(may contain spoilers)
Douban rating: 7.9
Director: Aurora Guerrero, Chris Weitz, Roseanne Liang, Paul Weitz, Toa Fraser
Starring: Alexander Skarsgård, Noma Dumezweni, David Dastmalchian
Douban Comments: “That was pretty interesting, especially the moment when Alexander Skarsgård took off his mask. Wow, that was surprisingly cool. The story itself is light and fun, and the contrast between the robot’s calm appearance and its nervous inner thoughts is quite amusing. The sandworm effects are also fairly well done. Aside from a few LGBT elements that I personally didn’t enjoy, the show is generally good and makes me want to keep watching.”
“Seeing handsome Alexander Skarsgård again! I saw a comment saying ‘everyone in the show is ugly except the robot’, but I don’t think that’s fair. The actors all have their own unique charm. The Chinese actress is especially cute, and the hot-blooded, over-the-top Indian character is really fun too. But honestly, it’s Alexander Skarsgård that makes me enjoy watching this show even more.”
“So adorable. It really breaks the usual ‘robot rebellion’ stereotype. One moment it’s wiping out humans, the next it’s like, ‘Ugh, I’m tired, watching shows is way more fun than all this fighting’. That gap is just great. And the way it keeps saying it doesn’t care about humans, yet always ends up protecting them; that kind of tsundere attitude is just really charming.”
“It’s finished now; that ‘killer’ robot who loves watching shows but is super socially awkward. Such an adorable contrast. The main cast setup was spot-on too, made me laugh. In just ten episodes, there were space monsters and a murder case at the base. It all felt pretty exciting. But when the last episode shifted focus to human-robot sentiment, I just couldn’t really get into it anymore.”
“The robot’s inner thoughts are just too funny; such clever writing. It feels like the main character is also part of the audience comments. The casting is great too; it really makes it easier to relate. Everyone in the team is hilarious, and I really like how the show pokes fun at things like left vs. right politics in such a harmless, silly way.
And in episode 9, I actually cried for the robot.”
“It honestly feels like each episode is only 15 minutes; time just flies by. And Alexander Skarsgård really is so cool. The humor in this show really works. After finishing the original book, I actually feel like giving the show an extra star. The book was boring, the writing felt like a school diary.
The show’s adaptation is so much better: they added a lot of funny moments, and the plot feels stronger too. Giving Gurathin more backstory was a nice touch, and after his leg injury, he somehow became way more likable.”
“It’s a really fun show, but each episode feels too short, just 20 minutes. The budget doesn’t seem that high either. Another thing: in the book, the killer robot is described as neutral, and it really feels genderless when you read it. Casting a clearly male actor makes it feel a bit off, like everyone’s just going to end up shipping him. I really hope the big AI characters that show up later don’t all end up with male voices again.”
“This kind of sci-fi comedy is actually pretty fun. It’s about a robot that loves watching shows and, after gaining self-awareness, learns how to handle relationships and make big life choices through the shows it watches. In the end, it even touches on deeper themes like AI gaining freedom and searching for the meaning of its own ‘life’.”
“The title Murderbot really feels misleading. From the name, I expected a story about a robot awakening and fighting against humans for freedom, but it turned out to be about a robot that willingly serves and sacrifices itself for humanity after gaining self-awareness.
The humans in the Alliance are idealized, almost saint-like. Even when enemies are pointing guns at them, they’ll say things like, ‘She’s just trying to scare us, she doesn’t really want to kill us’. And when the robot actually takes out a threat, everyone’s upset about it.
All the relationships in the Alliance, whether romance, friendship, teamwork, or even things like love triangles, are shown in an overly perfect way. But still, the show is pretty entertaining. If you just take it as a sci-fi fairy tale, it’s definitely worth a watch.”
