Love, Death & Robots

Love, Death & Robots
Genre	Adult animation Science fantasy Black comedy Horror Anthology
Created by	Tim Miller
Original language	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	35
Production
Executive producers	David Fincher Tim Miller Jennifer Miller Joshua Donen
Running time	6–21 minutes
Production companies	Blur Studio Netflix Studios
Original release
Network	Netflix
Release	March 15, 2019 (2019-03-15) – present (present)

Love, Death & Robots (stylized as LOVE DEATH + ROBOTS; represented in emoji form as ❤️❌🤖) is an adult animated anthology television series created by Tim Miller and streaming on Netflix. Although the series is produced by Blur Studio, individual episodes are produced by different animation studios from a range of countries and explore diverse genres, particularly comedy, horror, science fiction, and fantasy. Each episode is connected to one or more of the three titular concepts. Miller serves as the showrunner and producer alongside Joshua Donen, David Fincher, and Jennifer Miller; most episodes are written by Philip Gelatt, and are adaptations of short stories.

The series is a re-imagining of Fincher and Miller's long in-development reboot of the 1981 animated science fiction film Heavy Metal, which was originally planned to follow the feature length format of the original film but one that could be better adapted for the new generation. The project however was in development hell for eleven years due to the creative differences between the crew and the studios as well as the lack of interest of the latter. Eventually, Netflix became interested in the idea and agreed to be the distributor of the project, but instead of a film it would be released as a television series.

The first season was released on March 15, 2019; the second season on May 14, 2021; and the third season on May 20, 2022. The show has received positive reviews from critics, with praise for each episode's animation style, creativity, diverse storylines, and themes, but criticism for its constant use of mature content. The show has won several accolades from the Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

In August 2022, the series was renewed for a fourth season.

Premise

The animated series consists of a collection of short films, produced by different casts and crews, though some episodes have some overlap in certain crew members. The series title refers to each episode's thematic connection to one or more of the three titular subjects. Beyond the themes and genres, there are no story connections between any of the shorts with the exception of Season 3's "Three Robots: Exit Strategies", which is a sequel to Season 1's "Three Robots".

Episodes

Volume	Episodes		Originally released
1	18		March 15, 2019 (2019-03-15)
2	8		May 14, 2021 (2021-05-14)
3	9		May 20, 2022 (2022-05-20)

Volume I (2019)

Episode numbers reflect Netflix's original ordering. This ordering has since been changed by Netflix, and can be found in the episode description.

