Murderbot Season 1 Episode 9, “All Systems Red,” is a high-octane, action-packed penultimate outing. The PresAux team finally launches an emergency beacon to Port FreeCommerce after implementing SecUnit’s wildly dangerous plan. Naturally, everything that can go awry, well, does. It’s a delightfully entertaining episode, with some stellar comedic work from our lead.
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Murderbot, “All Systems Red”
We open with Murderbot (Alexander Skarsgård), Mensah (Noma Dumezweni), Pin-Lee (Sabrina Wu) and Gurathin (David Dastmalchian) in the hopper. SecUnit monologues about how humans react differently when faced with the prospect of imminent death. Gurathin isn’t a fan of our titular bot’s risky plan, but c’est la vie. Mensah asks Murderbot how the odds look. Could they survive its aforementioned risky plan?
Initially, SecUnit claims the odds are on the medium to low side. However, Gurathin immediately calls it out for lying. SecUnit corrects itself, stating the odds are low to extremely low. Probably in the basement at this point. SecUnit clearly lied to make Mensah feel better.
Eye Contact
After this, Mensah lands the hopper. SecUnit asks if everyone remembers their jobs. Gurathin sends a verbal jab its way before SecUnit returns fire with a fun callback. “I noticed you have an issue with eye contact,” it says to Gurathin with a smug expression. Perfection.
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So, SecUnit departs to meet with the GrayCris crew. At the PresAux habitat, Ratthi (Akshay Khanna), Bharadwaj (Tamara Podemski) and Arada (Tattiawna Jones) scan the area for potential hostiles. Ratthi informs SecUnit that PresAux is safe. It orders Ratthi to keep the channel open.
Meanwhile, Pin-Lee and Gurathin complain about Mensah. They both believe that Mensah should’ve stayed at the habitat. Gurathin remarks that Mensah can be implacable. Pin-Lee adds that, inexplicably, Mensah’s inability to yield is hot. Gurathin agrees it’s as frustrating as it is hot.
Kogi Saves the Day
Then, Murderbot tells us that it lied about its plan to the PresAux gang. Why? Because humans have a tendency to lose their sh*t. Pin-Lee must get a drone up in the air so Gurathin could use it as a transponder and hack into GrayCris’ HubSystem remotely. Then, our crew will launch the GrayCris beacon and call for help. It got this idea from The Rise & Fall of Sanctuary Moon episode 599, “Kogi Saves the Day.” A bona fide classic, it tells us.
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After this, SecUnit encounters the GrayCris team. It introduces itself to Rita (Amanda Brugel), the GrayCris leader. Her right-hand man (Christopher Cordell) attempts to override SecUnit’s governor module. Well, too bad for you — it did it first. It calls GrayCris out for attempting to hack it to make it kill the PresAux crew. Rita asks to speak to Murderbot’s clients. However, SecUnit insists it has a plan.
Next, it admits it’s gone rogue. Might as well get that out of the way. SecUnit explains that, initially, its clients were too self-absorbed to see that it was rogue. It claims Gurathin was the only one to understand the threat it posed before producing a head from its satchel. Yes, it’s the head of the SecUnit killed by that creature in episode seven. Gotta love this intimidation tactic.
Destroyed Inventory
Then, Murderbot divulges that its clients are sabotaging GrayCris’ mission. It offers to help Rita capture them and get the information she wants. In exchange, Murderbot asks that the GrayCris team take it with them on the pickup ship. However, Rita must list it as “destroyed inventory.” Mensah and the others are incredulous. Why would SecUnit betray them? Sure, it’s rogue, but still.
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Rita agrees to SecUnit’s terms. Of course, if it’s lying to them, they’ll destroy it. Murderbot urges Rita to open a satellite link and connect to the PresAux HubSystem. Murderbot loudly claims it’ll fool “those idiots” into keeping the connection open. Now, the PresAux team can hear everything Murderbot’s saying. SecUnit reiterates its willingness to hand over its clients, but only after Rita marks it as destroyed.
Next, Murderbot orders Bharadwaj to lower the firewall to give GrayCris access to the HubSystem. Ratthi protests at this, claiming it wasn’t part of the plan. Bharadwaj and Arada decide to trust it, though, and they help Ratthi lower the firewall. Then, Pin-Lee and Gurathin release the drone that locates the GrayCris beacon. After this, Arada sends the security codes to Gurathin.
