Season Review: Love Death + Robots Season Two

Overview (Spoilers Below):

A collection of shorts that range from rampaging robots to humans encountering deadly creatures. Their conflicts range from survival to trying to fit in on another planet.

Our Take:

This collection of robots, humans, and inhuman creatures was a good watch. Albeit it was a terrifying one with the shorts bringing up things one never considers until shown. For example, the killer vacuum in the first episode, “Automated Customer Service” definitely brings up the concern on rampaging machines in an automated society. Like the first season, some of these shorts have the potential to grow into longer works.

Most of the animation for this season is CG. I’ll admit I was expecting more variety in animation style like last season, but it gives the season some continuity and what to expect from the rest of the episode as one continues with it. The voice acting was good as well. I liked Peter Franzen in “Snow in the Desert” as his voice worked in bringing Snow’s character out.

In comparison to the first season’s short stories, this season relied less on nudity and more on fear. I’ll probably have nightmares from the creature posing as Santa from “All Through the House” which goes to show how these shorts work in creating that scary mood. I do wish there was more variety in between the sci-fi stories so that it doesn’t feel like one boiling pot of the heroes trying to survive a deadly situation.

Then there are the shorts like “The Tall Grass” and “The Drowned Giant” that dig into human’s curiosity of the unknown. Other than that they don’t offer much save for the gore. I did like the concept of “The Tall Grass” with a train mysteriously stopping at a place where inhuman creatures glow in the grass. Most of the shorts are action-packed, so “The Drowned Giant” is a nice break from the adrenaline-filled short stories. “The Drowned Giant” as the title suggests is about a giant that washed up at a beach and a human’s perspective on the giant. The narrator’s thoughts on the giant and how the town consumes it was a somber experience.

“Pop Squad” is an interesting story about an immortal detective’s moral struggle with his duty of getting rid of children. It never goes into how his job and immortality are connected though. That would be an interesting thing to explore only if the detective didn’t die at the end with his partner. In contrast, “Snow in the Desert” has its main immortal hero as the prey rather than the hunter. I’ll admit I found that part about his balls being the key to immortality amusing. Later Snow falls in love with a cyborg who saves him from the man hunting him. It also contrasts how the detective from “Pop Squad” ignores his singer girlfriend in the car.

Another good short would be “Ice” with a human guy, Sedgewick trying to fit in at a new place with his modified brother. It was beautiful, especially that shot of the large whales where they reach the surface. The acknowledgment from his brother’s friends and his brother places Sedgewick in a better mood in his new home. The minor details on the setting’s society and culture were nice with his brother’s friends talking in a different language. Sedgewick’s status as a non-modified human was interesting since most stories have it the other way around as a stereotype.

Overall it was a good season with ideas about love, death, and robots.