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Adapted script by	Based on the story by	Animation studio(s) (Studio location)	Original release date	Duration
1	1	"Sonnie's Edge"	Dave Wilson	Philip Gelatt	Peter F. Hamilton	Blur Studio (from the United States)	March 15, 2019 (2019-03-15)	17 minutes
In dystopian London, a young woman named Sonnie participates in underground "Beastie" fights — remotely controlled bio-engineered gladiator beast battles. The ringmaster, Dicko, attempts to bribe Sonnie to throw the match, but she declines. Her teammates Wes and Ivrina explain that Sonnie was sexually assaulted and mutilated in the past; her desire for revenge eventually becomes her "edge". Sonnie enters the arena piloting her beast Khanivore, to fight the opponent, Turboraptor. After a brutal match, Khanivore wins. Later, Dicko's mistress visits Sonnie and seduces her, only to impale Sonnie's head with a concealed weapon. Dicko then reveals himself and taunts Sonnie, asking if she is scared now. The mistress then stomps at Sonnie's head, crushing it. However, Sonnie's voice is heard through surrounding speakers, revealing that her human body is only a 'bioware processor spliced to a spine' and that her consciousness was always inside Khanivore, the fear of death in combat being her real "edge". Sonnie as Khanivore breaks out of her holding tank and kills the mistress, then prepares to kill Dicko. The screen fades to black as she asks: "Are you scared now?" mirroring Dicko's question. This episode is currently listed fourth in the series. Cast : Helen Sadler, Hayley McLaughlin, Time Winters, Omid Abtahi, Christine Adams, Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Braden Lynch
2	2	"Three Robots"	Victor Maldonado & Alfredo Torres	Philip Gelatt	John Scalzi	Blow Studio (from Spain)	March 15, 2019 (2019-03-15)	12 minutes
Long after the fall of humanity, three robots (K-VRC, XBOT 4000, and 11-45-G) wander through a post-apocalyptic city, exploring first-hand how humans lived based on the things they left behind. They investigate human sports, nutritional consumption, and eventually pets when they encounter a living cat, which proceeds to follow them. The three robots learn about their origins and later arrive at what appears to be a nuclear missile base. 11-45-G explains that humans died out from environmental disasters caused by their own actions, while K-VRC states that at one point, humans genetically engineered their cats, giving them intelligence. The cat then proves this by showing it can speak, demanding to be petted, while many other cats in the base corner the three robots. This episode is currently listed first in the series. Cast : Josh Brener as K-VRC, Gary Anthony Williams as XBOT 4000, Chris Parnell as the Cats
3	3	"The Witness"	Alberto Mielgo	Alberto Mielgo	N/A	Pinkman.TV (from Spain)	March 15, 2019 (2019-03-15)	12 minutes
A man murders a woman in an apartment in Hong Kong. He then realizes that a woman in the hotel across the street, identical to his victim, has witnessed the murder. He starts to chase her. The woman flees to a fetish club where she works as a dancer under the alias Zawora. The man enters the club, guided by the host. During her dance, she sees the man in the audience and he chases her through the city streets. The woman steals a gun and hides in an apartment, but the man finds and corners her. They proceed to fight over the gun, with the woman ending up shooting the man dead. She then realizes that a man in the hotel across the street, identical to her victim, has witnessed the murder, implying a time loop. This episode is currently listed eighth in the series. Cast : Emily O'Brien, Ben Sullivan, Matt Yang King, Nolan North, Anastasia Foster
4	4	"Suits"	Franck Balson	Philip Gelatt	Steven Lewis	Blur Studio (from the United States)	March 15, 2019 (2019-03-15)	17 minutes
A small community of farmers pilot mech suits to defend their land from an invading swarm of insectoids which they call "DeeBees". When the defense field fails, DeeBees pour in faster than they can be repelled, so the community heads for underground shelters. All arms are called in and one neighbor, Jake, sacrifices himself to kill a large portion of the swarm. A giant insectoid breaks through, but one of the farmers' wives destroys it with a well-aimed shot from a turret gun. Come dawn, the barriers are back to normal and the town has returned to a sense of safety. The camera zooms out to show that DeeBees populate the whole planet, and the farmers have set up isolated domed colonies across the planet. This episode is currently listed ninth in the series. Cast : Neil Kaplan, G. K. Bowes, Scott Whyte, Courtenay Taylor, Tudi Roche
5	5	"Sucker of Souls"	Owen Sullivan	Philip Gelatt	Kirsten Cross	Studio La Cachette (from France)	March 15, 2019 (2019-03-15)	13 minutes
