The third season of Netflix’s Love, Death & Robots is out now, and much like its previous seasons, it too is something of a mixed bag. Executive produced by David Fincher and Tim Miller, the series has never really felt like a storytelling vehicle and more as an exercise in showcasing just how far animation has come. There are nine episodes in this season, and while they aren’t particularly long, we thought we’d save you the hassle of sitting through the bad ones.
First up, the good.
1. Jibaro (Episode 9)
A golden siren lures a group of conquistadors and priests to their doom with her calling, but is mystified when her call fails to affect one particular deaf knight. The siren, enthralled by this particular conquistador, falls in love with him but is ultimately betrayed by the greed and excesses of man.
Story: “Jibaro” is beautifully told in dance without dialogue. The camera tells as much a story as the actual performances. The siren’s dance is haunting. Her call blood curdling. This was an easy choice for number one on this list.
Technology: Despite looking like it, none of the character animation was done via motion capture, but rather, keyframe animation. Which makes it just that much more complicated.
Love, Death & Robots Scale: No robots, but a lot of death, and one instance of love.
2. Bad Travelling (Episode 2)
A fishing vessel is violently boarded by a giant, man-eating crustacean that kills the majority of its crew, save a handful. The ship’s navigator is informed by the giant man-eating crustacean that it is to be taken to a nearby populated island. The navigator takes matters into his own hands and pilots the vessel to an uninhabited island instead.
Story: This episode is directed by David Fincher himself and has the most complete story arc. It’s scary. It’s got the most well developed characters. I wouldn’t mind having more stories from this world. “Bad Travelling” is also the longest episode at 21 minutes.
Technology: Beautiful and varied character design. The giant man-eating crustacean is menacing and scary. The lighting is beautiful.
Love, Death & Robots Scale: No robots or love, but a lot of death.
3. Night of the Mini Dead (Episode 4)
A couple of drunk teens cause a zombie apocalypse that threatens the entire planet. The zombie apocalypse gets out of hand, leading to the world’s leaders to launch nuclear missiles that ultimately play an insignificant part in the grand scheme of the universe.
Story: A funny and quick (shortest episode of the series at seven minutes) look at the entirety of The Walking Dead franchise. A high stakes story told with humour and tongue firmly in cheek.
Technology: The entire seven minute short is done in tilt-shift videography, adding a real sense of miniature scale to the events that are taking place.
Love, Death & Robots Scale: One instance of tilt-shift (graphic) love making, a lot of death, but sadly no robots.
And finally, the not so good.
Three Robots: Exit Strategy (Episode 1)
We are reintroduced to the three robots (K-VRC, XBOT 4000, and 11-45-G) from episode two of Season 1, as they continue their travels in a post-apocalyptic Earth, trying to learn about humans and their ways. In this episode they visit three end-of-days locales; a survivalist camp, a one-percenter converted oil rig, and, for the 0.001 percent, a space port to Mars.
Story: Does all the greatest hits of the Occupy Wall Street crowd without being particularly funny or amusing. Too preachy. Which is surprising seeing as how it was written by John Scalzi.
Technology: Nothing you haven’t seen before (literally).
Love, Death & Robots Scale: Three robots (it’s in the title), some post-death, no love.
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