Netflix has released its next anthology of short form eye candy in assorted animation styles.
Featuring David Fincher as one of the executive producers there is a persistent air of class to this Love, Death and Robots series production. The phrase quality not quantity certainly comes to mind. The collection of stories touches on a vibrant array of characters and narrative moments, there is a tendency towards the dark and dangerous but never dull. Each episode is unique and does not follow anything that came before.
Season one I found had a consistently impressive graphical prowess but some episodes struck more of a chord with me than others. This was certainly down to personal taste as the tendency towards overt gore and sexualisation of characters is not something I find particularly interesting as a device. Season two certainly moved more towards the more cerebral and picked a much more sedate pace in places. Opening with ‘Automated Customer Service’ the tongue in cheek action comedy set out a more playful tone. Looking at the darker possibilities of AI the turning against humanity is a well stamped path but the more casual setting, featuring older characters, at least breaks from some of the norms. There is generally a theme of triumph and victory in a seemingly hopeless situation, this more positive spin certainly worked for me.
With a few following the tone of the opening episode, I found the lighter episodes a little out of place given that with such a condensed series you expect every episode to hit. This is not to say they were bad episodes but did not feel as thought provoking. ‘All through the house’ in particular really just felt like an amusing afterthought. In contrast ‘The Drowned Giant’ as the finale had the sense of a real piece of art. The slower pace, art style and concept allowed a lot of space for interpretation and personal reflection. There were others that echoed this as well, ‘Pop Squad’ was equally potent as was ‘Life Hutch’ but in very different ways.
As the episodes are broken up into stand-alone parts it is actually great that you can pick and choose what you want to watch and when. Three and four are character driven sci-fi action of great calibre writing and art style, inspired by the likes of Bladerunner and Star Wars. Five and seven are much more horror, thriller based with tones of Alien or Jurassic Park. One, two and six are much more like a Pixar short. As I mentioned before the finale, Episode 8 is a bit of a style of its own and definitely stands out from the rest.
I would certainly recommend this season to more people than perhaps its predecessor. It has a lot of potential for watching with friends, while on short journeys on a commute or it can certainly be binge watched. There is plenty to interest most people just don’t give up if the first thing you watch doesn’t grab you.
Author: Joe, Bath store