Flynn, a mercenary, and Dr. Wehunt, an archaeologist, escape through a tunnel, fleeing an unknown assailant. Moments before, Dr. Wehunt's intern, Simon, discovers a cave with inscriptions describing an "eater of souls". Suddenly, a demon devours Simon, then mutates into a larger, more bestial form. Flynn flees with Dr. Wehunt and informs his two employees Micky and Gary of the situation by radio. On their way, they are confronted by the demon, which is revealed to be Dracula. Although Dracula attempts to kill Flynn, it stops and retreats after seeing a cat. Dr. Wehunt explains that Dracula fears and hates cats. The two reunite with Micky and Gary in a chamber, but they are cut off from the main exit. When Dracula follows them, Dr. Wehunt finds another exit through a secret tunnel while the mercenaries set up explosives. The team escapes, and when Dracula re-enters the chamber, he is killed in the explosion. However, the tunnel leads the team to another chamber filled with similar vampires. This episode is currently listed seventh in the series. Cast : Michael Benyaer, Fred Tatasciore, Laura Waddell, Jonathan Cahill, Scott Whyte
6	6	"When the Yogurt Took Over"	Victor Maldonado & Alfredo Torres	Janis Robertson	John Scalzi	Blow Studio (from Spain)	March 15, 2019 (2019-03-15)	6 minutes
A group of scientists mutates yogurt by fermenting bacteria. Although initial tests fail, a researcher takes the mutated bacteria home for her homemade yogurt, where it becomes sentient. The yogurt asks to meet US leaders, to whom it claims to have solutions for the country's problems. As payment, the yogurt requests control over the state of Ohio. The leaders, including the president, initially laugh at the offer, but accept it after the yogurt threatens to make a similar deal with China instead. Soon, the yogurt gives the president a plan to eradicate the United States national debt, warning him that any deviation will be catastrophic. The government cannot help but deviate, and the global economy collapses within 6 months except for Ohio. In desperation, the government gives the yogurt supreme executive power over much opposition. A decade later, humans live prosperous lives under the yogurt's reign. The yogurt suddenly decides to initiate space launches, leaving the humans behind on Earth. This episode is currently listed fifth in the series. Cast : Maurice LaMarche, Alexia Dox
7	7	"Beyond the Aquila Rift"	Léon Bérelle, Dominique Boidin, Rémi Kozyra, Maxime Luère	Philip Gelatt	Alastair Reynolds	Unit Image (from France)	March 15, 2019 (2019-03-15)	17 minutes
The Blue Goose spaceship's crew members, Thom, Suzy, and Ray, are returning home from a successful mission, but an error in the hyperspace routing causes unexpected events to happen. Thom awakes from suspended animation and is greeted by Greta, an old flame. She tells him that he and his crew are hundreds of thousands of light-years from Earth, nearly beyond the Aquila Rift, and centuries have passed: there is no way for them to get home. They have sex and rekindle their relationship, but Thom is still in disbelief of the situation, especially after Suzy wakes up and hysterically claims that Greta is not real. He demands the truth from a tearful Greta, who tells him that his experiences are a simulation and that he is not ready to see reality, as she truly does care for him and all those who find their way there. He insists, so she reluctantly relents and awakens him. Thom is revealed to be an emaciated old man; their ship caught in an enormous web with countless others; his crew either dead or trapped in their own trances; and "Greta" an alien arachnid creature. As horrified Thom loses his mind from the encounter, "Greta" returns him to the dream world, minus his recent memories, just as she had with his crew and the others. She reawakens him and greets him all over again. This episode is currently listed second in the series. Cast : Henry Douthwaite, Madeleine Knight, Rebecca Banatvala, Delroy Brown, Grahame Fox
8	8	"Good Hunting"	Oliver Thomas	Philip Gelatt	Ken Liu	Red Dog Culture House (from South Korea)	March 15, 2019 (2019-03-15)	17 minutes
In early 20th-century China, Liang and his father track a shape-shifting huli jing named Tsiao-Jung to her den. There, Liang meets Tsiao-Jung's daughter Yan, who attempts to explain the plight of the huli jing. Tsiao-Jung urges Yan to escape before she is decapitated by Liang's father. Unbeknownst to his father, Liang lets Yan go. Five years later, Liang's father dies and he moves to Hong Kong and finds work as an engineer. One night, Liang encounters Yan, who has taken a permanent human form due to industrialization supplanting magic and now works as a courtesan. Yan informs him that she was drugged by the governor of Hong Kong, a client of hers, who surgically switched her real legs with cyborg parts before she killed him during an altercation. As Liang engages in robotics engineering as a hobby, he builds her a flexible metal alloy body which allows Yan to morph into a robotic huli jing. Parting as friends, Yan helps a woman fend off a rape by attacking her rapists. This episode is currently listed tenth in the series. Cast : Elaine Tan as Yan, Matt Yang King as Liang, Gwendoline Yeo as Tsiao-Jung, Maddox Henry, Sumalee Montano, JB Blanc
9	9	"The Dump"	Javier Recio Gracia	Philip Gelatt	Joe Lansdale	Able & Baker (from Spain)	March 15, 2019 (2019-03-15)	10 minutes
A city inspector tries to convince "Ugly" Dave Dvorchek to move out of his house in a dump. However, Dave refuses to leave. He instead tells the inspector a story about his past encounter with Otto, a muck creature that has fused with whatever material it consumed in the dump. Otto killed Dave's friend, but Dave bonded with it and made it his pet. As the disinterested inspector attempts again to get Dave to sign his eviction papers, Otto arrives and eats him alive, severing one of his hands in the process. Afterward, Dave plays fetch with Otto using the inspector's severed hand. This episode is currently listed eleventh in the series. Cast : Nolan North, André Sogliuzzo, Gary Cole
