Murderbot star reveals what Mensah is feeling in the Season 1 finale

Apple TV+’s Murderbot wrapped up its first season on July 11, 2025. Based on Martha Wells’ novella All Systems Red, the sci-fi action dramedy is created by Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz. It follows a rogue SecUnit, a part-machine, part-human tissue, that secretly disables its own obedience system and goes through dangerous missions while having a passion for soap operas.

Alexander Skarsgård plays the titular Murderbot, while Noma Dumezweni plays Dr. Ayda Mensah, from the Preservation Auxiliary team, who becomes a key figure in the SecUnit's emotional journey.

Dumezweni opened up to Collider about how Mensah navigates her most intense moments in the final episode, including what she’s feeling when Murderbot disappears.

Noma Dumezweni on Murderbot’s finale

In the finale, titled The Perimeter, Corporation Rim agents wipe Murderbot’s memory and install a new governor module. While the company does not think the situation is reversible, the Preservation team has other plans. Pin-Lee manages to attain the SecUnit, and Gurathin tracks down its deleted personality data by matching it with Sanctuary Moon episodes, the SecUnit’s favorite show. With its memories restored, Murderbot returns, vulnerable and armorless, and ultimately chooses to walk away from the team that it has come to care about.

Mensah, usually a calm and consensus-driven leader, takes control of the situation when they cannot find the SecUnit, by using her Madam President rank. When Collider spoke to Dumezweni about Mensah’s power move, she said,

''It's the Corporation Rim. In the Corporation Rim, we are what we are. I’m first and first among equals, and as I say to Gurathin, “If anything happens to me, make Pin-Lee the first among equals.” Everyone in Preservation Alliance has to do some kind of community work and help with all their skills, and that's what we're doing in this moment. Then you realize, “She's actually the leader of this place.” I love that. It has to be the Corporation Rim. It has to be in that moment, because we need to fight for our friend.

She continued,

I love that you've seen them all, because I think the last three episodes are beautiful. When I watched that, I said to Chris and Paul, “Applause.” I loved the sense of journey for SecUnit, for Murderbot. The free will is truly now here.’’

As seen in the show and evident from Dumezweni’s words, for Mensah, saving Murderbot is not just professional, it’s also emotional. After the team succeeds in recovering the SecUnit's identity, they invite it to live with them freely. But it slips away at night, disguised as a servant bot, and boards a departing transport ship. Mensah awakens soon, but it's too late, and she realizes that it's gone.

Dumezweni described the moment to Collider, saying,

‘’It's painful. It's sad. Your baby's flying the coop. I've got an 18-year-old who has just graduated high school and started university, and it's an interesting space to be in because she's at home at the moment, but I’m seeing her, like, “I'm going to go meet someone. I'm gonna go do this.” This shit’s real. You need that, and you want that because then you remember yourself leaving, you remember your journey to be in the world. And I love that moment of realization. Because we know there's no place that they’re going to come back, in this moment, we don't know what Murderbot’s journey is going to be. It’s that sense of, “We've done good, but we have to let go. We've done everything we could for it, and this is the choice.” For me, that's what I found beautiful in that moment. I do remember watching that shot, and I was like, “I'm happy they chose that,” because it was full of feeling, and that feeling was true.’’

One of the most interesting parts of the season is the evolving relationship between Murderbot and Mensah. Fans familiar with the books know that the SecUnit secretly considers Mensah its 'favorite human'. But we do not know for sure if Mensah is aware of that. When asked if she thinks Mensah knows, Dumezweni said,

‘’No! And it's wonderful. And she shouldn't. It's always the observations. Even Murderbot saying that to the world. It’s heart. I want to say it's an energetic heart, and it's a peaceful consciousness of going, “Wow, okay. She served.” I love that. She doesn't know that. But she knows that we, the PresAux team, have affected it.’’

With a second season confirmed, fans can expect that this farewell between Mensah and Murderbot is likely not final, just a break before they reunite again. Murderbot is streaming on Apple TV+.

Trending

For more articles like this, follow Soap Central.

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback