📺Murderbot

I watched all 10 episodes then got to reading All Systems Red, book 1 of the Murderbot series because I wanted to see how different it was to the show interpretation. After having seen Heated Rivalry and all the posts that readers have done comparing scenes to the books, it made me curious with this one.

How things differed

Now, I’m not going to put any spoilers here in case anyone that stumbles onto this tiny spot in the vase blogspace had neither read nor seen the series. However, I won’t be mad if you skip this post completely to prevent ruining expectations or what have you for whenever you get to read/ watch it. I’m merely going to point out some differences I noticed after having read the book and none of it was bad.

In fact, I think the producers did an amazing job presenting the story. Both show and book are in the POV of SecUnit, aka Murderbot. But how things began was different. In the book, you’re already with the team from Preservation on the unexplored planet. The show added little bits of how they got to getting SecUnit and the equipment from “The Company”. The book goes more into detail on what qualifications get you more equipment, bigger habitats and more SecUnits, but the presentation of those items and the members of DeltFall and GrayCrest explain this point.

The other thing I noticed is (and this is just my opinion) the Preservation Team is more a part of the story on the show. Much like how the producers inserted how they got SecUnit and how SecUnit became “faulty”, each member played their part to bring them to the results that were mentioned in the book. The book is primarily in SecUnit’s POV so things like how Gurathin’s objections to SecUnit remaining with them is not as pronounced as it is in the show. There are lots of other points like this throughout, but I won’t fill a post with all of that. I will point out that All Systems Red is a novella (under 200 pages) so fleshing out a story, in this case, is not a bad thing.

What I appreciated

From my impression after reading All Systems Red, there are hints of emotion which, according to SecUnit, might me attributed to their organic parts. As you read, it’s really more of a neutral tone with mentions of concern or irritation when certain things happen. In Murderbot Season 1, SecUnit appears to have more emotions and struggles to understand them unless he’s relating things to Sanctuary Moon, the series he downloaded to watch as his emotional support “premium quality entertainment”. I found this so fascinating because, as children, most of us have heard the story of Pinocchio and how he wants to be a real boy. But now, here you have this universe where there are robots and, for some reason, someone thought it was a great idea to have these particular models with humanoid elements. Not only that, but anyone that as a SecUnit never sees or seems to be told that they have organic parts or even a human face.

And yes, there is mention of SexUnits (sex bots I think was what they actually said in the show), but only those are the ones given the bits to perform such things. In the show, SecUnit has nothing down there that was executed very well when they’re first presented in the chamber where they recharge and recover from any injuries. In the book, they mention skipping over all the sex scenes in the books and shows they watch simply because they don’t interest them. There’s never even a deep discussion on relationships between units and humans other than for pleasure as a form of service.

This kind of leads into the space of boundaries. Many of us can’t stand eye contact for reasons known only to those that do and SecUnit is no exception. This is very pronounced on the show as they’re very tired of being around humans and just wants to watch the 2000 plus episodes of Santuary Moon (a show that many consider trash but they consider premium quality entertainment). Who among us doesn’t relate to this? Seeing such a human side of something that’s meant to be a robot that’s also so relatable was a really wonderful thing that the show did. Perhaps he really will become a boy one day (and I mean this by me getting to the next book whenever my silly fool self stops signing up for Arcs *smh*)

Overall Thoughts

The continued process of bringing books to the screen will always be there. The latest one is Wuthering Heights being made into a movie to come out later this year and critics already have opinions. I am listening to that in intervals so I can be ready for when it comes out so we’ll see.

But, in regards to Murberbot as a show, I think it’s so well done. I think you get to see sides of the book that weren’t really mentioned. I think you get to feel more of the emotions that Preservation team had when dealing with a rogue unit. I love that the humans were more a apart of the story. I’m definitely rewatching it now that I finished book 1 to see what else I missed or was reinterpreted for the show. I can’t wait for season 2 so I better get to reading!