Murderbot Season 1 Episode 3 Review: Risk Assessment

Murderbot Season 1 Episode 3, “Risk Assessment,” zeroes in on a trip across the planet to another habitat that sends our SecUnit further into uncharted waters. It’s another solid outing that continues to flesh out intriguing character dynamics while planting seeds for the unraveling mystery at the show’s core.

They Can Never Stop Us From Being Ourselves

In “Risk Assessment,” Murderbot introduces us to another fun space opera it watches — Strife in the Galaxy. One particular quote from this show-within-a-show stood out to me. “They can imprison us, but they can never stop us from being ourselves.”

The SecUnit pokes fun at this series, often brushing off its “implausible” storylines; however, one can’t help but wonder if perhaps it resonates with this story far more than it would like to admit. Murderbot walks this precarious tightrope between humanity and machine while vehemently denying it possesses any of the former. 

At the same time, the show tackles the moral dilemma of owning a SecUnit, as Ratthi points out that Murderbot looks human. After all, SecUnits possess human components.

Is that considered enslavement? To our bot, it clearly is — it has free will now. But the stakes are inherently high just from this part of the narrative alone: Murderbot must persuade the humans it works for that it doesn’t have free will. Otherwise, they’ll see it as a threat and dispose of it. 

Beyond that, there are other underlying themes that “Risk Assessment” addresses. Mensah reminds us that the Preservation Alliance is one of the free planets.

The Company would love nothing more for our team to quit, as they would view it as the free planets being unable to handle themselves. This speaks to government oversight and interference, tyranny, even colonial rule — those in power want to rob you of your autonomy. It’s subtle but effective commentary. 

Murderbot Against the World 

Speaking of commentary, Murderbot’s running commentary never fails to crack me up. It’s as painfully relatable for any awkward, antisocial introvert as it is hilarious. However, our titular bot also feels very neurodivergent-coded, especially in its interactions with the humans. The scene with Mensah in the hopper, in particular, where she gets vulnerable, is a good example of this.

Alexander Skarsgård knocks this role out of the park, and perfectly portrays Murderbot’s social anxiety, as it were, and its struggles to embrace its humanity. It likes to think it’s superior to humans, but let’s face it: it’s just as nuanced and complex as they are. How can it enjoy the fruits of human labor like television, analyze human behavior through the lens of TV characters, and not be influenced by them?

Later in “Risk Assessment,” Murderbot lies to Mensah about what’s really going on in the DeltFall habitat. It claims it’s because humans tend to react to things irrationally, but is it starting to care for its clients? It’s possible. 

Noma Dumezweni continues to be the emotional anchor for this series. That moment when Murderbot interrupts her to check the munitions after Mensah tells it about her family is brilliant. You can see the hurt flash across her face and hear it in her voice. She also plays off Skarsgård well.

Tamara Podemski also portrays Bharadwaj’s PTSD in a grounded, relatable way. I’m glad we’re not sweeping that trauma under the rug. Who wouldn’t be traumatized by a two-mouthed creature bursting from the ground and trying to eat them? 

Fight, Fight, Fight 

“Risk Assessment” sees Murderbot taking on a few rogue SecUnits in a fun fight sequence that feels very video game-inspired with its visuals. In line with the dark humor of this show, Murderbot continues monologuing about his favorite shows while battling said SecUnits. The episode concludes on quite a cliffhanger and raises more questions that need answering. 

Why did the SecUnit in all black override the combat modules of the rogue SecUnits? Why did they want to kill the DeltFall team? Is the Company involved? How will the strange creatures and potential alien synthetics come into play? Here’s hoping the answers are just as exciting as these questions (and tinged with Murderbot’s signature caustic wit). 

Stray Observations:

• Murderbot is just like me — it wants to escape reality by binge-watching TV. 
• The visuals in this show are stunning. And I agree with Ratthi; DeltFall really has it made with those views (well, had).
• I also have to agree with our titular bot. The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon looks like the better show (no offense to Strife in the Galaxy). 
• Is Gurathin really obsessed with Mensah? Why is he sniffing her pillow? Or is he secretly working for the Company as Murderbot initially suspected?
• I’m living for this tense love triangle with Arada, Pin-Lee, and Ratthi. If Murderbot wasn’t so averse to human “pheromones,” it would realize that this also makes for good entertainment. 

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Murderbot drops new episodes every Friday on Apple TV+. 

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