Apple TV+ ‘Murderbot’ Episode 3 Review - Corporate Lies, Broken Bots, and That One Awkward Hug

Episode 3, “Risk Assessment,” is where things start to get messy—in a good way. Up until now, the show had been slow-cooking its story with a sarcastic android, a few humans too trusting for their own good, and an ominous corporate backdrop. But here, the real flavors start to kick in. We get sabotage, secrets, and one especially inconvenient life-or-death scenario inside a half-functioning terraforming base. It’s not just the stakes that go up—it’s also the emotional investment. Somehow, without ever asking for it, Murderbot is starting to care. And worse, so are we.

The setup is deceptively simple. A group of scientists and corporate contractors is sent to inspect a terraforming station left to rot after being abandoned by GrayCris. Murderbot is embedded in the team, tasked with providing security and secretly reporting on the real reason the company left the site. As expected, the surface-level mission quickly spirals. What was supposed to be a quiet evaluation trip becomes a trap, thanks to faulty systems, sealed doors, and something nasty hiding in the lower levels of the station. There’s a particularly memorable moment where one of the researchers insists on going off alone, and you can practically hear Murderbot’s internal eye roll.

What sets this episode apart is how effortlessly it mixes genuine tension with biting humor. Murderbot is a masterclass in deadpan commentary. It doesn’t want to be there, doesn’t want to protect anyone, and certainly doesn’t want to feel anything. But the show keeps putting it in situations where it has to improvise, and its reluctance is half the fun. Watching it juggle its annoyance with actual concern, especially when humans start making predictably bad decisions, is endlessly entertaining.

But the comedy doesn’t overshadow the drama. The terraforming base feels lived-in and broken, more haunted house than a lab. Flickering lights, flickering AI systems, unexplained malfunctions—the atmosphere leans into sci-fi horror without ever going full Alien. It works because the threat isn’t just whatever’s lurking in the dark. The real danger is that no one in power seems to care. GrayCris’s decision to leave the station isn’t just a plot device—it’s a reflection of the kind of cold-blooded profit logic that the show loves to skewer.

There’s a standout sequence where Murderbot, cut off from the rest of the team, has to disable a combat bot that’s clearly been tampered with. It’s a fight that’s more brains than brawn, and it’s directed with sharp, kinetic precision. No slow-motion hero shots here—just fast decisions, tight quarters, and escalating tension. It’s one of the first times we see Murderbot’s physical capabilities pushed to the limit, and it works not because it’s flashy, but because it feels earned.

That said, the episode isn’t perfect. The exposition comes thick in places, and while necessary for the plot, it occasionally drags. A few secondary characters feel underwritten, especially when compared to how vivid Murderbot’s voice is. There’s one character—a corporate liaison with “hidden agenda” practically written on their forehead—who could’ve used more subtlety. And while the visual storytelling is strong, the show sometimes leans on dialogue to do the heavy lifting that a quiet moment or a well-placed cut could’ve handled better.

Still, those flaws don’t linger long. “Risk Assessment” pulls things back on track with its final act. The mission, predictably, goes sideways. A massive system failure puts everyone in real danger, and it’s up to Murderbot to choose whether to escape or save the team. No prizes for guessing what it chooses—but what’s more interesting is how annoyed it is about doing the right thing. There’s a moment of near silence where it watches the humans celebrate their survival, and you can almost feel it calculating how long until it can go back to watching its shows.

That balance between cynicism and sincerity is what keeps the series from collapsing under its own sci-fi weight. It isn’t just about rogue AIs or corrupt corporations. It’s about what happens when something designed to obey starts to choose. Not because it’s forced to, but because it can. “Risk Assessment” doesn’t answer big questions about free will or morality, but it nudges them forward. It asks what it means to be good when no one is watching—and then shrugs like it doesn’t care about the answer.

This is Murderbot’s world: awkward hugs, accidental heroism, and a constant desire to fast-forward through human interaction. And somehow, it’s kind of perfect. Episode 3 is a high point for the series so far—not because it goes bigger, but because it goes deeper. It’s got bite, brains, and a bit of heart, even if Murderbot would rather you didn’t notice.

Final Score- [8/10]