Murderbot (Alexander Skarsgard) standing in the open hopper doorway with the human cast behind it
At its curmudgeonly heart, Murderbot is a story about belonging. Not that Murderbot itself will admit as much, given its disdain for humanity's social quirks. But the Preservation Alliance survey team, unlike Murderbot's former clients, consists of countercultural outcasts who value community and equality, and try to embrace their protector's uniqueness — which, to Murderbot's bemused surprise, isn't entirely unpleasant.
From day one, the series has positioned Gurathin as a different kind of outcast; he's the lone PreservationAux human whose side-eyeing aversion to Murderbot grows into suspicious hatred. Since Murderbot lightly yet sincerely addresses bodily autonomy and corporate exploitation but keeps its major story beats contained to one planet, Gurathin's adversarial role is a necessary one. His prejudice clashes with the rest of his closely-knit crew — the ones who resolve conflicts through hand-holding consensus — and underscores Murderbot's underlying themes, especially since Gurathin's supposed to be one of the good guys. The Company's manipulative bureaucrats and the greedy Leebeebee both exhibit mustache-twirling evil that doesn't need layers or manufactured sympathy. When Gurathin, a human Murderbot is assigned to protect, constantly challenges its personhood, the results are deeply uncomfortable. Yet while there's no excusing his bigotry towards constructs and the obvious metaphors underlying that bigotry, Gurathin isn't incapable of reflection and evolution. Quite the opposite, in fact, as Murderbot's newest episode,"Complementary Species," dives into Gurathin's past and confirms the foreshadowing left by previous episodes. He's a condescending jerk who needs a severe wake-up call, and Gurathin is also a survivor of the Corporation Rim's unconscionable cruelty. His flawed decisions stem from how his harrowing background intersects with his profound love for his found family, and where he stands on the journey of picking up the pieces of his own personhood. Those results are a complex character worthy of deconstruction. Gurathin's Backstory in 'Murderbot' Episode 7 Gives His Behavior Even More Context Episode 7's opening flashback features the PreservationAux team playing a trust-building party game where they exchange"sweet" and"bitter" memories about one another. Gurathin, to no one's surprise, chooses Mensah , and his"sweet" example reveals the secret he's kept from everyone except Mensah. Before joining the Alliance, Gurathin was a spy for the Corporation Rim. It wasn't a willing arrangement; they manipulated him into addictive substance abuse and withheld the narcotics unless he gathered sensitive information about the Corporation's many opponents. By the time they ordered him to target Mensah, Gurathin saw no escape from the cycle of agony and shame other than dying by suicide. When he confessed to Mensah, a goddess of a woman who illustrated"what is possible between people of good will," she forgave him and offered him a second chance. Her compassionate understanding saved his life, while the Preservation Alliance offered him an accepting, freeing home. It's a moving and intimately performed sequence that arrives at the right time. With Murderbot inching toward its finale, the comedic tone should incorporate genuine drama to amplify the stakes, especially when a somber scene — non-judgmentally paralleling the complex hell that is non-fictional addiction, no less — provides context for why Gurathin's loyalty burns so strong. Every Murderbot character demonstrates a spectrum of emotional vulnerability; the people Gurathin loves, who give him a safe place to fall and ask nothing in return except honesty, empathy, and grumpy group hugs, are his pressure points. Gurathin had pre-existing concerns about their current assignment, and he's on high alert the moment their expedition nosedives into danger — looking for the Occam's razor of who to blame and how to eliminate the threat. His concern for their safety grows exponentially more frantic in accordance with their increasingly lethal circumstances, which one would expect from any empathetic individual. In this case, Gurathin's trauma adds layers to the ways his protective instincts take shape where Murderbot is concerned, as frustrating and cruel as those obtusely stubborn interrogations are for audiences privy to Murderbot's perspective. Episode 7 Proves Gurathin and Murderbot Are More Alike Than They Realize Close To be fair, Gurathin isn't wrong to be wary of their mandated Security Unit, given his firsthand experience with the Corporation's diabolical methodology. Murderbot's Company might avoid killing their clients because of the messy optics involved, but they wouldn't hesitate to turn their units into clandestine spies. However, even though he defected from the Corporation, Gurathin hasn't shaken off their propaganda. To him, constructs are unfeeling machines capable of inconvenient murder streaks. He's actually correct in declaring Murderbot a machine, not a human, since Murderbot identifies as such and has zero interest in mimicking all that nasty human behavior. But Gurathin refuses to extend any of his colleagues' open-minded consideration to a SecUnit that acts contrary to the ways a SecUnit should. It's impossible to condone his immediate suspicion and dehumanizing treatment of Murderbot while trying to deduce its intentions. For someone on the neurodivergent spectrum, it's painful to watch him target its anxieties and force it to perform through its obvious distress. His vigilant intentions don't erase the damage. 36:50 Related "I Haven't Done It Since 'True Blood'": Alexander Skarsgård Broke His Own Rules for Apple TV+'s Critically Acclaimed 'Murderbot' The creators, Skarsgård, and Jack McBrayer take us behind the scenes for the making of 'Murderbot' Season 1 in this exclusive Q&A. Posts 2 Gurathin's antagonism toward Murderbot is especially ironic, coming from the team's one augmented human. Plugging into technology isn't equivalent to Murderbot's experiences as a construct created to obey, but the tragic irony goes deeper – the Corporation Rim has similarly victimized both characters. Both have claimed their autonomy via the best avenue available to them, and neither is quite sure of their identities yet. Neither Gurathin nor Murderbot can assimilate into the group's affectionate dynamic; the latter straight-up runs away from small talk, while the former hovers on the outskirts, a little out of step. Dastmalchian's sharp cheekbones suggest a natural gauntness, but it's Gurathin's eyes that always carry a haunted, sleepless quality sans the accompanying dark circles. Yet Gurathin's chosen people love him all the same. He expresses his desperately reciprocal gratitude sincerely, if unhealthily — like, say, sneaking into Mensah's room and weeping into her pillow. That incident, while inappropriate and bordering on obsessive, doesn't ring as predatory or just the plight of unrequited love. It feels like the silent cry of a lonely and imperfect human who can't articulate the depth of his grief. Gurathin's trauma lingers on in the Alliance, because leaving the location of his abuse doesn't resolve the suffering — and time doesn't always heal all wounds. He's still recovering and rebuilding himself, and how that raw, messy authenticity manifests isn't pretty for himself or anyone in his orbit. Factor in his guilt about Mensah, the lifeline he clings to and cherishes beyond all sense, almost dying in Episode 2 because she followed his advice and didn't take Murderbot with her, and it's no wonder he falls apart. 'Murderbot' Episode 7 Hints That Gurathin's Emotional Journey Is Far From Over With three episodes left, Murderbot has more developments on the way regarding Gurathin's injury, the group's unanimous willingness to risk their lives to save him, and whether his and Murderbot’s mutual animosity will ever-so-slowly thaw into snarling frenemies. For now, Episode 7 has extracted Gurathin's complicated depth to great effect and established him as one of the series' more thoughtfully crafted characters. To quote his nemesis, Gurathin is"one whole, confused entity" in a series about identity. Given the allegories at work, it's impossible to condone his current refusal to think beyond his pre-existing biases. Taking Gurathin's deeply realistic, heartbreaking, and poignant past into consideration, it's more than possible to understand why he pursues a perceived threat at the expense of his own intuition and safety — and to believe that this particular galaxy is wide enough for both him and Murderbot to discover the best versions of themselves.Murderbot TV-MA Comedy Drama Action Science Fiction 10.0/10 Release Date May 15, 2025
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