Murderbot Season 1 Episode 4 Review: Escape Velocity Protocol

Murderbot Season 1 Episode 4, “Escape Velocity Protocol,” our SecUnit finds itself in a life-or-death situation while Mensah breaks the rules to save it. The outing boasts a show-best performance (so far) from Alexander Skarsgård, who delivers fearless work and doesn’t shy away from looking silly. He’s such an underrated comedic actor. 

Complicated Feelings

SecUnit might complain at length about humans and their annoying quirks — even down to their biological makeup — but “Escape Velocity Protocol” makes it abundantly clear that it harbors some positive feelings for them. Even in its scrambled state, it has humans at the forefront, particularly its clients, and doesn’t want to harm them.

For example, in the episode’s final moments, Murderbot hesitates to say “kill me” because it fears it might hurt her. Its last courageous act in the outing sees it apologize before shooting itself to prevent an impending bloodbath. Skarsgård deftly navigates SecUnit’s complex feelings for humanity and its desire to protect them. 

The affection it has for the PresAux crew, particularly Mensah, feels earned, even after only four episodes. More than that, this development of feelings comes about quite organically.

This is partly thanks to our stellar cast, especially Skarsgård and Noma Dumezweni, who are excellent together. We see that shift for SecUnit, where it starts revering Mensah as a leader-type figure and realizes that it cares for her. 

Dumezweni taps into Mensah’s own conflicted feelings for SecUnit, although she’s not conflicted about saving it. She feels a deep responsibility to protect everyone on the PresAux team.

Despite the others viewing SecUnit as separate from the group, Mensah’s strong moral compass and desire to anthropomorphize Murderbot galvanize her to save it. Dumezweni injects Mensah with a profoundly relatable tenderness, representing the best of humanity. It’s enough to sway Murderbot, at least. 

Murderbot on the Brink 

It’s fascinating that when our titular bot is essentially on the brink of death, it replays its “happy memories,” so to speak, sort of like what happens when a human has a near-death experience. Murderbot finds solace in its favorite show, just like humans binge-watch comfort TV during tough times. It might be a sentient construct, but it’s exhibiting these human traits that resonate more than the actual humans around it. 

The high-stakes narrative unfolding in “Escape Velocity Protocol” sees other unexpected heroes step up to the plate, including Ratthi.

Akshay Khanna consistently delivers as the pretty boy Ratthi, whose heart is in the right place, even if he doesn’t quite know how to do, well, anything. Murderbot continues to push the envelope and challenge gender norms, especially in the show’s world, where our deeply entrenched gender norms are nonexistent. Pin-Lee is nonbinary, and it’s, refreshingly, not a big deal. 

Ratthi isn’t your stereotypical toxic male figure, which makes his decision to default to violence to save the day a bewildering one for Pin-Lee and Arada. Pin-Lee accuses him of being macho. The scene itself is lighthearted and fun, delving deeper into the intriguing dynamic between Ratthi, Arada, and Pin-Lee. 

Khanna puts his physical comedy chops on display in the back half of the episode, especially toward the end. However, it’s Pin-Lee and Arada who truly save the day by killing the black SecUnit, squashing it with the hopper. Subverting what’s expected is fun. 

Checking Off All the Boxes

“Escape Velocity Protocol” delivers a delightful balance of humor, heart, and action in a tight 22-minute package. The pacing is damn near perfect because of the short runtime. Sure, I want as much Murderbot as possible, but extending that runtime could potentially weigh down the narrative and hamper the pacing. 

Now, that cliffhanger will certainly keep us waiting with bated breath until next week. Who knew a Security Unit that supposedly despises humans and watches too much TV could be so heroic? 

Stray Observations: 

• I love the cheeky nod to how ineffective Stormtroopers are in Star Wars with Murderbot’s mention of “the shock troopers from Strife in the Galaxy.” Well, at least the black SecUnit was purposely missing the humans. 
• I also love that Jack McBrayer is part of The Rise & Fall of Sanctuary Moon, mostly because he’s BFFs in real life with Alexander Skarsgård. Their brief scene together in “Escape Velocity Protocol” is great. 
• Ratthi is me. I am Ratthi. Literally incapable of operating any kind of equipment. 
• Murderbot’s enthusiasm when with the bridge crew of Sanctuary Moon is palpable and contagious. It’s so sweet. Side note: Skarsgård has never looked more like his dad. 
• After that improvisational singing bit, our SecUnit might have a music career in its future… 

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Murderbot drops new episodes every Friday on Apple TV+.

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