The fourth season of Netflix’s animated series Love, Death & Robots was released yesterday
and while its lack of a truly stand-out episode means that it doesn’t hold up quite
as well as previous seasons, I still found it entertaining. If you keep up with
this blog you know I wrote about seasons one, two, and three in the past so
continuing the tradition feels like a natural. Like previous seasons there are
several big names involved in the writing, direction, and acting in these 10
episodes including David Fincher, John Scalzi, Tim Miller, and John Oliver, some
more successful in their contributions than others. The episodes are short
enough that watching all 10 in a single sitting is easy enough, but if you want
to cherry pick, I’ve written brief descriptions of each episode below in my
order of best to worst.
The Screaming of the
Tyrannosaur
This episode seems to be catching some static based on the
fact it features the voice talent of Mr. Beast, but I really enjoyed this one.
The story itself isn’t all that original, but the setting, the characters, the
animation, and the action make it my favorite 15 minutes of the season.
How Zeke Got Religion
This is one of those shorts that is so good, you wish it
were longer. Watching the WWII aerial crew set out on a mission only to find themselves
beset by flying demons bent on killing them all mid-flight, I loved the gory
action. I just wish I had more time to get to know the crewmembers before the
action kicked in.
For He Can Creep
This historic fantasy tale of a cat that is dead-set on
protecting a poet locked up in an insane asylum from Satan himself is lots of
fun. It’s the last episode of the season and ensures the season goes out on a
high note. I hope to see more like this one if Netflix makes a Season 5.
400 Boys
I love the animation style in this short and it does a nice
job of painting a set of unique characters in minimal time. The first two
thirds of the story warrant consideration for being the best of the season. The
let-down is its choice of villain. The ending falls short of the set-up.
Spider Rose
I loved the animation in this sci-fi horror short, but the
story didn’t do much for me. Character motivation was odd and the ending left
me unsatisfied. I rank it in the middle of the pack because it feels like it
has plenty of potential. It just could have used a good rewrite.
Smart Appliances,
Stupid Owners
Easily the funniest episode of the season, this 8-minute short
provides the perspective of increasingly unfortunate appliances who have to
deal with humans and their oblivious behavior. It features well known comedic voice
talent including Kevin Hart, Melissa Villasenor, and Amy Sedaris.
The Other Large Thing
This amusing episode features the voice acting of Chris
Parnell and has a satisfactory ending, but I’m not a fan of the over-the-top caricatures
and animation style that represent the human bad guys that the feline and robot main
characters must defeat.
Golgotha
This one is actually live action so it’s a departure from the
series norm, but it’s one of the weaker episodes in this season. I liked the human
characters and the alien villain well enough but the punchline of an ending
felt too abrupt.
Close Encounters of
the Mini Kind
I didn’t like the miniatures when they did it with zombies
last season and this version with aliens isn’t any better. I know it’s supposed
to be humorous, but it just feels lazy to me. This is an unoriginal story without
any character development or even a unique gimmick.
Can’t Stop
David Fincher has directed some great films. Why he agreed
to direct a marionette concert video of the band Red Hot Chili Peppers is anyone’s
guess. This might have made a decent extra clip for a band documentary, but it’s
the weakest episode this series has produced so far.
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