Reviewing Love, Death & Robots (2019– ) episodes picked by my boyfriend
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Love, Death & Robots (2019–) is an animated anthology series that combines whimsy with sheer horror.
Last year, the lovely Editor-in-Chief Nathaniel D’Amato wrote an article reviewing his girlfriend’s music for her birthday. This year, The Lamron’s issue XII falls on his birthday (Mar. 7), so, as his girlfriend, it is my turn to review things! Instead of listening to music, I watched four episodes of the show Love, Death & Robots (2019– ), which he chose for me to review. To give this birthday gift a slight twist, each episode will receive a score on a “Silliness Scale,” which is entirely subjective and has no factual basis; enjoy!
For those unaware, Love, Death & Robots (2019– ) is a collection of short animated episodes, each created by different animation studios. These stand-alone episodes deal with various topics, from killer Vacuubots to yogurt preparing for world domination. While it may be unsurprising that these shorts have serious underlying themes, we must ask ourselves the critical question: How fun and silly are these episodes?
“Swarm”
This episode follows two human scientists discovering the existence of alien bugs with different castes and designated tasks and roles within their thriving extra terrestrial ecosystem. After learning of these creatures, the two scientists eventually agree on breeding the colony to create a non-sentient labor force for humanity. Unknown to these two humans, the creatures are, in fact, sentient beings, but they hide this aspect until they feel they are in danger— this is revealed once the humans actively plan to endanger them.
As suggested by this short synopsis, this episode is not that silly; I found it quite disturbing. The story is very heavy, and if this was not based on silliness, there could be an entire article about this episode alone. I, however, am not going to do that. The episode turns dire very fast, and the woman scientist becomes the vessel for the intelligence caste, the “Swarm,” as it aims to clone the humans. As I said, severe stuff, and I am not the biggest fan of gore-related things.
This earns a silly point because the creatures make fun clicking noises.
Silliness Scale: 1/5
“Automated Customer Service”
The next episode has an interesting character design that gives the humans an off-puttingly large head and neck. I am not necessarily a fan of this, but I also realize this over-the-top design adds to the story. In this society, humans do nothing for themselves while various robots perform every task.
After watching this episode, I have never been more glad that my parents' knock-off Roomba vacuum cleaner is too stupid to avoid the coffee table it always gets stuck under. The robot in the main character’s home, called Vacuubot, gets stuck in “Purge Mode,” where it now must eradicate small pets and potentially humans.
The Vacuubot goes on a rampage, and the main character’s dog is the main target. During this rampage, the main character is stuck with unhelpful Vacuubot customer service. Luckily, her neighbor has a shotgun, and after shooting the rabid robot, she escapes, riding into the skyline with her neighbor and dog.
Silliness Scale: 4/5
“Beyond the Aquila Rift”
Similar to “Swarm,” this episode is more serious than silly. Due to their hangover, a space crew of three makes a critical routing error and ends up 150,000 light years from home. They put themselves in a sleeping pod filled with some weird soup-looking liquid, and when character Thom wakes up, he is reunited with a woman, Greta, whom he had a relationship with years prior.
Greta, however, is not the real Greta; instead, she is a weird alien-spider creature. Thom was in a simulation the entire time, and we see that 150,000 light years from home and several hundred years later makes the real world look very gross and ugly. This is not silly; it is strange, and I intensely fear spiders. It does gain a point because of the soup sleeping pod. Also, the ending music reminds me of the music in Arcane (2021–2024); it is painfully on the nose so it earns another.
Silliness Scale: 2/5
“When The Yogurt Took Over”
Before even giving my ranking, the title implies that this episode will be the peak of the Silliness Scale. A researcher takes home a yogurt that was cultured to be super-intelligent. Shortly after, the Yogurt becomes sentient and starts making ominous demands in her bowl, which is made of cereal oats (of course). It does not take long for the Yogurt to receive a century-long lease of the state Ohio.
The Yogurt gives a plan to eliminate all national debt, but as politicians do, they do not follow through. So, every economy collapses except for the Ohioan economy, giving the Yogurt extreme executive power. A few years later, the Yogurt launched multiple space missions to the stars. By the way, this all happens in the episode’s six-minute run time. No further explanation is needed.
Silliness Scale: 5/5
Although this ranking is based on my subjective Silliness Scale, Love, Death & Robots (2019– ) is a great show. The episodes vary in animation style, so even if you are not a fan of one, there are other options.
Additionally, even with the short run time —ranging from six to 22 minutes— each episode has a much deeper meaning, making every moment meaningful. I highly recommend watching this Netflix series and rating it on your own scale!