Four Minutes and 46 Seconds
Pin-Lee patches in to Mensah, asking for pickup. Gurathin attempts to hack GrayCris’ HubSystem to launch their beacon. Gurathin informs Pin-Lee that the drone is now connected to the beacon. Meanwhile, Rita’s right-hand man tells Murderbot that they’ve listed it as destroyed inventory. Rita orders it to disclose its clients’ location.
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Then, SecUnit replies that the PresAux team is at the launchpad, having patched into their beacon. Way to throw your humans under the bus. It mentions that one of them is a highly advanced, augmented human. Instead of saying Gurathin, though, it claims this person is named Shagamin. This is a character from Sanctuary Moon. Clearly, SecUnit’s betrayal is part of the plan. Rita orders SecUnit to accompany them to the launchpad.
Gurathin and Pin-Lee realize that immolation is inevitable for Murderbot and the GrayCris crew. They’ll die when they come in contact with the launching beacon. Ratthi urges Gurathin to stop the launch. Gurathin counters that if he does this, he can’t get back into GrayCris’ HubSystem. They have four minutes and 46 seconds to launch.
Boldness Is All
After this, Murdebot and GrayCris land the hopper within the perimeter of the beacon. Elsewhere, Pin-Lee and Gurathin watch in horror as a large bird takes out the drone. Gurathin reveals that the drone can no longer trigger the beacon because it didn’t finish the data upload. Pin-Lee frantically pings Murderbot to inform it that the beacon will no longer launch. Gurathin decides to haul ass to the GrayCris habitat to hack their system from there.
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Mensah takes matters into her own hands, flying the hopper to the GrayCris beacon. At the same time, Rita and her team fail to find the PresAux crew at the launchpad. Murderbot tries small talk on for size. Hey, it’s watched enough TV to understand the basic concept of it. It asks Rita where she’s from and if the team likes it on this planet. SecUnit attempting to stall is hilarious. Her right-hand man admits he hates it here.
SecUnit asks him if he wants to “clasp hands” before whirling around and hurtling itself off a small hill, shouting, “Boldness is all!” Meanwhile, Pin-Lee and Gurathin duck behind some equipment after spotting a GrayCris surveyor moving through the habitat. Mensah parks the hopper at the launchpad and introduces herself to Rita. Gurathin finally hacks GrayCris’ HubSystem. Unfortunately, that surveyor catches him in the act. Thankfully, Pin-Lee swoops in and, well, kills him. They didn’t mean to commit murder, though.
The Final Fight
Rita asks why Mensah, a Planetary Admin, is on this sh*tty planet. Mensah claims it all boils down to two words: alien remnants. Rita counters that it’s illegal to exploit or extract alien remnants. They must report them to the proper authorities. Mensah fires back that said remnants could be valuable enough to justify killing people — like GrayCris did to DeltFall. And their attempts to take out PresAux.
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Pin-Lee pings Mensah, informing her that they’ve successfully triggered the beacon. One minute countdown. Mensah offers to give Rita the data from the alien remnants in exchange for SecUnit. Rita would rather torture it out of her, though. SecUnit offers to torture Mensah itself. It’s quite good at it. Then, Rita’s right-hand man realizes Murderbot has been quoting Sanctuary Moon this whole time.
Suddenly, Murderbot initiates a fight. The GrayCris SecUnits fire back at it as Mensah takes cover. SecUnit grabs Rita’s right-hand man and shields itself with his body. The GrayCris SecUnits cannot shoot a client. They’re not rogue like it is. However, one of the other GrayCris workers kills him. She attempts to escape in the hopper alone, but Rita shoots her. Meanwhile, the GrayCris SecUnits beat the snot out of our Murderbot. It floods their systems with hours of premium TV, though, to distract them.
The Launch and the Fall
Next, SecUnit grabs Mensah, and they run as the beacon launches. The fiery explosion incinerates Rita and her team. Murderbot shields Mensah as they leap off a cliff. Murderbot situates itself so that it absorbs the landing. After their fall, Mensah thanks SecUnit. Gurathin and Pin-Lee reunite with them. They embrace Mensah. However, SecUnit ain’t lookin’ so hot. Liquid leaks out of its mouth.
Is this the end of Murderbot?
Murderbot drops new episodes every Friday on Apple TV+.
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What I do: I'm GGA's Managing Editor, a Senior Contributor, and Press Coordinator. I manage, contribute, and coordinate. Sometimes all at once. Joking aside, I oversee day-to-day operations for GGA, write, edit, and assess interview opportunities/press events.
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