10	10	"Shape-Shifters"	Gabriele Pennacchioli	Philip Gelatt	Marko Kloos	Blur Studio (from the United States)	March 15, 2019 (2019-03-15)	16 minutes
In a world where werewolves are common knowledge but discriminated against, two close werewolf friends, Lt. Decker and Sgt. Sobieski, serve in the US Marines in Afghanistan. They are ambushed by Taliban militia while escorting a convoy. Decker's senses locate the assailants, who are then killed by gunfire from the APC. After returning to base, Decker and Sobieski are antagonized by some of their comrades. Later that day, Sobieski is assigned to a Watchtower position. That night it is attacked and Decker races ahead of the backup convoy to help the troops. Upon arrival, Decker finds Sobieski and all the other soldiers slaughtered by another werewolf. Commander Reyner orders Decker to find the Taliban werewolf and bring him in alive. The next night, Decker sneaks out of the base camp into the desert and meets an old man and a younger man he previously encountered, both of whom morph into werewolf form. After fighting and killing them both, the injured Decker returns to base and ends his service in disgust. He reclaims Sobieski's body and buries him in the desert with his dog tag. This episode is currently listed twelfth in the series. Cast : Graham Hamilton, Adam Bartley, Jim Pirri, James Horan, Ike Amadi
11	11	"Helping Hand"	Jon Yeo	Philip Gelatt	Claudine Griggs	Axis Studios (from Scotland)	March 15, 2019 (2019-03-15)	10 minutes
Astronaut Alexandria Stephens attends to a faulty satellite in Earth's orbit. During a spacewalk, her old-model EVA suit is hit by a stray screw from orbital debris, casting her hopelessly adrift with only 14 minutes of oxygen. She seals the upper left arm of her suit using her watch strap, then removes the left glove, exposing her left arm to the vacuum of space. Throwing the glove pushes her back toward the satellite, but she narrowly misses grabbing hold. As she drifts back past her beaten-up maintenance vehicle The Anthem, she decides to break off her now frozen left forearm and throws it in the last-ditch attempt to make it back to her ship. Back on board, she performs emergency self triage then radios Bill, her ground controller, who asks with relief if she "still needs a hand". This episode is currently listed fourteenth in the series. Cast : Elly Condron as Alexandria Stephens, Chris Parson as Bill
12	12	"Fish Night"	Damian Nenow	Philip Gelatt	Joe Lansdale	Platige Image (from Poland)	March 15, 2019 (2019-03-15)	10 minutes
Two door-to-door salesmen get stuck in the desert after their car breaks down due to a broken radiator. Spending what remains of their day around the car, the older man informs the younger man that the desert was once a sea floor teeming with life. At night, they wake up to find the ghosts of prehistoric marine life floating around the car. In awe of the sight, the young man undresses to swim through the air, while the old man urges him to return. As the young man becomes a luminescent being, a ghost Megalodon appears. Despite the old man's calls of danger, the young man remains unaware until the ghost shark devours him, leaving the old man in despair as the sun rises and the ghosts disappear. This episode is currently listed thirteenth in the series. Cast : Kirk Thornton as Old Salesman, Yuri Lowenthal as Young Salesman
13	13	"Lucky 13"	Jerome Chen	Philip Gelatt	Marko Kloos	Sony Pictures Imageworks (from Canada)	March 15, 2019 (2019-03-15)	13 minutes
After two crews on the Dropship #13-02313 are lost, other Marines become superstitious and give the unlucky ship to rookie Lt. "Cutter" Colby. Cutter flies twenty missions without casualty; under her charge, the ship is renowned as "Lucky 13". Cutter, loyal to her craft, passes up upgrading to newer models. On its last mission 13 is shot down, but all its occupants survive. The troops evacuate as Cutter occupies enemy combatants; when overwhelmed, Cutter sets 13 to self-destruct to kill as many enemy troops as it can. After reaching the trench, Cutter watches as the ship does not detonate until enemy troops take over, where 13 takes them all down with her. Cutter is awarded numerous medals and a cutting-edge new ship, but she longs for one more mission with Lucky 13. This episode is currently listed sixteenth in the series. Cast : Samira Wiley, Daisuke Tsuji, Nestor Serrano, Stanton Lee, Noshir Dalal, Jeffrey Pierce, David Paladino, Jeff Schine, Melissa Sturm
14	14	"Zima Blue"	Robert Valley	Philip Gelatt	Alastair Reynolds	Passion Animation Studios (from England)	March 15, 2019 (2019-03-15)	10 minutes
