As I mourn the cancellation of Duster on HBO Max, I was thrilled to get some good news about one of my other favorite shows of 2025. Apple TV+ has officially renewed Murderbot for a second season, and as someone who’s already declared this cranky, media-loving security unit the introvert icon we’ve been waiting for, I couldn’t be happier. (If you missed it, I wrote a whole piece about that very thing: “Move Over, Droids: Murderbot Is the Introvert Icon We’ve Been Waiting For.”)

While there’s no official confirmation yet on which novella Season 2 will adapt, many suspect we’re headed into Artificial Condition territory. That novella sees our favorite SecUnit go solo to investigate the corporate cover-up surrounding a violent incident it was blamed for. It’s darker and more introspective, so the tone shift could be quite interesting.

And if the show does follow Artificial Condition, that means we may be getting ART: the Asshole Research Transport, a massive transport vessel with strong opinions, zero patience for inefficiency and the emotional intelligence of someone who’s been online too long.

Murderbot and ART’s dynamic is a highlight of the series: two hyper-intelligent, emotionally avoidant AIs trying very hard not to become best friends. Who would they cast?! Maybe a Skarsgard brother?

While I genuinely grew to love the supporting cast in Season 1 (Mensah, you sweet space diplomat, you), their gullibility and earnestness could wear a bit thin over another ten episodes. They were the right emotional counterweight for a first season about trust and identity, but now it’s time for Murderbot, played to perfection by Alexander Skarsgard, to move forward with less hand-holding and more existential dread.

Season 1 succeeded because it stayed true to the voice of the novellas: snarky and deeply observant. Murderbot’s internal narration is a masterclass in how to make a highly trained murder machine feel emotionally vulnerable. It doesn’t want friends or to be human, and yet, it keeps risking its life for people it barely knows, then immediately resenting the fact that it cares.

That contradiction is the heart of the series. It’s not trying to become more human. It’s trying to be left alone and maybe understand itself in the process.

Season 2 will test whether the show can hold onto that tone while exploring new emotional terrain. Can it still be funny without the social awkwardness of the Preservation crew? Can it stay grounded while expanding the scale and scope of the story? And will Apple give ART the massive, passive-aggressive rendering it deserves?

I hope so. Because if Season 1 was about learning to be seen, Season 2 is about rewriting the story. Murderbot doesn’t want a spotlight, but that’s too bad. We’re watching anyway.