On this week’s episode, our intrepid galactic explorers face a murderous enemy, Murderbot’s love of Sanctuary Moon turns into a legal responsibility, and Mensah makes a grave miscalculation.

Spoilers ahoy!

Half of PresAux is headed towards the rendezvous level the place GrayCris lies in wait, and issues are a bit tense within the hopper. In fact it’s Gurathin who assumes they’re all going to die. When Mensah asks Murderbot’s opinion on their success charge, it hems and haws. I don’t blame it. The previous couple of instances Murderbot gave them its trustworthy opinion about their imminent loss of life, the people acted prefer it was being unfathomably callous. (When Gugu does it, nonetheless, it’s only a irritating quirk of character.)

As is her behavior, Mensah retains her emotions to herself. Come to consider it, the one instances we’ve seen her actually open up and be Ayda the girl slightly than Dr. Mensah the planetary chief is when she snapped at Ratthi within the final episodes and the 2 instances she was chatting about her household to Murderbot or doing respiratory workout routines to an area cleaning soap. Murderbot pulls the same stunt of retaining issues near its chest. After having its most private ideas and emotions—what Captain Hossein, lengthy might he reign, known as “instructions from inside”—uncovered for everybody to see and scorn, Murderbot is again to its outdated SecUnit methods. It intentionally lies to PresAux about what SecUnits are able to and its danger evaluation. Its affectation is flat and face expressionless. Each Mensah and Murderbot are taking part in their elements, her of the sturdy chief and it of the robotic with weapons in its arms. Mensah can’t do what must be completed as Ayda the mom and good friend. I don’t assume Murderbot has retreated into the SecUnit position as a result of it must do the job at hand; I believe it’s defending itself from additional hurt. After the best way the those that claimed Murderbot was a part of their workforce reacted to studying its most personal secrets and techniques, it’s no surprise it has pulled in on itself. It needed to harm to be rejected by so-called mates. (Extra like fairweather mates.)

Ratthi, Bharadwaj, and Arada are again at base camp. As soon as the hopper lands, Murderbot heads off to satisfy GrayCris whereas Mensah stays behind to coordinate. Pin-Lee and Gurathin wander by way of the woods in search of a very good place to launch a transponder to hack into GrayCris’ HubSystem and launch their emergency beacon (impressed by episode 599 of Sanctuary Moon). Besides, it is a pretend plan; Murderbot pitched PresAux on it to get them to do what it wanted for its actual plan. What it actually determined to do was inform GrayCris it has no governor module. That’s stunning! Much more stunning is that it pulls out the pinnacle of the evil SecUnit Hostile One decapitated in episode 7 and claims it killed the one human who discovered it was rogue: Gurathin. Murderbot claims it’s betraying PresAux in change for being marked as destroyed stock and getting a experience off planet on their ship. Daring transfer, Seccy. 

Redhead GrayCris says “It’s only one bot. We are able to dispatch it later.” Within the feedback for final week’s episode, I touched on this a bit, however I’m having fun with the best way the writers are taking part in with the phrases “bot” and “assemble.” SecUnit has been clear that it’s a assemble, not a bot. However the people, each Preservation Alliance and Company Rim alike, are much less clear. Sanctuary Moon calls its assemble a Navigation Bot (within the books, navigation bots are a factor, if I recall appropriately, however they’re only a bot. Bots can assume, however they’re a lot easier than a assemble) nevertheless it’s actually extra of a assemble like Murderbot. Murderbot’s very title is a play on this blurriness. People deal with SecUnits like speaking tools slightly than sentient beings. The fight module override serves to principally render constructs into bots. Murderbot can’t get any of the opposite evil SecUnits to reply to its pings. They’re the true homicide bots on this scenario. Murderbot performs into GrayCris’ misunderstandings about constructs and bots, as properly their assumptions about rogues, to persuade them to associate with its plan.

