The third season of Love, Death+Robots is perhaps the show’s best-ever season. Created by Deadpool director Tim Miller, this anthology sci-fi series has nine episodes in the third season, helmed by acclaimed filmmakers, including David Fincher and Alberto Mieglo.
The show has never shied away from NSFW content, namely violence, blood, gore and sex. Often indulging in mind-boggling narratives set against an outlandish, dystopian premise, the series boasts of top-notch animation. In season three, the versatility of the animation styles and the hyperreal, vivid visuals along with the inclusion of certain live-action sequences, make it seem even more compelling.
While some of the episodes are not really as good as the others, in all, the third season is the best and reflects the true essence of the show. The third season begins with an episode dedicated to the much-loved recurring characters from Three Robots.
Titled Three Robots: Exit Strategies, the episode focuses on the fan-favourite characters from the first season as they take a leisurely stroll on post-apocalyptic Earth and take a jab at humans who tried to escape the impending doom by entering bunkers, oil mines-turned-hideout zones and more. The episode is as good as the prequel and ends on a pretty hilarious note when a cheeky tabby cat seems to have escaped the apocalypse; he is seen sipping a margarita as he says, “Who did you think it was? Elon Musk?”
David Fincher‘s Bad Travelling is the second episode of the season that sees a gigantic crustacean monster taking over a shark-hunting ship and wreaking bloody havoc. With the potential to be turned into a feature film, the episode is pretty harrowing as the alien feeds on humans unceremoniously, even letting its slimy babies feed on the remains while using the intelligence of a corpse to communicate. Fincher’s ability to create morally grey characters triumphs once again.
While to most viewers the ninth and final episode ‘Jibaro’ has been a standout, personally, I enjoyed the very poetic episode ‘The Very Pulse of the Machine’. Reminiscent of the transcendental finale of Neon Genesis Evangelion, the episode is a psychedelic drug-induced trip against a poetic commentary and visually compelling colours. As two astronauts on a mission on Jupiter’s moon, Io, embark on a mission, only one survives and derives oxygen from the dead astronaut’s cylinder. Watching the episode, one can feel themselves slowly escaping the realm of reality feeling a paradigmatic shift into a world of fantasy, data and machines.
‘Jibaro’ is a pretty effective episode. With gruelling visuals, it focuses on a toxic relationship that brings out the worst in two people. A brilliant retelling of the age-old folklore about mythical sirens, Mieglo’s visually enticing work sees the titular deaf knight, Jibaro meets a beautiful siren, donning ornate and dazzling jewels and scales.
While the latter is infatuated with the knight, Jibaro only craves the jewels. After a searing and rather painful kiss, Jibaro knocks her out in cold blood, extracts the scales and leaves her to die. The siren returns to exact her revenge, shrieking and screaming, luring Jibaro to his death.
While episodes like The Swarm and In Vaulted Hauls Entombed seemed like a dim failure in comparison to the other episodes- seemed like video game rip-offs- other episodes like Night of the Mini-Dead, Kill Team Kill and Mason’s Rats were goofy, light-hearted, cheeky and enjoyable.
Visually stunning, primal and raw, the third season was the best of the lot, with The Very Pulse of the Machine being an absolute revelatory gem!
