Another buffet of bizarre sci-fi
Netflix’s anthology series, Love, Death & Robots is back in 2021, though without the same level of content as the first season. Simply put, the creative teams were faced with some serious roadblocks thanks to the pandemic. Still, instead of delaying all the content, Netflix pulled the trigger and delivered a second season to adoring fans. The smaller sample size resulted in fewer highs and lows, but maintained the tone and style introduced in season one. LDR is still a digital wild ride reminiscent of great anthology magazines like Heavy Metal. Here’s my take on the eight episodes. (They’re in the order in which I enjoyed them the most, but that’s just one man’s opinion.)
Pop Squad is the closest thing to a Blade Runner anime as anyone has produced. (Save for Blade Runner: Black Out, the supplement to Blade Runner 2049.) The aesthetic is similar, but the difference in the world is that people can live forever, provided they give up the ability to reproduce. The reason behind this isn’t explained, nor does it have to be. Viewers meet Detective Briggs (Nolan North), the cop assigned with killing any children that are being bred illegally. You’d imagine how dismal an existence that is, and writer Jennifer Yuh Nelson does a wonderful job of contrasting Briggs’ darkness with colorful props and his flamboyant love interest, Alice (Elodie Yung.)
Snow in the desert is like a 15-minute cut scene from a video game. The animation is very close to lifelike and the distant planet where water is scarce and bounties rule existence sets up the story perfectly. There are different factions all tracking a loner who simply goes by the name Snow (Peter Franzen). He has an inhuman healing factor that they consider the key to genetic recreation. Franzen is joined by other great actors in Julie Nathanson, Zita Hanrot, and Alais Lawson.
Automated Customer Support is a John Scalzi adaptation that is this season’s snarky robot episode. A woman who lives alone with her dog in a gated community has a smart device enabled home. When her vacuum cleaner starts making decorating decisions, she calls support to reset it. The vacuum sees this as an assault and goes into homicidal defense mode. The entire thing is peppered with the super cheerful customer service automated scripts that we have all come to know and love over the last few years.
All Through the Night is super short but absolutely delivers on what it is trying to be. Horror and sci-fi fans have a long running obsession with holidays and monsters with Christmas at the top of the list. This short story provides two children a Christmas Eve sneak peek at Santa in a quick and visually appealing manner that recognizes and satisfies that obsession.
Life Hutch is another mix of mo-cap and live acting (I think). Michael B. Jordan crash lands his fighter spaceship on a deserted planet and finds a survival pod (aka life hutch) from which he can send a distress signal. The problem here is that the resident helper robot malfunctions and tries to annihilate any life form inside the pod. It’s short but brutal and has an excellent amount of tension, which is amplified by Jordan’s performance.
The Tall Grass has a very stylish aesthetic and is the most Steampunk episode of the season. A man riding in an overnight train is surprised when the train suddenly stops in the middle of nowhere. He is warned to stay on or near the train, but a series of strange lights emitting from the tall grass grab his attention. He goes to investigate in what very quickly shifts from mystery to Lovecraftian horror show.
Ice is the story a teenager trying to fit in with his older brother and the cool kids. For Sedgwick (Archie Madewake), the problem isn’t just that he’s younger. He’s also not genetically modified the way the other kids are. He goes with his brother and his friends on what would be the future equivalent of a death-defying X-Games to prove he fits in. Visually, it’s a stellar episode. The story just feels average.
Drowned Giant is a steady story narrated by Steven Pacey. A giant corpse washes up on a beach and everyone is completely fascinated by it…until they aren’t. It’s a cautionary tale about how things of wonder can be taken for granted and eventually even forgotten completely. (Plus, it has the season’s best penis joke.) It’s only on the bottom of the list because it is unlike any other episodes in the season and it feels like a chapter instead of a whole story.
That’s it. That’s the list. Did you enjoy Love, Death & Robots Season 2? Let me know your favorites!