Murderbot Review: FreeCommerce / Eye Contact (Season 1 Episodes 1 and 2)

Murderbot Season 1 Episodes 1 and 2, “FreeCommerce” and “Eye Contact,” serve as a solid start to the series, deftly balancing sci-fi and dark comedy while laying the groundwork for what’s to come.

Alexander Skarsgård gets a platform to showcase his underrated comedic talents, and his performance somehow makes our titular Murderbot more lovable. 

SecUnit versus Humanity 

What happens when one Security Unit hacks its governor module — the very thing prohibiting it from disobedience — and goes rogue? It names itself Murderbot, which isn’t at all concerning.

Right off the bat, the stakes are significantly high. The SecUnit gets another job, this time assisting scientists on an expedition, and must maintain appearances so no one’s the wiser about its acquisition of free will. 

However, David Dastmalchian’s Gurathin, an augmented human, is on to Murderbot. His scenes with Skarsgård, particularly in “Eye Contact,” are a tense high-wire act as our SecUnit tries desperately to pull the wool over Gurathin’s eyes. They’re a highlight of the two-episode premiere. 

Performances 

Dastmalchian masters portraying a human on the fringes of humanity. Gurathin’s augmentations allow him to interface with data systems, which no ordinary person can do. Gurathin’s stoic facade and socially stunted demeanor could make him pass for a SecUnit.

However, Dastmalchian offers glimpses of Gurathin’s emotional center, from expressing his love for his friends to his drive to protect them from a “faulty killing machine.” It’s a balancing act. 

Skarsgård really shines as our lead bot. The scenes when Gurathin orders Murderbot to make and maintain Eye contact are legitimately uncomfortable. The SecUnit’s discomfort and awkwardness as it tries to conceal its free will are wholly tangible. I was squirming in my seat. 

We view this series and its characters through Murderbot’s high-tech eyes, and Skarsgård does a brilliant job of really taking us there, allowing us to experience the eponymous bot’s perspective. And, hey, we even find ourselves agreeing with it. Murderbot offers a bevy of iconic quotes as it describes its clients.

That sardonic, biting commentary and antisocial tendencies almost make it more relatable than the humans it serves — almost. 

Noma Dumezweni is a wonderful anchor as Mensah, providing a grounded, nuanced performance. Mensah’s panic attacks are so well-acted.

As someone who’s had them, I felt like Dumezweni had experience with them as well. We seldom see that side of anxiety on TV, and it’s nice to watch someone in a position of leadership struggling under the weight of that mantle. Mensah’s also unwilling to throw Murderbot under the bus at the outset, and her empathic nature is a breath of fresh air. 

Internal Struggles 

Murderbot believes it’s quite different from humans. Sure, it has biological components and embraces human things like TV, but it’s hellbent on distancing itself as superior. However, it’s plain to see it struggles with that.

Exhibit A: Arada. It could’ve easily found other means to get her moving along in the wake of the creature’s attack, perhaps in a way that adheres to its protocols. But Murderbot chooses to bring comfort by incorporating its vast knowledge of its favorite TV show. There’s a spark of empathy there — an emotional center that it refuses to tap into. 

It’s highly likely that’ll be the overarching narrative conflict for Murderbot — to lean more into its innate, if slim, humanity or turn on a dime and kill all humans. The premiere dangles the storytelling carrot with those flashes of our SecUnit murdering people, a former memory erased by the Company. It has the capacity for violence, so could we see it embrace that again? 

The end of episode two shows us the fate of the DeltFall team, including their SecUnit. What took them out? How do the creatures and the potential alien synthetics come into play? Murderbot poses these questions and establishes a springboard for an exciting story ahead.

Just give me all the snappy, dry bot dialogue, and I’ll be happy. 

Stray Observations:

• Clark Gregg’s facial hair in the fictional Sanctuary Moon series is sending me to the — literal — Moon. I’m typing this from there. The wi-fi’s pretty strong. 
• I get it, SecUnit. I, too, despise eye contact. It’s so … exposing. 
• Murderbot has watched over 7,000 hours of TV. So, it’s basically me. 
• I love the animation portion of the opening credits. It’s so vividly colorful and trippy. 
• David Dastmalchian’s little awkward shuffle dance in episode one painfully resonates with me. I’m the color of a ghost with zero rhythm. 

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Murderbot drops new episodes every Friday on Apple TV+.

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