Love, Death & Robots

Photo Credit: Netflix

Netflix is slowly but surely chipping away at my general disdain for television. If you’d asked me a year or two ago, I’d have told you HBO was the only thing on television worth consistently watching, but with shows like Killing Eve, Babylon Berlin, Altered Carbon, and Narcos, I’m almost as enamored with Netflix’s offerings as I am with the decades of solid programming HBO has delivered. Netflix’s latest binge-worthy show is Love, Death & Robots. Released on March 15, the show includes 18 animated episodes of various lengths in the genres of sci-fi and horror. With many of the shorts featuring graphic nudity, extreme violence, and vulgarity, Love, Death & Robots is definitely not for kids or the faint of heart, but it’s right up my alley. Several episodes are based on short stories by well-known authors including John Scalzi, Joe Lansdale, and Peter F. Hamilton and if I had contact information for creators David Fincher (Seven, Fight Club, Social Network) or Tim Miller (Deadpool), you can bet I’d pitch some of my short stories such as “The Unthreading” or “Anvils from the Sky” for Season 2.

Like any collection of work by different teams, some pieces will appeal to an individual viewer more than others, but all of them are worth watching. Here are my brief descriptions of each episode, from my favorite to least favorite.

Beyond the Aquila Rift

This 16 minute sci-fi gem wouldn’t be out of place in the Aliens universe. Three spacefarers leave Earth via an ill-advised short-cut and wind up some place very different than planned.

Secret War

I’d love to see this story made into a feature-length live action film. As a short, the narrative gets a little muddled in the middle, but this gory tale of Red Army soldiers fighting a demonic invasion in Siberia is really entertaining.

Sonnie’s Edge

An undefeated gladiator faces a ruthless opponent in the ring and a treacherous villain willing to do anything to witness her monstrous avatar’s demise. What they don’t take into account is the terrible secret that gives the gladiator her edge.

Good Hunting

This steampunk tale of revenge set in colonial China features some of the series’ best animation. My only complaint is that despite being one of the longest episodes of the season, it ends too quickly.

Lucky 13

A rookie pilot is assigned a ship with a bad history, but she proves the right match for the flying war machine. Like a Vietnam movie that takes place on a distant planet, this episode gets the adrenaline pumping.

The Witness

Several minutes of full-frontal female nudity may turn some off, but this one feels like if Phillip K. Dick took a turn at Run Lola Run. Its twist ending isn’t that much of a surprise, but this post-apocalyptic chase is fast-paced, sexy, and violent fun.  

Zima Blue

With no sex, violence, or vulgarity, this segment is a rarity in the series and it’s one of the stronger episodes. A reclusive artist of the future seeks a higher truth and finds it in a place you might not suspect.

Ice Age

This episode combines live action Topher Grace and Mary Elizabeth Winstead with some impressive animation to tell the story of an antique icebox that hosts a miniature, rapidly evolving civilization.

Sucker of Souls

An archaeologist and his team of mercenaries open Dracula’s tomb to find the newly awakened King of Vampires is anything but happy to see them. This short is 13 minutes of vulgar, gory horror adventure.

Helping Hand

If you liked the Alfonso Cuarón film Gravity, you’ll like this episode. It tells a much shorter but similar tale and includes one excruciating scene that will haunt you long after it’s through.

Blindspot

Visually this one is more cartoonish than most of the series, but it’s still a fun ride. A group of cybernetic thieves try to take out a heavily-armored train but run into stronger opposition than they anticipated.

Suits

If CMT did a spin-off based on the alien bugs from Wreck-It Ralph, it might resemble this countrified sci-fi tale. The down-home farmers loading up their mechs to do battle against an invading alien horde is surprisingly suspenseful for just a 17-minute short.

Shape-Shifters

A pair of werewolves faithfully serves the U.S. Marines in Afghanistan despite their human peers’ fear and resentment. Trouble arrives when equally ferocious locals decide to fight back.

The Dump

A gross little tale of terror, Ugly Dave and his pet trash monster don’t take too kindly to a city inspector who arrives to evict them. For anyone who didn’t get enough full frontal nudity in “The Witness”, this one features the male variety.

Three Robots

Unless it’s The Fifth Element, sci-fi comedy isn’t really my thing, but this 11-minute tale of a trio of robots exploring an Earth long rid of humans has its moments. The opening visual reference to Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a nice touch.

Alternate Histories

I despise Hitler as much as the next non-white-nationalist, but this cartoonish spoof on different ways Hitler could have died and the effect each would have had on history feels a little played.

When the Yogurt Took Over

This one is as silly as its title suggests. I think yogurt-overlords are just a little too far-fetched, but President Yoplait couldn’t be any worse than President Trump, right?

Fish Night

This one is the most fantastical episode in the series, but also the most pointless. It has an interesting premise, but the set-up feels forced and the ending doesn’t satisfy.