Love, Death + Robots: Netflix's Groundbreaking Anthology

Vega
May 15, 2021
4 min read

Have you seen Netflix's Love, Death + Robots (LDR)? Have you even heard of Love, Death + Robots? If you haven't, you are about to. This will be less of a review and more of an appreciation post for this crazy anthology series created by Tim Miller, best known for directing Deadpool (2016). A few days before the release of an 8-episode second volume, I revisited the 18-episode first volume which premiered in March 2019. I last watched LDR soon after it was released so this was a real refresher of how experimental this series felt and how impressive some of the episodes were.

The show is an anthology series of short films, with all but one of them being fully animated, and all having some relation to at least one of the three themes of the show (Love, Death, or Robots).

While some of the episodes come off as pretty tame, there are a number of episodes that clearly separate this series into the adult animated genre with sexually explicit content, one episode even borders on softcore porn, and plenty of blood and violence to go around. The “experimental” aspect of the series is nothing unheard of, but in an era of comic-adaptations and shared universes, anything different feels a bit extra foreign. Every episode stands completely alone and separated, acting as its own animated short film, and are developed by different teams from all around the world. The episodes range from 6 to 17 minutes and exist across the realm of animation styles, from Japanese hand-drawn art to the high quality, realistic CGI. To even push this odd series further apart from the masses, the order of the episodes is not always the same for different viewers. From what I read, there are at least four different episode orders available and are randomly applied to different Netflix accounts.

A quick review of the first volume before jumping into thoughts on the newly released second volume, I did make a ranking of the episodes. However, it was very difficult to differentiate some of them from each other and, instead, have grouped them into three tiers. Some of what is really appealing about this series is that some of the episodes can really get you focused on the possibilities of the future, mostly catastrophic, but still. It is always nice when passive media can be engaging in a way that is more than just entertaining. Also, some of the animation techniques are just breathtaking, with the most uber realistic styles leaving my jaw dropped. It was quite revelatory to think about the types of video game graphics I grew up with and then being shown a level of graphics that might as well just be real.

Tier 1:

"Sonnie's Edge", "Three Robots", "Suits", "The Secret War", "Good Hunting", "Blindspot", "Sucker of Souls", "Helping Hand", & "The Witness"

Tier 2:

"Lucky 13", "Alternate Histories", "Zima Blue", "Shape-Shifters", & "Beyond the Aquila Rift"

Tier 3:

"The Dump", "Fish Night", "Ice Age", & "When the Yogurt Took Over"

This second volume of episodes is half the amount of its initial release and I think that helped improve the perception of quality for these episodes. Not to take away from the first set of episodes, but there were a good deal of similarities across a few episodes. With less this go around, everything felt a bit more distinct. With there being another 8-episode volume scheduled to be released sometime in 2022, I do wonder if Netflix just decided to split what was originally a 16-episode set. Regardless of whether this was a post-made decision or not, I think I preferred the lesser format. Sure, with this set of episodes varying between 7 and 18 minutes, it may not seem like you are getting much, but it does allow for each episode to breathe a bit more and garner that much more focus.

I felt as though the new set of episodes continued to capture just as much, if not a bit more compelling, commentary of various issues from population management to smart devices. These topics, I found, elevated the depth of these episodes, especially "Pop Squad" and "The Drowned Giant", and led to a very enjoyable experience. Even the episode at the bottom of the list, "Ice", which could be interpreted as a discussion on the role of humanity amongst unequals, can be more than just a visual spectacle. Speaking on the visuals, though, I felt less separation between most of them, with half of them opting for uber realistic CGI (I thought "The Drowned Giant" had live-action elements at first). This did not hurt the overall quality of the volume as much, but it was a bit disappointing when thinking back to the uniqueness of the Japanese-style art from "Good Hunting" and how a bit of that was lost here. Only having 8 episodes makes them a bit easier to rank, but as with the first volume, I will maintain a three tier system for consistency.

VOLUME II Ranking

Tier 1:

"Pop Squad", "Automated Customer Service", & "The Drowned Giant"

Tier 2:

"All Through the House", "Life Hutch" , & "The Tall Grass"

Tier 3:

"Snow in the Desert" & "Ice"

With a variety of stories, animation styles, and tones, the entire lineup of Love, Death, & Robots can have something to appeals to everyone. The best part is you do not have to devote a lot of time to check some of these episodes out. Throw one on your phone while you take your morning poop or catch a couple on your lunch break. No matter how you watch, it is no question that LDR is one of the more accessible and innovative series we have seen from a streaming service.