I wondered whether I would do a video or written article on this, but for now I decided I’d share some quick written thoughts on Love, Death and Robots. Spoilers ahead.
The show continuously popped up in my queue, but I never got around to checking it out. I came across a random Twitter conversation where someone was praising it, which was enough to make me take the plunge. The anthology format, and the (mostly) sci-fi subject matter has drawn comparison to Black Mirror but I feel like this show doesn’t have the same overarching theme Black Mirror does.
As a whole, Black Mirror focuses on how technology affects human interaction. A lot of stories in Love, Death and Robots bring this up, or bring up the larger issue of human technologic hubris. However, there are a few that don’t carry this message. If people go in expecting another Black Mirror they may be disappointed. I like sci-fi, I like fantasy, I like action. Those qualifiers made me enjoy Love, Death and Robots.
What I find interesting is that the episodes seem to have a more polarizing reaction than Black Mirror. I bring Black Mirror up again since the formats are similar. Black Mirror has a set of stories that are generally well-regarded e.g. White Christmas, White Bear, USS Callister and some that are generally reviled e.g. The Waldo Moment and Metalhead (personally liked it).
In contrast, people’s favourites list can differ so drastically for Love, Death and Robots. Some of my favourites don’t end up on some people’s lists at all. I didn’t hate any stories, but some I was more ambivalent about, are loved by others. However, Beyond the Aquila Rift seems to be the most common mainstay in the favourites list (judging from Twitter threads I’ve perused).
I like the difference of opinions, and how people generally seem open to exploring their different reactions and interpretations. One thing that irks me a bit is when people say they didn’t like a certain style due to the animation. I feel like the first episode (as listed on Netflix) seemed to set the tone, and the next followed with a similar style. However, I viewed the different styles through the lens of a comic book reader.
Now, I don’t like some artists as much as others. While art enhances a story I don’t fail to get into a story, or fail to appreciate the writing because I don’t like the art. Over time, I have learned to just adjust to one artist’s style and go back to another without the art ruining the experience for me.
With that said, let’s get into it.
There are some stories where I liked the message or the ending, but didn’t like the whole story as much as others.
Good Hunting is a thinly-veiled colonialism critique, where a magic being loses her power as her country gets more industrial. Then she is literally turned into a machine because a colonial gentleman can “only get hard for machines.” Not subtle, but I did enjoy the imagery. The ending, where the magical being is turned into an upgraded, robotic version of herself and seeks revenge on the colonial rapists (literally and metaphorically) is one of my favourite moments of the series.
Zima Blue had the most beautiful ending in my opinion. This being, who has evolved from a robot with a single purpose — learning new things with every upgrade and becoming a revered artist — ends his career by going back to the beginning. Zima has accomplished everything he wanted to. He needs a purpose in life, and a simpler existence gives him that purpose. As a pool cleaner, he goes back to having a simple, objective task: One that can’t be interpreted one way or another (at least not as much as art). It was also great hearing Kevin Michael Richardson’s voice again.
I did see Aquila Blue‘s reveal coming when Greta’s cut healed quickly. I figured the main character must be in a simulation but the reveal’s exact nature was still a surprise. The ship has literally been entangled in someone’s nest, and the reveal of the spider’s form legitimately gave me chills. I just wish the episode ended right there, instead of cutting back to another simulation.
Fish Night almost seems like as a lesson on naivety. The older guy was wary of where their careers as door to door salesman are going, but the kid is more optimistic. When the kid says he wishes he could be a sea creature swimming without a care in the world I immediately thought “except getting eaten.” Ultimately he isn’t watching his surroundings and gets killed (or it’s all a hallucination and the kid died while sleeping, like some people think).
Shapeshifters is the werewolf story I wish I wrote. I will finish rewriting my own by 2021 (after I finish my sixth book), but Shapeshifters presented another great twist on a werewolf story, with literal dog soldiers. The look and abilities of the werewolf characters were a joy to watch and I found the story to be one of the most suspenseful on the list.
Lucky 13 was almost a love story and a ghost story in its own right, with the sci-fi as a backdrop.
Three Robots is the funniest of the series, probably helped to put it second to break up the more serious nature of Sonnie’s Edge. I find Sonnie’s Edge to be another very popular and critically-loved entry. In a sense, it sets the tone for the series: If you can handle the violence, nudity, language etc. then continue on. However, different users have different episode orders, so maybe this could be different depending on the user. For some, Aquila Rift was the first episode and maybe the “”first effect” impacts the reception for that episode.
This thread brings up the idea of Netflix using the metrics for the most popular episodes to create standalone shows. It seems like Sonnie’s Edge might be a contender if that were the case. I can’t help but wonder if being the first episode helps as well, since it is burned in people’s minds as their first taste of the series.
The last episode, The Secret War, is also great in my opinion but seems much less universally-loved. I loved the soldiers’ last stand and the action sequences as a whole. I love that we got a brief background on the conflict, tying it into historical fiction.
As mentioned before, I didn’t hate any of the episodes, but the ones above all stood out for me more than others. What about you?