There’s a world out there, a world not so very different from our own, a world in which Apple TV+ rebrands as sci-fi specialty streaming service — a la Shudder for horror or Crunchyroll for anime — and makes a very strong go of it. Severance, Silo, Foundation, For All Mankind, Invasion, at least one other show I could name but won’t because it would spoil a pretty big surprise: Apple’s genre efforts are stylistically and thematically diverse, they provide a platform for a phalanx of terrific actors, and they look expensive as hell. It’s clear that this science fiction is treated with care and concern by the streamer. Apple TV+ wouldn’t have canceled Raised by Wolves, that’s for damn sure. (I’m still salty about that. Damn you, Zaslav!)
Judging from its premiere (both episodes one and two drop today), Murderbot fits neatly into this existing pattern of platforming bold and often beautiful science fiction visions. This one comes from author Martha Wells — her novel All Systems Red, the first in her Murderbot Diaries series, provides the basis for the show — and co-creators Chris and Paul Weitz, who also co-write the first two episodes and split the honors directing. Running at sitcom length, it has a mostly breezy and comedic vibe, between moments of sudden inhuman violence and cutaways to a psychedelic sci-fi show-within-the-show. The mix works.
I reviewed the series premiere of Murderbot for Decider.
Tags: decider, murderbot, TV, TV reviews