Journalist Claire Markham is invited to interview the reclusive artist Zima Blue, who wishes to tell his story before unveiling his final work. Zima, who began in portraiture, moved on to murals focused on abstract shapes in a single shade of blue. He continued making larger murals until they were incorporated into celestial bodies, asteroids, and even nebulas. When they meet, Zima reveals to Claire that even though many assume he is a cybernetically enhanced man, in truth he is an advanced android originally built by a roboticist to clean ceramic pool tiles (known as Zima Blue tiles), with the tiles being the first thing he saw. He was upgraded and modified as a test-bed for hardware and software to his current state, passed from owner to owner after his original owner died. Expressing a deep yearning for meaning through his art, he unveils his final piece: he immerses himself in the re-constructed pool that he originated from, casts off all of his modifications, and reverts to his original state as a simple pool tile cleaning machine. This episode is currently listed eighteenth in the series. Cast : Kevin Michael Richardson as Zima Blue, Emma Thornett as Claire Markham
15	15	"Blindspot"	Vitaliy Shushko	Vitaliy Shushko	N/A	Elena Volk's Independent Studio (from Russia)	March 15, 2019 (2019-03-15)	8 minutes
A cyborg crew — Hawk, Kali, Sui, and Rookie — attempt to rob a convoy for a heavily guarded microchip as it is in motion to a tunnel. As they plant explosives on the back car, Sui drops one of his when swerving to avoid a desert rat, alerting the guards. Kali opens cover fire as Hawk moves in to deal with the turrets. Once in the tunnel, they have a limited window to get the microchip, but as Hawk readies, he is blindsided and destroyed by a massive defense bot. Using the distraction, Sui knocks it off the convoy, but it shifts into vehicle mode and gives chase, crushing Kali as it does. Sui sacrifices himself to destroy the defense bot's CPU and the convoy. Rookie survives and takes the targeted microchip, lamenting the loss of his team. He is greeted by Bob, the team's coordinator, who congratulates him and tells him that he copied all of their brains before the mission. The crew greets Rookie in hologram form, commending him for a job well done. This episode is currently listed seventeenth in the series. Cast : Aaron Himelstein, Carlos Alazraqui, Jill Talley, Brian Bloom, Chris Cox
16	16	"Ice Age"	Tim Miller	Philip Gelatt	Michael Swanwick	Digic Pictures (from Hungary) Atomic Fiction (from the United States)	March 15, 2019 (2019-03-15)	10 minutes
A couple, Gail and Rob, find an antique refrigerator after they move into their new apartment. Opening it to get ice, they discover a tiny preserved mammoth, and returning to the freezer, they realize that a fast-moving time-dilated civilization is developing. Within ten minutes, the civilization goes from Medieval era to Industrial Revolution then modern-day, but some minutes later they see the civilization use a nuclear bomb, which burns Rob's face. Finding the fridge civilization escalating their warfare, they close the freezer and order pizza. After an hour, and afraid they did not make it, they open the freezer and find the civilization has rebuilt and has moved further into its future with technology evolving at an unprecedented level. They ultimately evolve into a race of energy beings, return to a singularity, and vanish from the freezer. Believing the mini-people are gone, Rob unplugs the refrigerator to clean it in the morning. As they have breakfast, they find the freezer now has a prehistoric world, with primitive sapiens under attack by dinosaurs. This episode is currently listed third in the series. Cast : Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Gail, Topher Grace as Rob, John DiMaggio and Roger Craig Smith as construction workers
17	17	"Alternate Histories"	Victor Maldonado & Alfredo Torres	Philip Gelatt	John Scalzi	Sun Creature Studio (from Denmark)	March 15, 2019 (2019-03-15)	7 minutes
Multiversity, an alternative history research simulation app, shows a user six different timelines involving the death of Adolf Hitler in 1908 instead of 1945. Potential consequences of each death include different outcomes from WWI and WWII; various individuals reaching the Moon first; time travel paradoxes; and post-apocalyptic scenarios. Exiting the demo, the user selects a possible alternate timeline where "Lincoln shoots first". This episode is currently listed fifteenth in the series. Cast : Rebecca Riedy, Dieter Jansen, Scott Whyte, Chris Cox
18	18	"The Secret War"	István Zorkóczy	Philip Gelatt	David W. Amendola	Digic Pictures (from Hungary)	March 15, 2019 (2019-03-15)	16 minutes
A platoon of Red Army soldiers hunts ghouls in the Siberian forests. Sgt. Sergei Pavlovich and Lieutenant Nikolai Zakharov raise concerns that the men are too dispersed, but the Major dismisses their worries. Following a bloody victory, Scout Okchen finds the decomposed corpse of a fallen Secret Police agent, Boris Grishin. Grishin's notebook describes "Operation Hades", an attempt to summon ghouls to fight for the Red Army. However, the summoners failed to control them and are killed. Sergei wishes to use this information to get rid of the ghouls, but Zakharov fears it would expose the government's past errors. As they locate a burrow, Okchen, and another soldier, Pogodin ready munitions to seal the ghouls' nest, but the blast instead opens the entire burrow. The horde is larger than expected, so Zakharov orders a last stand, commanding his son to relay a message to bombard their current location to kill the horde. The ghouls kill the whole platoon by the morning, but planes fly over them and begin carpet-bombing the site. This episode is currently listed sixth in the series. Cast : Stefan Kapičić, Bruce Thomas, Jeff Berg, Antonio Alvarez, Victor Brandt

