The 2025 sci-fi comedy-action series Murderbot (also known as All Systems Red), boasting a stellar 98% Rotten Tomatoes score, is adapted from Martha Wells’ Hugo and Nebula Award-winning novella The Murderbot Diaries. The show follows a security android (played by Alexander Skarsgård of True Blood, Big Little Lies, Succession, The Legend of Tarzan, Godzilla vs. Kong, Generation Kill, The Northman, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Long Shot, and Disconnect), originally designed for high-risk missions, which unexpectedly hacks its own programming and gains free will.
With newfound autonomy, the android’s inner world is turned upside down. While deeply disturbed—even repulsed—by human emotions, it finds itself inexplicably drawn to its fragile human clients. In this high-tech future, the android must carefully conceal its free will, continuing to pose as an unfeeling, obedient machine while completing dangerous contracts.
On one such mission, it is assigned to protect a team of scientists conducting research on a perilous planet. The hostile environment is teeming with deadly creatures and hidden threats. As the android safeguards the scientists, it gradually forms unexpected bonds with them. Witnessing their courage and dedication—risking their lives in pursuit of knowledge—it begins to see humanity in a new light.
However, its unusual behavior soon raises suspicions. Powerful forces start investigating, determined to expose its secret. Caught between external threats and internal conflict, the android faces an impossible dilemma: protect the scientists at all costs while avoiding detection—or face annihilation.
Between missions, the android’s greatest wish is simply to be left alone, binge-watching futuristic soap operas. The melodramatic romances and tragedies offer a window into human emotions, providing solace in its solitude. As it contemplates its place in the universe, the android grapples with existential questions: What does it mean to have free will? What is its true purpose?
Through battles and acts of protection, it slowly realizes that it may be more than just a machine—it could be a being with a soul of its own.