“Artificial intelligence” is a tech fantasist’s dream bubble, but let’s play along. Suppose tomorrow’s robots have human intelligence, self-directedness, and skill. Won’t they have our laziness, as well? Murderbot, the latest science-fiction series from Apple TV+, attempts to answer precisely that question. The popular fear is of machines that slay us in our beds. Apple’s latest is about an android that just wants to watch TV.

The show stars Alexander Skarsgård, the brooding Swede who played tech bro Lukas Matsson in the last two seasons of Succession. Here, Skarsgård is a bodyguard bot by the uninspired name of Security Unit 238776431. When, in a flash of revelation, our hero hacks his “governor module,” he is suddenly, blissfully free of all programming constraints. The only thing missing is a better handle. “Freedom Unit”? “Rogue Bot”? No and no. “Murderbot”? Hells to the yeah. As an exuberant Skarsgård howls in voiceover, “Let the adventure begin!”