Volume II (2021)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Adapted script by	Based on the story by	Animation studio(s) (Studio location)	Original release date	Duration
19	1	"Automated Customer Service"	Meat Dept (Kevin Van Der Meiren, David Nicolas, Laurent Nicolas)	John Scalzi & Meat Dept	John Scalzi	Atoll Studio (from France)	May 14, 2021 (2021-05-14)	13 minutes
In a futuristic retirement community staffed by robotic helpers, the house-cleaning 'Vacuubot' of an elderly woman named Jeanette malfunctions and becomes increasingly aggressive. She contacts the automated customer support, but the solutions given prove unhelpful. After several urges to surrender by customer support, her neighbor Bill comes to her rescue. Although they destroy the robot, the customer support tells them that the Vacuubot has added them to a termination list. Jeanette rejects the customer support's offer for the termination whitelist as she, Bill, and her dog ride off, chased by an army of robotic helpers. Cast : Nancy Linari, Ben Giroux, Brian Keane
20	2	"Ice"	Robert Valley	Philip Gelatt	Rich Larson	Passion Animation Studios (from England)	May 14, 2021 (2021-05-14)	13 minutes
Brothers Sedgewick and Fletcher move to an ice-covered colony planet where almost the entire population has been genetically modified to have superhuman abilities. Sedgewick, who is not 'modded', is branded as an "extro" by his peers. Against his brother's advice, Sedgewick accompanies him to a race across ice floes with other modded youths to catch a glimpse of the massive Frostwhales that breach through the ice to breathe. As they race back to safety, Fletcher seems to injure his leg, forcing Sedgewick to carry him. The brothers barely survive the breach, having been unlucky that the Frostwhales hit the ice one time fewer than they habitually do. They enjoy the view of the Frostwhales breaching, after which Sedgewick realizes Fletcher faked his injury to help his brother gain the others' respect. Cast : Archie Madekwe, Sebastian Croft, Beatriz Godinho, Alexander Lobo Moreno, Miguel Amorim, Mike Bodie, Maria Teresa Creasey
21	3	"Pop Squad"	Jennifer Yuh Nelson	Philip Gelatt	Paolo Bacigalupi	Blur Studio (from the United States)	May 14, 2021 (2021-05-14)	18 minutes
In a dystopian future, humanity has gained drug-induced biological immortality. In order to avoid overpopulation breeding becomes strictly forbidden and any children found are summarily executed by the police force while their parents are prosecuted. After his latest execution, Detective Briggs becomes unnerved by his lover Alice's casual admission that she would let him impregnate her. As his job begins to take a mental toll on him, Briggs decides to conduct a personal investigation. He encounters a woman, Eve, buying an antique toy train set and follows her back to her dilapidated home, where she has been harboring her toddler daughter, Melanie. He asks Eve why she chose to raise a child in such conditions; she explains how her daughter changed her life. Briggs sympathizes and spares them both when Eve tries to kill him preemptively. As he leaves the house, he encounters his police partner Pentle, who realizes what he has done. The officers exchange gunfire, killing each other. Cast : Nolan North, Elodie Yung, Emily O'Brien, Michelle C. Bonilla, Dendrie Allyn Taylor, Debra Cardona, Ike Amadi, Noshir Dalal, Andrew Hawkes, Jennifer Hale, Ayana Shira Haviv, Piotr Michael
22	4	"Snow in the Desert"	Léon Bérelle, Dominique Boidin, Rémi Kozyra, Maxime Luère	Philip Gelatt	Neal Asher	Unit Image (from France)	May 14, 2021 (2021-05-14)	18 minutes
Snow, an albino man, wanders across a barren planet. He is being hunted by the merchant Baris for his unique physiology which grants him a regenerative ability that renders him virtually immortal. At a bar, three bounty hunters intercept him. Snow barely survives the altercation after a woman named Hirald saves him. Snow thanks her and leaves. At night, Hirald visits Snow's camp to express her intention to travel with him. She then reveals that she is an agent sent by Earth Central Intelligence and requests Snow to come willingly so that they might study his physiology for the greater good. Hirald soon learns that Snow's wife committed suicide more than a century ago due to him not aging; the two then make love. Baris' goons ambush Snow's hideout, but Snow finishes them off with Hirald's help. Baris then shoots and seemingly kills Hirald; however, she recovers and kills him. The damaged Hirald then reveals herself to be a cyborg. Following a past accident, her surviving human brain and nervous system were fused with an artificial body, rendering her virtually immortal like Snow. The two bond over their loneliness and desire to find love within their immortality. Cast : Peter Franzén, Zita Hanrot, Alaïs Lawson, Jonnie Hurn, Piotr Michael, Julie Nathanson, Scott Whyte
23	5	"The Tall Grass"	Simon Otto	Philip Gelatt	Joe Lansdale	Axis Studios (from Scotland)	May 14, 2021 (2021-05-14)	11 minutes
Unexpectedly, a steam train breaks down in a field of tall grass. A passenger named Laird steps outside against the conductor's advice. While smoking, he witnesses a number of strange lights and wanders into the tall grass to investigate. He soon becomes lost, and the lights are revealed to be glowing ghoul-like creatures emerging from the ground. The creatures attack and chase him through the field, but at the last moment, the conductor saves him. The conductor confides in Laird that the train breaks down at that same spot every so often. He believes the field of tall grass opens up a door to another world, and the creatures were once lost humans who have transformed. The train steams off as numerous lights and roarings appear throughout the field. Cast : Joe Dempsie, Steven Pacey
24	6	"All Through the House"	Elliot Dear	Philip Gelatt	Joachim Heijndermans	Blink Industries (from England)	May 14, 2021 (2021-05-14)	7 minutes
On Christmas Eve, siblings Leah and Billy are awoken by the sound of rustling downstairs. Believing it to be Santa Claus, they sneak down to catch a look. They are horrified to find that it is actually a grotesque monster, who hears their approach and corners them. It identifies them both as "good" and regurgitates a present for each before climbing out through the chimney. Lying in bed, Billy notes that the present he received was exactly what he wanted, and they both wonder what would have happened if they had been found "bad". Cast : Divi Mittal, Sami Amber, Fred Tatasciore, Brynley North
25	7	"Life Hutch"	Alex Beaty	Philip Gelatt	Harlan Ellison	Blur Studio (from the United States)	May 14, 2021 (2021-05-14)	14 minutes
A pilot named Terence crash-lands on a craggy planet below a space battle against a hostile alien force. He locates a nearby shelter—dubbed a Life Hutch—that has previously crash-landed as well. As the Life Hutch's automated systems activate, the maintenance robot malfunctions and attacks anything that moves, ripping his side and crushing his fingers. He loses consciousness and recalls moments from the battle in which he piloted one of the many attack ships before being hit by space debris. When he wakes, he accesses his flashlight and tricks the robot into attacking itself as it tracks the light beam. After destroying the robot, he activates a rescue beacon and waits for aid. Cast : Michael B. Jordan, Michelle C. Bonilla, Brian T. Delaney
26	8	"The Drowned Giant"	Tim Miller	Tim Miller	J. G. Ballard	Blur Studio (from the United States)	May 14, 2021 (2021-05-14)	14 minutes
The gigantic, naked corpse of an unknown man washes up on the shore. Academics come to observe the giant, mounting him and encouraging spectators to do the same. One of the academics, Steven, becomes entranced by the giant and decides to watch from afar. Through philosophical perspectives, he narrates the decomposition and the desecration of the corpse as time goes on, along with the waning interest of the townspeople, who eventually forget the giant's existence. Months later, the remains of the giant appear in various parts of the town. Cast : Steven Pacey, Laura Pacey

