Five Futuristic Fables
Spoiler Warning: We occasionally discuss plot twists because the episodes are short. Rest assured, no twist ending is spoiled.
Liang: “The old magic may have been gone from the world, but I could make new magic from their machines.”
Love Death & Robots “Good Hunting” (Season 1)
Love, Death & Robots is an animated sci-fi anthology series adapting flash fiction from some of science fiction’s best writers. The episodes vary in length, style, and tone, but always feature the namesake, even if robot is a catch-all for any fantastical element.
The series is heavier than The Twilight Zone, but never as hopeless as Black Mirror. So what are the top 5 Episodes of Love, Death, & Robots? Let’s find out.
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#5 The Very Pulse of the Machine
Voice Actors: Mackenzie Davis, Holly Jade
Short Story By: Michael Swanwick
Burton: “And now I see with eye serene
“The Very Pulse of the Machine” (Season 3)
The very pulse of the machine.”
Synopsis: Astronauts Martha and Burton are exploring Jupiter’s moon Io. An explosion destroys their rover, killing Burton, and damaging Martha’s oxygen tank. She jury-rigs a connection to Burton’s tank, but must bring her friend’s corpse with her to reach safety. With oxygen draining fast and literal dead weight slowing her, can Martha make it to safety?
Why This Episode?: The Very Pulse of the Machine is pure sci-fi. Martha is exploring an alien world while trying to reach her base and witnessing all of Io’s odd phenomena. She is on potent medication to cope with her injuries, leaving viewers questioning how much of the dreamlike visuals are real.
Burton raises further questions after her death. She talks to Martha throughout their trek, incessantly quoting poetry and explaining Io’s terrain. But are their conversations another hallucination or is something trying to reach Martha?
#4 Love Death and Robots: Beyond The Aquilla Rift
Voice Actors: Henry Douthwaite, Madeline Knight, Rebecca Banatvala
Short Story By: Alastair Reynolds
Greta: “I do care for you. I care for all the lost souls that end up here.”
“Beyond The Aquilla Rift” (Season 1)
Synopsis: An interstellar freight ship is traveling home. The crew enters cryosleep, unaware that it is broken. Captain Thom awakens to an unfamiliar space station run by his old flame Greta. The ship missed its target and drifted into the station at the edge of known space. As time passes, Thom suspects something is wrong with the station.
Why This Episode: Beyond the Aquilla Rift is a smaller, more intense story. Thom rebuilds his relationship with Greta while trying to cope with being unable to return home on the damaged ship. His crew is ignored aside from ailing navigator Suzy, the first to notice something weird is happening on the station .
Greta is an unflappable, compassionate woman who spends much of the episode repairing her relationship with Thom. She slowly reveals a more manipulative side, piecemealing horrific news to Thom at a glacially slow speed. Thom grows suspicious of her as each new twist is revealed. What is she hiding?
#3 Three Robots
Voice Actors: Josh Brenner, Gary Anthony Williams, Chris Parnell
Short Story By: John Scalzi
XBOT: “You’ve seen one post-apocalyptic city, you’ve seen ’em all.”
Three Robots (Season 1)
Synopsis: A trio of robots wander through a city long after humanity’s extinction. They examine human artifacts, trying to understand what they find while joking with each other. They don’t know that the most dangerous monster of all lurks in the shadows.
Why This Episode: Three Robots is the face of Love, Death & Robots, and with good reason. It’s one of the lightest episodes, more focused on robots goofing off on vacation than rabble-rousing on a soapbox. Can they discover the purpose of a basketball? Figure out why humans ate food? And what happens when one robot finds his ancestor in a store?
The trio are some of the series’ most memorable characters. XBOT is the ringleader and grumpy tourist of the group. K-VRC is energetic and constantly making up stories about the artifacts for fun. 11-45-G is the most knowledgeable of the crew, flipping between joyfully play-acting with artifacts and snarking at humankind’s stupidity.
#2 Love Death and Robots: Bad Travelling
Voice Actors: Troy Baker, James Preston Rogers, Fred Tatasciore
Short Story By: Neal Asher
Torrin: “I am the only one who can keep this ship on a straight keel. Me, you need intact. Unconsumed.”
Bad Travelling (Season 3)
Synopsis: A crew of alien sailors are attacked by a sea monster called the Thanapod. It escapes into their cargo hold and First Mate Torrin is forced to hunt it below. The Thanapod communicates with him through an animated corpse of a crewman, demanding to be taken to an inhabited island to feast. Torrin emerges and relays the order, but the crew is antsy. Can he save himself from both sides?
Why This Episode?: This episode of Love, Death & Robots could easily be extended into a movie. Torrin is a villain protagonist constantly planning ahead to outwit the monster and his mutinous crew. The Thanapod is a sadistic and intelligent killer as it negotiates with the crew.
Torrin’s choices are the heart of Bad Travelling. Will he sell out the island and allow hundreds of deaths to save himself or take the Thanapod to a distant, deserted island and risk his own life? And even if he makes that choice, what about the crew that were willing to sacrifice him? Can he trust them to make the same call?
#1 Sonnie’s Edge
Voice Actors: Helen Saddler, Hayley McLaughlin, Time Winters
Short Story By: Peter F. Hamilton
Irvina: “When Sonnie steps into the pit, she’s not fighting for pride or status, and certainly not for your fucking money. She’s carving up the men who did this to her.”
Sonnie’s Edge (Season 1)
Synopsis: Sonnie is a rape survivor who can telepathically pilot a giant monster. She and her team are hired by gangster Dicko to face his champion in an underground fight. He tries to have Sonnie throw the fight, but her friends rail against the idea, painting her as a warrior out for revenge. With enemies all around her and a beautiful moll drawing her eye, can Sonnie win the fight?
Why This Episode?: Sonnie’s Edge strikes the balance between tone, plot, character, and style. The scenes with Dicko and Sonnie’s friends explore power dynamics in a dystopian world while the kaiju fight showcases Love, Death, & Robots’ animation through a beautifully brutal brawl.
The plot twists multiple times, saving the series’ best for last. Each character believes that they have everyone else’s number, but don’t see the hidden depths each have. The masks come off as secrets unravel, making viewers question who the monsters really are.
Which episode of Love, Death, & Robots is your favorite? Would these five make your list? Tell us in the comments.
Image: Love, Death & Robots: Volume 3. Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2022
Jared Bounacos has written for Movie Rewind since 2016.
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