Murderbot

Trailer.

Available Summary:

A media-obsessed private security construct (manufactured from cloned human tissue and mechanical parts) calling itself Murderbot must hide its newly acquired autonomy while completing dangerous assignments and being simultaneously drawn to humans, and appalled by their weakness.

-Wikipedia.

Jack's Summary:

I absolutely adore this science fiction action comedy. I highly recommend watching it, even beyond the non-binary representation.

The protagonist, a robot crafted with lab-grown human tissue, has taken control of its system and solidified its sentience. While this technically allows it to act of its own free will, doing so would result in being "decommissioned" and melted down. Used and abused by humans, and practically unable to disobey regardless of what happens, it finds escapism in fantasies of violent resistance (privately naming itself Murderbot) and watching fantasy drama shows.

A research team with unconventionally progressive views, at least in terms of the in-fiction universe, request funding and support for planetary exploration. In order to access these resources, they must also agree to be accompanied by a Security Unit. The team, hailing from a society which views SecUnits as living people, consider this tantamount to slavery, but have no choice. They choose the most inexpensive SecUnit available, unaware that their robotic companion is defective and is capable of disobeying commands.

What ensues is chiefly funny and entertaining, so what I did not expect was to find myself crying during the penultimate and final episodes, and to find the robot itself so relatable. This might sound ridiculous but, as an autistic man, I have never related to another character (in terms of neurodivergence) as much as I relate to the protagonist of this series. I can only assume that the obvious parallel to autistic experiences was deliberate, but regardless of filmmaking intent, I know that I am not the only autistic person to find the end product deeply meaningful.

Returning to Pin-Lee themself, they are canonically non-binary, but this is not made explicitly evident until episode three, when they are referred to as "they" by Murderbot. Were you not paying attention in that moment, you might even miss that one syllable.

Their gender is simply portrayed, rather than being explored. Their relationships with Arada (their wife), Ratthi (their throuple partner), and the team overall are more explored than their gender is. They are just another member of the team, and they happen to be non-binary as well.

Running this website has taught me that there are many different ways representation can be handled, but that there are two broad categories; representation built through gender-focused plotlines and discussions and conflict, and representation built through normalisation.

While both categories offer something different, I have increasingly grown to adore the latter category, as long as it is done well... and Murderbot is done well. Pin-Lee's identity is, in a word, normal. And the other characters, unique in their own ways and often quite weird, are also somehow very normal.

I like this show because it's great. Representation is a bonus. Go watch it.