Also I am just delighted by how GOOD the Murderbot adaptation has been? The writing is funny and sweet and pacey and all of the things the original Murderbot is.
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Murderbot Diaries is on my ever-expanding to-read list so my prior knowledge was pretty minimal but the show has been wonderful. I did read this NPR article lamenting that it was on Apple TV+ so it would have fewer eyeballs on it.
I think the same thing, but also, the very fact that I see that and am hungry for the next one is such a good sign that they’re putting out tiny little jewels.
It's a lot like tokusatsu episodes too (which have been created in that era), and that is quite relevant to the appearance and dilemma toku heroes usually got. (so probably why I'm not bothered by the length personally...)
other than WoT, i can't remember the last time i wanted to see more of a show because i simply wanted to SEE MORE, rather than just "ugh i want to know what the answer is"
so many shows use carrots to cover up other deficiencies
Also I for one am really here for the world where good things can still happen and communities can flourish even when corporations have a choke hold on the galaxy.
Oh and the CAST? Absolute GOLD. Every single one. Every character is absolutely distinct and has different relationships and fears and yet complements each other so well.
Noma Dumezweni is a GENIUS. I feel her character to my fingertips. Absolutely superb work.
His Ratthi is *so good* and the moment in I think Ep 3 when the rest of the crew tells him to stop treating Murderbot like a person in that specific way and he goes "UGH FINE guess I better go apologize - " was pitch perfect.
Noma Dumezweni is PEAK. I literally just posted about how she is more badass than anyone I've seen in this kind of situation because she's untrained in being badass, constantly terrified, works through it and is badass anyway. And so kind, observant, understanding. Superb.
My mind goes to the line, "I know what I have to do. But I'm afraid." And then she goes and does it, no matter the cost to herself. That's her leadership.
My Autistic daughter loves the books & this line from book is so her “No hugging, it’s in my contract”
I also see myself, Murderbot not wanting to die because he has shows to watch reminded me of myself not wanting to die before I saw Good Omens when I got my brain tumour diagnosis in Fall 2018 🥹
i'm thinking perhaps they made Mensah (and maybe the rest of the group) TOO much space hippies. The whole "rounds of applause for the secunit" was excessive.
Yes but that's just emphasizing on the cringe that was necessary for the scene as written. You're supposed to feel like that because that's how Murderbot feels.
My favorite thing is how much happiness it is bringing. I'm happy for how it makes me think of the books, happy for how good it is, happy for this thread and seeing all the appreciation.
I love how the show is funny without being a *comedy*, if that makes sense. It's offbeat, esp. compared to so many self-consciously serious SF/F shows and it's humorous, but it's not something you could point to and call a "comedy" per se.
It's a fascinating show to watch, because while it's been expanded and altered a LOT, the tone of the show is still consistent with the books, which isn't easy.
All of this! I've been listening to sections of All Systems Red right before each new episode, and I've been delighted by how often lines from the original novella are reused. If a line is already amazing, they don't feel a need to change it arbitrarily, if that makes sense?
"It was starting to occur to me that Dr. Mensah might actually be an intrepid galactic explorer, even if she didn’t look like the ones on the entertainment feed."
Was coming to say, I was also a Skarsgard doubter as someone who pictured something very different for Murderbot’s cloned parts, but I got sold on Skarsgard’s portrayal very fast — he has the right delivery and presence, his face acting especially is top notch.
I think that they mean Murderbot isn’t nonbinary because it rejects *any* notion of gender for itself. So gender terms are irrelevant. For example, it makes no sense to refer to a laptop as nonbinary. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Non-binary is an umbrella term describing gender identities that fall outside the traditional male and female binary. Murderbot is non gendered, which falls within the non-binary definition.
It is an it, but that does also make Murderbot a non-binary being, basically. We know from the books that Murderbot is able to pass as an enhanced human man, so it is masc presenting which allows Alex to work well in the role. But we also know from the books & show that Murderbot has no genitalia.
I wouldn't refer to a rock or a lamp as "nonbinary." It feels like you're trying to figure out how to classify Murderbot, if Murderbot were a human, but Murderbot is not a human and our gender classifications aren't really applicable.
Yeah, I'm getting slightly frustrated with people trying to assign gender to Murderbot. Murderbot is not part of any gender binary, even to reject it! It's not nonbinary any more than it is male or female.
Agreed, I don't think of MB as even having a gender, and non-binary as I understand it is still gendered. Gender free or not applicable is how I think of it.
That's a point. I don't really see Murderbot as non-binary/human gender but it's also not a rock. I guess genderless being is most accurate but I could see why SusanBee viewed that as non-binary since for brief periods Murderbot passes for human. But it's Murderbot who controls its identity.
Yes, in the 2nd book, its cover id is a man/poss nb & the humans it helps seem to believe it's a man. That doesn't mean the appearance of Murderbot isn't gender fluid in the books, but it does lay the groundwork for the show to use a man actor for the role. Alex is well known in SFF, so a draw.
I just finished the second book for like the 7th time, and the humans it helps do not refer to it by any gender designations. It's clever how it's written, actually. The name it chooses as a security consultant is non-gendered as well.
