My Ranking of Love, Death and Robots

With season 2 of this Netflix anthology series coming at some point, I thought I’d take a look at it earlier this year. I left it somewhat underwhelmed, but with enough admiration for what the series tried to do to overcome problems I had with the overall package.

As a concept, the idea of allowing a group of animators to essentially make whatever they want is a really cool idea. It also leads to some very inconsistent results, as the following ranking shows…

18. Ice Age

Plot: A couple discover a civilisation of tiny people living in their refrigerator.

As you’ll probably notice immediately from the above image, this is not an animated short. It’s the only one which isn’t in the entire series. And I really didn’t like it.

Ice Age’s plot was directly ripped from a Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episode, but without any of the higher themes or absurdist humour that made that episode great. The bland visual style of the live-action scenes and the awkward comedy fail to make the story of the episode interesting, which is awful considering the sheer creativity of the other episodes.

And what’s even worse, it’s directed by the series creator and Deadpool director, Tim Miller, meaning my least favourite episode of this series was from the guy who should have been making the best.

17. Lucky 13

Plot: A futuristic pilot forms a special bond with her new spacecraft Lucky 13.

Given that this is Love, Death and Robots we’re talking about, I kind of expected the episode to end with the main character humping the plane. Trust me, this show gets more insane than that.

I think that this is a really weak episode, as just like Ice Age, it’s eerily reminiscent of another piece of media (Titanfall 2) but without the charm and pacing that made that game so enjoyable. It doesn’t help that the characters and writing feel as though they were ripped straight from a Call of Duty game on top of that, with no humour and simple declamations rather than character.

Also, fire the guy who suggested that in a universe where anything could happen, the entire episode would be set on a planet which looks just like the one from Fant4stic.

16. Shape-Shifters

Plot: Werewolves are used by the U.S. military in the Middle East, including two best friends who suddenly are thrust into violence.

Like Lucky 13, Shape-Shifters feels a lot like a bad Call of Duty game in its visual design, writing and characters. Themes of brotherhood and prejudice are explored for 5 minutes and thrown away to return to a generic ending point, resulting in more sighs of repetitiveness than oofs at the gruesome violence.

I should also note that this is one of the episodes which fails to use the beautiful animation to its advantage. It looks photorealistic, but the setting is ripped from a generic FPS and the only really complex animation comes at the end in the final fight. This is like having a movie shot in a really expensive hotel, and only one scene is outside a particular room.

15. Alternate Histories

Plot: A futuristic app shows timelines where Hitler gets killed before causing WWII.

It’s clear watching this episode that the people who made it were pissing around a bit. The premise is intentionally ludicrous, the plot structure is random and weirdly paced, and the animation looks like a cheap ad.

Maybe that was the intention – to be as ludicrous as possible to gain as many laughs as possible. And it would work, if the jokes were funny and not simply random for the sake of being random.

But here it doesn’t, unfortunately, and a potentially hilarious premise for satire gets thrown out in favour of a couple of cheap laughs.

14. The Dump

Plot: A cynical evictions officer heads to a dump to evict an angry homeless man and his “dog”.

The Dump is an episode which is spectacularly unmemorable. After watching it, all I could remember was that Gary Cole was in it and there was a huge CGI penis at some point. Beyond that, it’s a blank.

The animation style is fine, but the plot is predictable from the very start, and the episode as a whole really isn’t that funny or interesting. I really don’t have that much else to say.

13. Beyond the Aquila Rift

Plot: A spaceship arrives at a mysterious space station which they never intended to arrive at.

Beyond the Aquila Rift is a CGI adaptation of the movie Passengers for 5 minutes, then it’s a softcore porn for a bit, then it’s interesting in the final 3 minutes, then it’s done. Yay.

Once again, the animation looks great, but the visual style is so flat and similar to other sci-fi movies, and the characters lack any real depth like the previous episodes on this list. It’s only really higher than them because the final two minutes look visually stunning as the episode moves from its regular setting to a sudden horror story. But aside from that, it’s really nothing special or new from the previous episodes.

12. Blindspot

Plot: A group of androids attempt to rob a convoy for a computer chip.

A Saturday morning cartoon in spirit, Blindspot is simple and certainly not unwatchable. It’s just that compared to the other episodes on this list, it’s unmemorable and relatively flat in terms of storytelling. The voice acting is fine, the animation is fine, everything is fine – but why settle for just fine when you can do more?

