Dammit, Murderbot Made Me Cry

There are not a lot of robots that have made me cry. WALL-E got me for sure, that sweet little garbage disposal. The Iron Giant, too, which is funny in hindsight because it is almost certainly the best performance of Vin Diesel’s career. One time my microwave bubbled over my leftover macaroni and cheese and created a gooey blob, messing up both the glass turnstile inside it and my plans for lunch. Still not sure which I was more annoyed by. Yes, for the purposes of this discussion, I consider the microwave a robot. Otherwise, I would have to accept blame for this cheese debacle. We can't have that.

I did not think I would be adding Murderbot to this list way back when I first saw the trailer a few months ago. It looked silly, a little sci-fi romp in outer space. (Love a romp.) Alexander Skarsgård was going full goofball, which I always appreciate, mostly because he could coast on being that handsome if he really wanted to. (Gosling situation.) Jack McBrayer and John Cho were showing up as characters in a fictional and melodramatic show-within-a-show soap opera that Murderbot likes to watch when it’s supposed to be working. (I can relate to this.) The show was called Murderbot, a title that makes it sound like a Jason Statham movie where he has to get revenge on a robot who killed his sainted adopted mother. (I would watch this movie, too.)

“Haha,” I thought. “Hell yeah, let's watch Murderbot.”

And then I started watching the show. And it was good. And I started seeing that it was less about a murder-crazed robot than it was about a robot who was trying to learn what it meant to have free will. And then I started reading the books the series is based on. And the books, by author Martha Wells, are funny and sweet and all like 200-page breezes you can plow through in an afternoon. And then I found myself getting really excited to watch each new episode of the show, which reveals that Murderbot hacked its own programming to override its controls and keeps getting interrupted from its plans to blow off work and watch soapy space operas by its quickly-deepening affection for the humans it’s supposed to be protecting. And... dammit, I loved Murderbot.

Both the show and the character, too. It really was so nice to have a 23-minute show to blast through every week, one where I cared about the characters and I got to laugh and sometimes a giant space monster ripped someone’s body in half. Murderbot contained multitudes.

Which is how I ended up all misty-eyed in the season one finale, right at the end, when Murderbot and another character — I'm dancing around spoilers here in case you end up watching, which… I mean, you could do a lot worse in the dead of summer — have a conversation that ends like this.

It wasn’t just me getting emotional, either. Turns out Skarsgård himself could barely get through the scene, as he revealed in an interview with Carly Lane from Collider.

Obviously, when you do a show, you don't know if you're going to get picked up for a second season, so you don't know if you're going to have an opportunity to come back and do it all again, or if this really is goodbye. So, it was a very emotionally charged moment. Murderbot obviously doesn't cry, but I was really struggling. Often, as an actor, you try to get those tears, but this is very much the opposite, where I was desperately trying to keep them in. I blew a couple of takes because I started crying — because it really got to me, that moment with David. It really moved me.

The good news here is that Murderbot did get picked up for a second season late last week. I’m legitimately excited to see where the show goes from here. The books give everyone plenty to work with, too. I cannot believe how much I’m gushing about Murderbot.

To wrap things up:

• Murderbot is a good show
• I hope you get the experience of trying to explain that you got emotional over a sweet and profound television show and then having a person ask you the name of the show and then having to say the word “Murderbot” to them
• I am still sad about that macaroni and cheese

Thank you.

This is the thing where I pitch you on subscribing and especially upgrading. I really enjoy doing this newsletter. I hope you enjoy reading it. If you do, please consider smashing the button below and supporting me so I can keep doing it.

A paid subscription does get you some extras, too, not just the joy of giving me money. You’ll get access to the Friday newsletter and you’ll get to contribute to our periodic mailbags and reverse mailbags. Maybe there will be other benefits coming soon. All that for $5/month or $50/year. Basically a buck a week. A buck a week! Wow! What a deal!

STUFF I CLICKED ON

—Alan Sepinwall spoke to Rian Johnson about Poker Face and Knives Out and a slew of other things 

— more Poker Face: great interview with Patti Harrison, who got to be an absolute lunatic on the show, which was great news for her and also me

— more Poker Face: Roxana Hadadi on all the movie references from this season

— “How Philly Took Over TV”

— apologies to your brains but please read this line from the new Bosch spinoff, Ballard, to the tune of “You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch”

— Dan McQuade asks the important questions about Love Island

— celebrity scams, investigated

— BoJack team back

— Larry David back

— credit to the people who thought to ask Kiefer Sutherland about the baseball prospect named Jack Bauer and credit to Kiefer for being cool about it

— the newest Big Bang Theory spinoff looks weird as hell 

— Bryan Cranston seems like a good dude

— Panera mac and cheese lip balm question mark

— … as was the style at the time 

— the sun is having a moment 

— Beyonce music heist

— I have watched this video 700 times this week already (go Phillies)

Okay, that’s it for this week. Please share and subscribe and try not to make me feel emotions about a robot for a little while.