Besides! There’s a 3rd plan! On a separate channel, Murderbot instructs Bharadwaj to let GrayCris into their system. It’s the one method to get GrayCris to let down their guard sufficient for it to get into their channel for the beacon launch. It’s a pleasant contact to see Ratthi, Bharadwaj, and Arada push the button collectively. There’s no time to speak about it or do their entire consensus buzzing factor. They should not solely belief Murderbot but additionally belief themselves. Right here’s when issues get convoluted, to say the least. The extra Murderbot talks, the deeper a gap it digs itself into. It makes up “a extremely superior augmented human” named Shagamin, of all issues (after Flight Corporal Shagamin from season 7 of Sanctuary Moon). In the meantime PresAux figures out Murderbot is making an attempt to lure GrayCris to the emergency beacon so when it launches they’re burned alive. Mensah doesn’t need any extra deaths, however Murderbot insists there’s no different means.

Time for yet one more plan. When the transponder drone is eaten by an alien chicken creature, Gurathin and Pin-Lee sneak into GrayCris’ base to set off it from inside their very own system. Too dangerous Murderbot doesn’t know this for the reason that communication channel was severed when the drone was misplaced. I used to be cringing by way of that entire stalling scene. I’m glad we couldn’t see Murderbot’s face throughout that or I may not have survived. And that little run soar duck for canopy? So embarrassing. Possibly not a good suggestion to shout “Boldness is all.”

Mensah can be reduce off from entry and formulates her personal plan. She takes the hopper to satisfy GrayCris. Which means if Gura and Pin-Lee are profitable, now Murderbot and Mensah die. However when Pin-Lee and Gurathin get comms again up, Mensah modifications her plan but once more to attempt to get away earlier than issues go growth. Murderbot presents to torture her however its love of “premium, high quality leisure” (or “crappy present,” both or) makes it careless. Beard GrayCris figures out they’re being scammed because of all of the Sanctuary Moon references.

Murderbot says two issues tonight that actually caught with me. First, it tells PresAux “you get what you pay for,” however truthfully if they’d shelled out for that “extra refined mannequin” they’d all be lifeless. It will’ve killed all of them at DeltFall and that might’ve been that. The one cause any of them are alive now could be as a result of they cheaped out on a chunk of apparatus that as luck would have it had already hacked its governor module. Second, when Murderbot holds Beard GrayCris hostage, it tells the evil SecUnits, “We are able to discuss this. You don’t should observe orders. I can train you hack your governor modules.” Even when issues are bleakest, Murderbot presents a hand to its compatriots, utilizing the language of Preservation Alliance, no much less. It could’t work, not with that override nonetheless going, however I really like that it tried.

Predictably, everybody’s new plans go awry. GrayCris kills two of their very own as a substitute of doing any harm to PresAux. Pin-Lee brains one of many GrayCris guys, however Gurathin is ready to set off the emergency beacon launch sequence. Murderbot can’t persuade the evil SecUnits to hitch it, nevertheless it does handle to blow up yet one more head by dumping its whole leisure stream downloads folder all of sudden into one of many SecUnits. Mensah tries to seek out one other method to resolve this battle and finally ends up capturing the GrayCris chief. Murderbot drags Mensah over the sting of the cliff, twisting and turning to land in simply the correct means in order that Mensah has the best probability of survival. Murderbot’s helmet is smashed to bits, the company brand gone utterly. It truly is rogue now. The whole lot it has completed on this episode has been of its personal accord, based mostly by itself information and needs. It selected to do all the issues it’s doing. It retains selecting to sacrifice its personal life for PresAux. The very last thing it says because it suffers a catastrophic programs failure is “My purchasers… my purchasers… are the perfect purchasers.”

Is Murderbot lifeless? We now have an entire ‘nother episode left, so I’m guessing not. However come again subsequent week to seek out out!

Ultimate Ideas

• Episode 9 covers most of chapter 7 in All Methods Crimson, together with some scenes invented or closely modified for the present.

• Are the opposite SecUnits conscious of what’s taking place to them? I form of hope not. 

• The panorama received me curious, so I regarded it up. Apparently the present was filmed in and round Toronto and the Ontario area. 

• There are apparently 2,797 episodes of The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon and I’m shedding my goddamn thoughts.

• Hey, Hollywood, it could be tremendous cool if I by no means needed to see the “facial scars imply evil” trope once more, please and thanks.

• Necessary to notice that it’s Gurathin who first notices Murderbot is dying and rushes to it.

Quotes

Subsequent week, our finale.

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