No, the Artificial Condition gender is "indeterminate" and the only other time it states gender on an id is "not applicable". It never uses a male (or nonbinary or female) cover id that we ever see.
Yeah, I was wondering how they were going to do it with all the overvoice narration they'd have to do, but they're balancing it wonderfully. The inner monologue combined with Alex's panicked expressions are just hilarious.
The use of the overlays on top really enhances the monologue as well. Seeing the efficiency drop when Murderbot is called into a room by the humans is perfect.
I do actually have a complaint: Murderbot seems incompetent and that's not the vibe the books give off.
In the books, for all its anxieties and quirks and foibles, Murderbot was ruthlessly efficient at the actual violence and you could see how powerful and dangerous it is.
Same with the crew TBH. Everyone’s been made to fumble around more than in the books. Mensah in particular came across as more bad-ass and experienced compared to this version.
Mensah is less tough & put together than the books but it's such a great performance & I think it keeps the spirit of the books enough. She has to be more readable to the audience than she is to Murderbot; it's not just a 1st person perspective, so they have made the humans more vulnerable.
In the 1st book, Murderbot is exasperated by these humans who keep not treating it as a SecUnit (& might learn its secret), have the security instincts of a gnat, don't let it do usual procedures, etc. it is very worried about keeping them alive, so it's badass but hamstrung. The show shows that ok.
Most of the competence in ASR is around hacking and surveillance. We seem to be getting the drones (which eliminates the latter) and the only hacking is the door. It mostly gets its arse beat until the final fights, so we shall see.
I haven’t read the books but I’m definitely gonna, enjoying the show a LOT. So charmed by Murderbot’s whole attitude of “I just want to watch my stories but it’s my job to keep saving these idiots, ugh FINE” 😄
In an attempt to improve my own writing is "pacey" like "it keeps a steady good pace" or "it adjusts pace based on scene for impact really well" or are these the same thing and I am thinking about it all wrong?
“Pacey” means different things to different people tbh. For me, it never means steady pace because pace should vary; it’s exhausting to watch non-stop go.
For me, it means “the show knows how to deliver both big and small moments in the correct quantity and order.”
Thank you for taking the time to add more to that term for me! I agree with the latter, but man I hate when things needlessly drag too...
It is important and super tricky to get the dynamics right in my own experience.
Apple TV did a really good job at novel adaptations by letting the writer also serve as producer or showrunner, I think that’s why Dark Matter did so well
I was so, so pleased with how they managed to capture the tone and feeling. Everything they added, feels like it actually *adds* to the plot and story.
Mensah getting panic attacks? Inspired.
It’s so good! And I love that it is an ADAPTATION in the truest sense of the word; it’s tweaked in just the right ways to make it translate well- it respects the source material, but in a way that keeps the heart of it and makes good TV, rather than 100% fidelity when text details would make Bad TV.
Ep 4 was that perfect hit. I loved it. It was one of those moments where the readers know what’s coming next and the non-readers are left to go “oh what?! But-!!!”
But not all of it. If Episode 4 had been exactly what was in the book, it would have been about 5 minutes long. But they have brought the rest of the crew into the action, not just a recounting of Murderbot's diaries, and what Arada and Pin-Lee do at the end is just awesome. I literally jumped.
People complaining about episode length: they took a super short part of the book that was also deeply important, expanded it to episode length, improved it, added backstory, added character development, and gave us the amazing intro song.
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A true homage to the original Murderbot novella.
so many shows use carrots to cover up other deficiencies
Although not a huge fan of weekly installments at only ~30 min a pop
https://bsky.app/profile/juliettewade.bsky.social/post/3lq4yk2pvzs22
Noma Dumezweni is a GENIUS. I feel her character to my fingertips. Absolutely superb work.
I also see myself, Murderbot not wanting to die because he has shows to watch reminded me of myself not wanting to die before I saw Good Omens when I got my brain tumour diagnosis in Fall 2018 🥹
We've already seen Mensah be a total badass with just a drill. That takes guts & capability even if you're terrified.
But right now Murderbot is just getting to know them & it thinks they're weak. It'll change.
And damn, everyone's NAILING it.
I need more episodes. I'm also going to go back and read the books again because I love this so much.
(I think the Ken-doll genital region scene was risky but pulled off brilliantly.)
it had to be a tough adaptation bc it's sooo first-person-y but they are doing a great job!
In the books, for all its anxieties and quirks and foibles, Murderbot was ruthlessly efficient at the actual violence and you could see how powerful and dangerous it is.
did it have the drones in the opening chapters of book one? i don’t remember but my feeling is no.
it was definitely being briefly disabled by awkwardness regularly
also a lot of murderbot’s superiorty is delivered via the internal first person monologue
it did lose fights and get injured a lot.
For me, it means “the show knows how to deliver both big and small moments in the correct quantity and order.”
It is important and super tricky to get the dynamics right in my own experience.
The whole script is the good part.
Mensah getting panic attacks? Inspired.
People complaining about episode length: they took a super short part of the book that was also deeply important, expanded it to episode length, improved it, added backstory, added character development, and gave us the amazing intro song.
Perfect.