering SecUnit to sit down and doubling down by forcing it to make direct eye contact. Enter a moment of malicious compliance, as Murderbot allowed Gurathin to see a very uncomfortable scene involving his three coworkers, who have been otherwise occupied for the past hour. Awkward. Karmic, but awkward.

3) Desperate Times Call for Desperate Singing

They say that desperate times call for desperate measures, but perhaps we should change the phrase. During the events of Episode 4, “Escape Velocity Protocol,” things start going very downhill for Murderbot. It’s surprised and taken down by another SecUnit, and it’s clear that this mysterious unit wants something more than Murderbot’s permanent shutdown.

Now, we’ve all been known to make silly decisions in a moment of panic. Sometimes those decisions work out, sometimes not so much. Here, Murderbot embraced what its memory kept pulling up: the theme song of its favorite show, The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon. Belting the song out (while lying upside down on a table) did seem to offer a bit of confusion to the SecUnit, who was probably very concerned about what the heck was going on.

4) Conflicting Thoughts and Emotions About Coworkers

Each episode of Murderbot has consistently ended on a cliffhanger, and that’s been a pain point for all of us. On the bright side, the apparent humor in Episode 5, “Rogue War Tracker Infinite,” helped to calm us all down. This episode picks up right after SecUnit shoots itself in the chest, as it looks back over the recordings to see what it missed.

Well, that happens after a moment of surprise at being alive. All of this leads to a complex series of emotions, ranging from frustration at the crew ignoring its orders (again), to relief and even begrudging respect (Bharadwaj really does know what she’s doing). We’ve all been there. Not this literal situation, but we’ve all had our emotions and opinions bounce all over the place, especially when it comes to large groups of people (and coworkers). Can’t live with them, can’t watch endless hours of television without their existence.

5) The Anxiety Is Real

At a glance, it may look like SecUnit is a heartless construct, living up to the name Murderbot. Reading between the lines makes it clearer that it cares. After all, despite its frustration, it has yet to abandon the PresAux crew. This (unwilling) emotional tie is more obvious in the books since we get to read everything from Murderbot’s perspective. However, Episode 6, “Command Feed,” did a great job of showing the viewers how it feels.

It all begins when Mensah is having another panic attack, not that Murderbot directly calls it such. Unsure of what to do, and knowing that it would soon begin spiraling with Mensah, SecUnit pulls up an episode of Sanctuary Moon to try and help her calm down. This tells us a few things. One, Murderbot has experienced anxiety and panic attacks in the past (again, readers know this), and two, it has developed coping mechanisms for it. They say that binge-watching your favorite shows on repeat is fantastic for your anxiety, and we love that Murderbot has figured that out all on its own.

6) Intervening Humans Causing More Harm Than Good

Is there anything more frustrating or exhausting than a person insisting on “helping,” even when we all know they only make it worse? Usually, the stakes are pretty low for these scenarios, as our daily lives, while chaotic, don’t require SecUnits to step in and save the day. That brings us to Episode 7, “Complementary Species,” which is a pretty hilarious and chaotic episode. What starts as a terrifying moment involving two massive aliens quickly becomes strange, and viewers don’t need to be reminded why.

Unfortunately, the aliens’ leaving made the perfect opportunity for the enemy SecUnit to strike, and strike it did. Here’s where things got relatably frustrating for poor Murderbot, as each member of the PresAux team did their best to help out during the fight. Not only did “their best” not help in the least, but it arguably made the situation more dangerous. Bharadwaj hit Murderbot in the head (it was fine), Arada tried to tackle the enemy to the ground (she did not succeed), and Pin-Lee tried…something. It was a mess. Somehow, Murderbot kept the lot of them alive through the whole ordeal, though that might have had something to do with one of the aliens reappearing.

While not directly related to this scene, we also love how Murderbot utterly shuts down all of Ratthi’s plotting, knowing that he’d be the biggest threat to himself. The dude may think he’s macho, but previous scenes have told a very different story about his competence in combat.

7) Plotting a Grand Scheme With the Help of Media

Let’s be real, we all live and breathe our favorite fandoms, and sometimes that means our decisions are directly influenced by them. Usually, it’s small things, like how we choose to decorate our homes or desktops. Nothing major, right? Other times, we embrace quoting our favorite moments and scenes. We’ve seen Murderbot quote Sanctuary Moon ever since the first episode, but this final point takes that a step further.

At the end of Episode 8, Murderbot understandably needed a few moments to cool off. While stomping around, it tries to dive into its beloved media for a distraction, but it doesn’t work. On the bright side, the media does inspire a plot, and it’s once again perfectly with Sanctuary Moon. Murderbot is going to use human psychology to its advantage. It’s watched enough media to know what everyone expects a Rogue SecUnit to do. Fans of The Murderbot Dairies know that this will not be the last time Murderbot comes up with a plan thanks to its obsession with media.

Murderbot is available to stream on Apple TV+.

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