It’s also quite video-gamey in a way, which may make it more appealing to viewers just looking for some bright sounds and gore to end their day, but it also means that Blindspot is much less satisfying than the deeper episodes of this series.

11. Sucker of Souls

Plot: Mercenaries and archaeologists wake up a felinophobic Dracula.

Sucker of Souls could have been hilarious. There are some great jokes here and there and the animation style lends itself well to a cartoon. But the episode also falls victim to the two biggest flaws of this show – the short length of the episodes and the excessive amount of edgy content.

The gore in this episode is just ridiculous, and juxtaposes weirdly with the rest of the episode’s animation style. Meanwhile, the short length means that backstory does not exist for the key monster, and the ending just sort of happens and without closure.

Even so, I’d say this is the first Love, Death and Robots episode which is at least good in my books. It’s nowhere near as good as the episodes after it, but it’s a start.

10. Helping Hand

Plot: An astronaut gets trapped outside her craft and has to improvise to get back inside.

Helping Hand is a brutal and simple episode, with no frills and a length under 10 minutes. It’s also beautifully animated, looking like if the movie Gravity was compressed down to a short film made for randos who make YouTube animation in their spare time.

Then again, the episode is very predictable just by looking at the title and the opening shot, so it’s not like a twisty adventure or anything. It’s just a simple story with a good lead performance that was nothing special, but still entertaining.

9. When the Yoghurt Took Over

Plot: I think the title does that nicely.

If I showed you this episode without sound out of context, you’d think that it was an ad for WestPac or whatever bank uses basic animation in their ads. My point is that the weakest element of this short is the animation, which looks very basic and flat.

Despite that, When the Yoghurt Took Over still has a number of good laughs and a suitably overdramatic narration from Maurice LaMarche (Mr. Freeze himself), as well as being the shortest episode of Love, Death and Robots at only 7 minutes in length. It’s a simple short which can be viewed at any time for a couple of laughs, just not one which’ll engage your brain.

8. Suits

Plot: A bunch of mech-suited space hillbillies must defend their farms from invading aliens.

This was a really enjoyable episode for the sheer fact that it was robots vs. aliens. That’s it. No depth, no real character growth, just relentless gunfire and explosions that hit me right in the spot for some reason.

I should probably also note that this is one the few episodes of Love, Death and Robots which actually has fleshed-out female characters that don’t try to have sex with anyone. That’s one of the bigger complaints of the show that I’ve heard, so if you’re not into that, I’d give the show a pass. So extra props to this episode for avoiding that.

That being said, there’s no writing depth of any kind. It’s just dumb cartoony fun, which is sometimes all that you need.

7. The Witness

Plot: A murderer chases a witness across a neon Hong Kong – or is it the other way around?

The Witness is probably the most visually resplendent episode of Love, Death and Robots, being made by the man who did the animation for Into the Spider-Verse. The use of colour is really striking, and every shot is filled with so much detail that it looks luscious.

The story is also interesting for the first half as we follow this woman through Hong Kong, but when it gets to the second half, The Witness can’t quite maintain its momentum. Ending on a confusing note with the ring of “because movie” and even more chasing and running, it really runs out of fuel.

That’s not to mention how ludicrously sexualised this episode is, to the point where it was so distracting that I couldn’t focus on the story. It legitimately felt like a weird porn at points (although we got to see Nolan North in a gimp suit, which was probably worth the price of admission). Nevertheless, this episode’s animation and first act can wipe those problems mostly away.

6. Three Robots

Plot: Three robots wander around an abandoned cityscape and mock humanity.

Three Robots is one of the purely comedic episodes of Love, Death and Robots, and it really works for the most part. It’s really a self-aware critique of how overdramatic and overcomplicated humans have made day-to-day life, from their bizarre rituals to their treatment of the environment. Essentially, it’s as though an episode of Community was shot in a set used for the new The Last of Us TV show.

The animation for this episode also looks really damn good and creative in how the robots move, while the voice acting is also really great. The ending is bloody hilarious, I laughed so hard at the weird cameo and the sheer absurdism of it all.

If I have to criticise this episode, I’d say that the comedy is off-and-on for me. I’m very weird with comedy, where I can’t really appreciate every single joke, so that may just be a problem with me.

