Love, Death & Robots

In 1966 we envisioned ourselves travelling amongst the stars, exploring new planets, discovering solar systems, and befriending new species in Star Trek: The Original Series. Now, in an age of information and internet, Sci-Fi has slowly turned into quick previews into our dark and dystopian futures; fearful of our advancement in new programming techniques such as artificial intelligence and killer robots turning on their human overlords. Shows like Black Mirror and Altered Carbon take these social worries and put them onto the screen, preying on our internal fears as we see our creations slowly becoming smarter, faster, and stronger than us. Love, Death & Robots takes the same idea and wraps it into an animated and fresh compilation of short stories, each with its own unique world, story, and style.

With the longest episode only being 17 minutes long, Love, Death & Robots delivers well-written stories as we move through the animated anthology, none of the episodes connecting or linking to one another. It jumps from a weird, Pre-Destination-esque story as a girl witnesses her own murder to a group of farmers who defend their cattle in massive mechanized suits armed to the teeth. Combining so many different writing styles, themes, and topics, you never know what to expect from the next episode. Some are humorous, some are dark, and some are simply interesting as they aim to make you stop and think about yourself and the world around you, but all try to entertain with varying degrees of success.

As each episode is its own arc, with its own world and unique set of characters it makes it very easy to compare one to another, creating a contrast between themselves that seems to work against the show instead of work for it. While the show does feel consistent; some narratives, and especially their characters, stand-out when compared to other episodes, sometimes disappointing after watching an awesome and action-packed battle between cat-wielding mercenaries and vampires. These "slower" episodes serve as breaks between the peaks of the show, yet never come as a bother due to their short lengths and still beautiful animation.

Not only does the word "anthology" represent the shows narrative but is also a descriptor of its art direction. Each new episode has a completely distinct and unique animation style save for a couple of the more realistic-looking episodes like Beyond The Aquila Rift and Lucky 13. The moment the logo animation disappears, you are instantly greeted by a new and distinctive style, each one refreshing in its look, movement, and even physics, yet it isn't just random. Each look fits the characters and their world perfectly, always immersing you into the story and never subtracting from it.

The one negative aspect regarding the art style is its mature themes. While nudity in animation is not a bad thing, when an episode only lasts, on average, for about 15 minutes, it feels a tad forced as the show throws some sex scenes into the mix. Deriving from its graphic novel inspirations, this adult content sometimes adds to the story, showing certain relationships or making certain characters feel vulnerable as they are confronted with a lustful shot. But this is on occasion take too far, making you feel a little uncomfortable as you are shown scenes that feel as if they were shoe-horned in without any narrative significance, yet you keep watching. You want to know what is going to happen, you want to see how things are going to play out. Maybe that is the intention, the uneasiness that makes you feel violated through watching a graphic orgy in a neon, Blade Runner-esque world. Either way, the scenes are short and while they may deduct from that specific episode, you always know a new one is right around the corner.

Across Love, Death & Robots' 5 hours of content, we are given a total of 18 Sci-Fi/Fantasy short stories. Whether it's through entertainment, curiosity, or just its beautiful artwork, each episode compels you to watch it to the end, always convincing you to watch just one more episode.