Murderbot 1×05 Review: “Rogue War Tracker Infinite”

Mensah seated inside the hopper. Murderbot stands to the side. — Noma Dumezweni and Alexander Skarsgård in “Murderbot,” now streaming on Apple TV+ (Image via PR)

Murderbot continues to deviate from the book series, but keeps the key friendship between the titular character and its humans intact.

TRIGGER WARNING: This review discusses sexual harassment and a non-consensual kiss.

Following on from the events of the previous episode, Murderbot is alive but seriously injured. Rushing to its aid, the PreservationAux team decides to try to heal it back at their habitat.

But before the team leaves, they encounter another human, Leebeebee, who is the only surviving member of the DeltFall team. Leebeebee is a new character created for the show, which has made more deviations from the source material than I was expecting. After what happened to the rest of her teammates, Leebeebee is worried that Murderbot is dangerous, but she is assured by the PreservationAux team that this isn’t the case.

Reassured, Leebeebee then goes on to make objectifying remarks about Murderbot that disgust the other humans. I shared those disgusted sentiments.

Back at the habitat, the humans manage to save and heal Murderbot. Bharadwaj even successfully removes the combat override module that was implanted in Murderbot, ensuring that it won’t be forced to attack the team. The humans’ concern for Murderbot is overt, with Ratthi even declaring it the team’s friend. Aw.

Murderbot is unconscious and lying on a chair. Bharadwaj sits beside it and is writing in a book. — Bharadwaj’s concern for Murderbot (Attribution: Tamara Podemski and Alexander Skarsgård in “Murderbot,” now streaming on Apple TV+) – Image via PR

The friendships between Murderbot and the PreservationAux team have progressed a bit slower than in the original book, but this slow burn has really started to pay off in the last two episodes, with how much support the team has given to Murderbot.

During the medical process, Gurathin discovers Murderbot’s hacked governor module and free will. Having been against Murderbot from the start, Gurathin believes that Murderbot has been sabotaging and is planning to kill the PreservationAux team. Pushed to its limits, Murderbot lashes out at Gurathin, pinning him against the wall.

The rest of the team, however, opposes Gurathin’s argument. The other humans trust Murderbot because it’s done nothing but help them, despite having free will this entire time.

There’s a particularly sweet and funny moment where Murderbot connects with Pin-Lee and Ratthi over a love of ‘Sanctuary Moon’. (Hilariously, Gurathin hasn’t heard of the popular show and assumes Murderbot is using it to send coded messages to the Company.)

On a more serious note, Mensah asks Murderbot to stay with the team until they can all leave the planet, after which it can do whatever it wishes. Murderbot is still unhappy, but agrees. It also agrees to be nicer to Gurathin.

Fearful that whoever killed the DeltFall team will come after them, Murderbot and the PreservationAux team decide the best course of action is to launch the emergency beacon. Discussed earlier in the show, the beacon will alert the Company, which will then be able to evacuate the team. I liked that, despite the animosity between them, Murderbot and Gurathin were able to get on the same page, as it was the two of them who particularly pushed this idea to the rest of the team.

The PreservationAux team attempts to launch the beacon, but something is wrong and the beacon won’t send from inside the habitat. After some disagreement, it’s decided that Murderbot and Mensah will travel to an external site to launch the beacon manually.

Before they leave, Leebeebee makes Murderbot very uncomfortable by kissing it on the chin. Watching this uncomfortable moment play out, I don’t think it needed to be included in the show, especially after Leebeebee’s earlier comments about Murderbot.

Following Mensah and Murderbot’s departure, Gurathin starts to do some work with the data from the combat override module. Leebeebee seems rather interested in what he’s doing, despite telling the others that she had no background in scientific work earlier in the episode. I’m getting a very suspicious vibe from Leebeebee.

On board the hopper, Murderbot and Mensah talk. The conversation isn’t without its hiccups, but it’s a lot smoother than their previous one-sided discussion in the hopper in episode three. Murderbot notes that this is actually the first conversation it’s ever had where it can share its true thoughts.

Murderbot voices that it doesn’t think the Company is responsible for the DeltFall team’s deaths. It and Mensah conclude that whoever killed the DeltFall team must have impersonated the PreservationAux team. I enjoyed seeing the two working in tandem to come up with their ideas, further building on their friendship after the last episode.

Murderbot and Mensah arrive at their destination, only for the emergency beacon site to explode. The two of them appear to be safe for now.

The story has shifted, now that the humans know about Murderbot’s hacked governor module. I am keen to see more of its evolving friendships with the PreservationAux team in the coming episodes.

Author: Iris Autumn

Iris has a degree in Digital Media and a passion for writing. She has published in cultural arts magazine The Artifice. Iris’ interests include intertextuality, media portrayals of fandom and creativity, and stories that are campy.

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