Volume III (2022)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Adapted script by	Based on the story by	Animation studio(s) (Studio location)	Original release date	Duration
27	1	"Three Robots: Exit Strategies"	Patrick Osborne	John Scalzi	John Scalzi	Blow Studio (from Spain)	May 20, 2022 (2022-05-20)	11 minutes
The three robots (K-VRC, XBOT 4000, and 11-45-G) embark on yet another post-apocalyptic trip. They investigate sites where remnants of humanity from different societal classes tried unsuccessfully to survive the apocalypse. At a primitive survivalist camp for the poor, food scarcity caused by overhunting triggered lethal conflicts. An oil rig refurbished into a luxury resort for the rich failed when the inhabitants relied too much on AI, which rebelled and began the robot uprising. Government officials in a self-sustaining bunker resorted to cannibalism after a fungus ravaged their hydroponic crops. The final site the robots visit is a high-tech rocket launch base, built exclusively by and for the Earth's richest, with the far-fetched intention to quickly leave the dying planet and colonize Mars. Their plans failed; it is revealed that humanity had more than enough resources to save both the environment and themselves, but perished because of their greed. The robots discover that one shuttle did leave with some of Earth's inhabitants inside—unbeknownst to them, it was the intelligent cats instead of the humans. Cast : Josh Brener, Gary Anthony Williams, Katie Lowes, Chris Parnell
28	2	"Bad Travelling"	David Fincher	Andrew Kevin Walker	Neal Asher	Blur Studio (from the United States)	May 20, 2022 (2022-05-20)	21 minutes
A giant man-eating crustacean called a "thanapod" violently boards a shark-hunting ship, slaughtering most of its crew before occupying the ship's hold. After drawing straws, the ship's first mate and navigator, Torrin, is unfairly chosen by a bigger crewmate (who drew a shorter straw than Torrin) to confront the thanapod. Puppeteering the body of a slain crewman, it demands to be taken to the nearby Phaiden Island, where it will presumably feed on the unsuspecting population. Torrin accepts on the condition that his life be spared. Throwing the prior cheating crewmate to the thanapod, and holding the crew at gunpoint, he asks them to vote on whether to agree to the thanapod's demands or to trick it by dropping it off on a farther deserted island, a longer trip that makes survival less likely but spares Phaiden Island's population. Torrin then executes two of the crew who voted to go to Phaiden Island and feeds their bodies to the thanapod to buy time. However, the thanapod demands more food to feed its newly hatched offspring. When the crew mutinies, Torrin kills them and feeds them to the thanapods. Torrin reveals to the last crew member that every crew member voted for the shorter voyage before pushing him to his death. Nearing Phaiden Island, Torrin then sets the shark oil in the ship's hold on fire and escapes in a lifeboat, killing the thanapod and its brood. Cast : Troy Baker, Kevin Jackson, Anthony Mark Barrow, Chantelle Barry, Parry Shen, Time Winters, James Preston Rogers, Jason Flemyng, Elodie Yung, Max Fowler
29	3	"The Very Pulse of the Machine"	Emily Dean	Philip Gelatt	Michael Swanwick	Polygon Pictures (from Japan)	May 20, 2022 (2022-05-20)	17 minutes
Astronaut Martha Kivelson is left alone on the surface of Io after an SEV accident causes the death of her partner, Burton. With her own oxygen exhausted and support from her space station hours away, Kivelson uses Burton's supply and drags her body across the moon back to their landing craft. After taking morphine to numb the pain of a broken arm, Kivelson begins to experience hallucinations. She hears Io itself speaking to her through Burton, provoking her interaction. Desperate to reach her destination in time, she takes amphetamine, worsening her hallucinations. She eventually comes to view the moon as a machine whose purpose is "to know [her]", before falling unconscious. Waking up with critical oxygen levels, Kivelson jumps into a river of thermal liquid and seemingly assimilates into the moon, suggesting her hallucinations are in fact real. Her voice is later heard reporting back to Earth's station. Cast : Mackenzie Davis, Holly Jade, David Shatraw
30	4	"Night of the Mini Dead"	Robert Bisi & Andy Lyon	Robert Bisi & Andy Lyon	Jeff Fowler and Tim Miller	Buck (from the United States)	May 20, 2022 (2022-05-20)	7 minutes
In an episode presented entirely with sped-up miniatures, a pair of lovers defile a church and cemetery at night, accidentally raising the dead and causing a zombie apocalypse. Hordes of zombies quickly overrun population centers across the planet, wiping out most of humanity. As the world devolves into anarchy, the remaining humans try to fight back but instead give rise to giant mutant zombies when a nuclear power station is destroyed. Unable to stop them, the President of the United States eventually launches every nuclear missile in the American arsenal, which triggers other nations to launch their respective nuclear missiles as well. The short ends as the obliteration of the Earth is depicted as little more than an insignificant fart on the scale of galactic events.
31	5	"Kill Team Kill"	Jennifer Yuh Nelson	Philip Gelatt	Justin Coates	Titmouse (from the United States)	May 20, 2022 (2022-05-20)	13 minutes
A team of US Army Green Berets in Afghanistan, led by Sergeant Nielsen, is sent to investigate mysterious killings, only to come face-to-face with a cybernetically enhanced grizzly bear. The squad loses two of their members before SFC Morris, who's attached to Task Force Griffin, rescues them. Morris explains that said bear was developed as part of a top secret CIA experiment code named Project Barghest to develop advanced military weapons, but went rogue. The survivors return with Morris back to the secret CIA underground base Camp Eisenhower that was built in 2002 to find its inhabitants massacred. They prepare to lure the bear but miscalculate its position inside the base. After an ambush that costs the life of Morris and Folen, Nielsen and Macy manage to take down the bear with extra armaments. It then activates a self-destruct mechanism that destroys the entire base, killing the two. Cast : Joel McHale, Seth Green, Gabriel Luna, Steve Blum, Andrew Kishino
