Murderbot Season 1 Episode 6 Finally Lives Up to Its Promise with Well-Executed, Genre-Bending Hour
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As a diehard horror fan, there are few things more satisfying than a well-executed (pun intended) moment of shocking violence.
And Murderbot Season 1 Episode 6 delivers in a way that genuinely made my skin crawl.
But more than that, this episode is Murderbot at its best — equal parts hilarious, introspective, grotesque, and tragic.
It’s the kind of genre-blending sci-fi that doesn’t flinch away from body horror, philosophical questions about personhood, and the weird emotional rollercoaster of watching your favorite cheesy space soap opera while literally bleeding out.
This installment is a turning point in tone and stakes, and I loved every gnarly second of it.
Leebeebee’s Betrayal: Called It!
Let’s talk betrayal first. I knew Leebeebee was shady. Called it during my Murderbot Season 1 Episode 5 Review!
Since arriving, she’s had weird vibes, and while her kiss with Bharadwaj gave me pause, I still didn’t buy her “I’m just a traumatized explorer” act.
So when she pulled a gun on Gurathin, I was ready — but also terrified. Even knowing it was coming, the moment was charged with tension.
Her cool delivery, ruthlessness, and sudden shift from timid ally to calculating saboteur worked. It also reinforced something this show does brilliantly: no one is safe, and kindness doesn’t always equal trustworthiness.
Return to Sanctuary Moon: Therapy Through Camp
Before the blood starts flying, Murderbot Season 1 Episode 6 opens in classic Murderbot fashion — with a detour into Sanctuary Moon, the fictional in-universe soap Murderbot is obsessed with.
I love how the show keeps using this cheesy space romance as comic relief and an emotional mirror.
This time, we get John Cho and DeWanda Wise, reprising their roles as the dashing Captain and Navigation Bot, stranded and flirting beside a flickering campfire.
It’s over-the-top and ridiculous, but oddly charming. Murderbot, of course, is baffled by the concept of robots feeling romantic attraction.
“I watch them to distract me,” it narrates. “When things in the real world are stressful as shit.”
Its honesty and deadpan delivery remain one of the show’s best features.
A Wound, a Laugh, and a Lot of Panic
Meanwhile, the actual “real world” is stressful indeed.
Murderbot is badly injured from the previous episode’s blast, with a gaping wound full of debris.
Mensah finds it trying to act casual despite the bleeding and immediately panics — not just because of Murderbot, but because they’re still very much in danger.
In one of the funniest scenes this week, we learn that Murderbot erased its ship repair manuals to make room for more Sanctuary Moon episodes.
Mensah is understandably exasperated. She asks why it would delete them, concerned that it may be sabotaging their mission.
Cut to Murderbot sheepishly admitting it was for its TV show. The tension diffuses briefly, giving us a glimpse of their bizarre but growing bond.
Breathing Together: The Calmest Panic Attack Ever
That bond is tested again when Mensah starts to have a panic attack over their isolation.
What follows is one of the most emotionally compelling scenes in the episode: Murderbot plays a Sanctuary Moon episode where the characters are infected with a breathing virus, causing them to breathe in sync.
Mensah and Murderbot do the same, slowly calming each other.
It’s a creative use of the in-universe show, transforming camp into therapy I can relate to.
But the relief is short-lived — Murderbot collapses soon after, and Mensah is left to perform surgery on it to save them both.
The Cronenberg Moment: Spinal Surgery, Sci-Fi Style
And here’s where the episode gets gross — in the best way.
The body horror sequence where Mensah cuts into Murderbot’s back to extract spinal wiring is viscerally uncomfortable.
As someone raised on Cronenberg, I was simultaneously wincing and admiring the craftsmanship. The scene is wet, squelchy, and intimate.
The sound design alone is deserving of an award. Mensah, gagging through the process, mutters, “I’m a vegetarian,” and I giggle.
Murderbot tries to soothe her with a quote from a TV show, and somehow it actually helps.
Watching her dig into its metal spine, ripping out nerve wire while fake blood oozes out, was the most disgusting — and oddly moving — scene of the show so far.
Leebeebee’s Villain Reveal: No Redemption Arc Here
Meanwhile, the rest of the crew deals with a ticking time bomb: Leebeebee.
Bharadwaj has a moment of compassion for her early on, believing that they’ve connected, that maybe Leebeebee could change.
But that hope gets obliterated — literally. After manipulating the crew, shooting Gurathin in the leg, and threatening to kill someone unless she gets access to the HubSystem, Leebeebee reveals her true allegiance.
She’s not with DeltFall. She doesn’t even like babies. It’s all been a lie to get what she wants: money.
She goes from complex to outright villainous, and her cold response to Bharadwaj’s offer of sanctuary — “Can you get me millions of credits?” — is the final nail in the coffin. She never cared. And it hurts.
Murderbot Lives Up to Its Name (A Little Too Well)
And then Murderbot shows up and blows her head clean off.
I won’t lie — I cheered for a second. Then felt guilty.
Murderbot’s reaction is so revealing — it expected applause, a freeze-frame, a sitcom finale moment.
Instead, the room is shocked. Gurathin’s pissed they can’t interrogate her. Bharadwaj is heartbroken.
Murderbot slinks off, genuinely confused by their reaction. I
Because it thought it was helping. It doesn’t understand why execution without trial isn’t heroic.
It’s another sobering reminder that, for all its dry wit and sarcastic detachment, Murderbot is still learning what it means to be. Not human, exactly, but ethical.
An Emotional Wreckage: Bharadwaj’s Heartbreak
That final scene — with Bharadwaj sobbing over the death of someone she believed she could reach — is quietly brutal.
This isn’t a show where the good guys always win. Sometimes you bet on the wrong person.
Sometimes, you think someone’s human because they’re kind to you. But that’s not always enough. Arada comforts her in silence, and it stings.
Final Thoughts: Shock, Squish, and Sci-Fi Soul
Murderbot Season 1 Episode 6 is an emotional pressure cooker of an episode, packed with tension, laughs, heartbreak, and gore.
It balances complex emotional arcs with pulpy sci-fi tropes, all filtered through Murderbot’s increasingly fascinating lens.
It’s funny how this is the most human it’s ever felt — and also the most terrifying. The name “Murderbot” finally lives up to its promise; not everyone is okay with that. Neither am I. But I can’t look away.
What’d you think of this episode? Were you gagging, like me? Let me know in the comments!
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