5. Good Hunting

Plot: The story of a friendship between a sword-master and a fox-creature as Hong Kong industrialises under British rule.

This is one you will feel at least mildly grossed out after watching. I can guarantee that.

Good Hunting is violent, unrelenting and often disgusting to look at and hear, and yet there’s a great friendship at the core of the story that’s highly believable and emotionally affecting. It is routinely dragged down by the ludicrous amount of gore and animated boobs and penises, but for the most part, I think the central relationship is one of the stronger storytelling beats of this series.

That’s not to mention how beautiful this episode looks, with crisp 2-D animation and amazing lighting and camerawork really giving it the mood of an old 80’s anime. The story’s gross-out factor will divide people, but I can guarantee that the animation looks great.

4. Fish Night

Plot: Two insurance salesman discover a magical place in the middle of the desert.

Fish Night is for some the worst of the shorts in Love, Death and Robots, as it doesn’t gel with the hardcore, offbeat, frenetic nature of the other episodes. I personally think it’s a great episode for this series, because it’s one of the only ones which explores a specific theme in interesting detail.

The core of the story is centred around cynicism, as these two salesmen – the optimistic Kirk Thornton and the jaded Yuri Lowenthal – come across this beautiful event which shocks them both to the core. That theme is explored really well in the dialogue and acting of these two characters, complemented by the very Borderlands/Dreamland-esque animation which is delightful to look at.

I should note that the ending of this episode had me nodding 5 minutes before like “Yep, that’s gonna happen”, and then it did. That’s the biggest criticism I have for this pretty damn good short.

3. Sonnie’s Edge

Plot: In futuristic London, mind-controlled monsters battle each other in boxing rings.

Pacific Rim, but if both sides were monsters.

Sonnie’s Edge as an episode has a phenomenal visual style, neon-infused and with energetic camerawork that felt like it came from a legitimate movie. Everything about this episode is phenomenal on a technical level, especially the animated choreography which felt like the director really knew how to stage weakness and struggle in a fight.

But it’s actually Sonnie’s Edge’s story which stuns in this episode, as it legitimately feels unpredictable compared with the other shorts. I did not expect how it ended, I wasn’t nodding like “Yeah, that’ll happen”, I was totally engaged. The story also takes a surprisingly more mature approach to violence than the other episodes, showing a psychological understanding on top of the blood and gore.

2. The Secret War

Plot: Patrolling Russians in WWII find a huge group of creatures which they have to fight before they destroy life.

This was my favourite for most of the series until I saw the final episode, which then became my favourite. The Secret War is so damn good-looking, so phenomenally well-made and excellently acted to the point where everyone can put aside their initial biases and marvel at the detail put into the pores on the lead character’s skin.

What makes The Secret War one of the best shorts in Love, Death and Robots is the realism with which it’s presented. The men it shows are there to get a job done, but also care for one another and help instead of just joshing around. Additionally, the historical context of Russia’s political history makes this episode somehow more compelling, as you’d feel that Russia would try the events that happened in this episode.

I was so close to putting this at number 1, but then I saw the final episode, one which almost made up for all the mixed bags and crap that came before…

1. Zima Blue

Plot: An eccentric artist invites a journalist to what he considers his final masterpiece.

Much like Fish Night, Zima Blue is one of those episodes which explores an explicit theme really well. I won’t spoil anything, but I was awestruck by Zima Blue’s confidence and surprisingly gentle nature, given the cosmic scale of the storytelling.

Beyond just looking incredible (which is a common theme in this series), Zima Blue is almost like an antidote to the macabre insanity that preceded it. It calms you, it makes you feel better, then emotionally wrings you. Perhaps that’s why I liked it so much – it was a change to people having their skulls ripped open.

This is easily the best short in the series because every element comes together – the brilliant character design, the music, the dialogue, the emotionally fulfilling ending and a great voice performance from Kevin Michael Richardson. All the other shorts didn’t quite fit together as well, but Zima Blue does.

Overall, I wasn’t a huge fan of Love, Death and Robots. It had a lot of potential, but not enough clear direction to what it wanted to be. Some episodes are great, some are awful. But none are excellent.

I’m giving Love, Death and Robots overall a B-.

What do you think? Leave your responses in the comments below.