32	6	"Swarm"	Tim Miller	Tim Miller & Philip Gelatt	Bruce Sterling	Blur Studio (from the United States)	May 20, 2022 (2022-05-20)	17 minutes
Simon Afriel arrives as part of a two-year research mission to an alien planet inhabited by a race referred to only as the Swarm. Joining with another human researcher, Galina Mirny, the two explore the Swarm hive, which is composed of multiple castes of alien species that had been absorbed into the hive, each playing a specific role in maintaining the ecosystem. Simon reveals to Galina that his goal is to obtain and exploit the Swarm's genetic information, pairing it with artificial pheromones to create a new, more subservient swarm that will help humanity expand. Despite initial disapproval, Galina chooses to assist him as long as the nest remains unharmed. As time passes, the two become increasingly intimate. Their experiments, however, trigger a hostile response from the hive, which forcibly assimilates Galina. The Swarm speaks to Simon, explaining how the hive had absorbed intelligent species deemed as threats in the past and reduced them to symbiotic species. It tells Simon he can assist doing so with humans and retain his intelligence or be forcibly assimilated himself. He accepts the offer as a challenge, insisting that the human race will never become parasites. Cast : Rosario Dawson, Jason Winston George
33	7	"Mason's Rats"	Carlos Stevens	Joe Abercrombie	Neal Asher	Axis Studios (from Scotland)	May 20, 2022 (2022-05-20)	10 minutes
In a future version of Scotland, a farmer named Mason is distressed to discover the rats in his barn are bigger than before, standing upright on two legs, using tools and attacking him with crossbows as they pilfer his genetically modified supplies. Enlisting the services of the high-tech Traptech pest control company, Mason installs five TT-6 pulse lasers into his barn. The lasers are effective until the leader of the rats discovers their positions and disables each laser. At his wits' end, Mason is talked into buying the TT-15, a scorpion-like mobile assault robot by Traptech. For the next several days, the TT-15 does its job gruesomely well; much to Mason's growing discomfort, especially at all the damage the robot leaves in its wake to his property. After one of its laser shots destroys his mug, narrowly missing his head, a furious Mason storms into the barn; only to see the interior destroyed and the rats mounting a heroic final stand against the mech. They manage to severely damage it using one of his tractors outfitted with the missing pulse laser as a tank. Mason, impressed by the rats' courage and upset with the TT-15 now destroying his property, finishes the mech off with a shotgun blast to the CPU. He makes peace with the rats; the group raises a glass of brandy, distilled from Mason's grain, and watches the sunset together as he cancels a check for Traptech. Cast : Craig Ferguson, Dan Stevens
34	8	"In Vaulted Halls Entombed"	Jerome Chen	Philip Gelatt	Alan Baxter	Sony Pictures Imageworks (from Canada)	May 20, 2022 (2022-05-20)	15 minutes
A MARSOC team are sent to rescue a hostage from insurgents. As they follow them deep into the mountain tunnels, they find the hostage's and insurgents' bodies eaten by a swarm of mysterious spider-like creatures. The team loses four men to the swarm of spiders and other traps within the tunnels, leaving team leader Sgt. Coulthard and Harper as the only survivors. The duo finds a glowing light and follows a mysterious sound into a deeper chamber, revealed to be a prison containing a gigantic, eldritch deity. The deity induces visions of world destruction in Coulthard and Harper, convincing Coulthard to release it, and forcing Harper to kill him. The deity then instructs Harper to release it. She is then seen walking into the desert with her eyes gouged out and ears cut off as she mutters an alien language. Cast : Joe Manganiello, Christian Serratos, Jai Courtney, Debra Wilson, Fred Tatasciore, Noshir Dalal, Stanton Lee, Jeff Schine
35	9	"Jibaro"	Alberto Mielgo	Alberto Mielgo	N/A	Pinkman.TV (from Spain) Many Enterprises (from the United States)	May 20, 2022 (2022-05-20)	17 minutes
In an alternative timeline, as a group of conquistadors and priests stops their trek deep in the forest, a siren draped in gold and jewels emerges from the nearby lake. With her call, she sends the entire group into a frenzy, causing them to kill each other before drowning themselves in the deep waters. However, the deaf knight Jibaro is unaffected by her and manages to escape in a panic. Intrigued, the siren stalks Jibaro and even sleeps next to him at night. When Jibaro awakens and realizes her presence, they become infatuated with each other. After a chase ensued between the two, they begin a violent dance and embrace in a kiss. After she bites his tongue with her sharp teeth, Jibaro knocks her unconscious and rips off most of the gold and jewels from the siren's body; critically wounding her. He discards her into the river and attempts to make off with the loot. The siren's blood taints the surrounding body of water. When Jibaro drinks from it, his hearing is restored, leaving him vulnerable to the siren's call. He follows it and drowns at the bottom of the lake. Cast : Girvan 'Swirv' Bramble

Production

Development

David Fincher serves as executive producer for the series.

The project evolved from a late 2000s meeting whereby David Fincher and Tim Miller decided to make a remake of the 1981 film Heavy Metal. Announced in 2008, the project was to be produced by Paramount Pictures although Fincher and Miller had trouble getting the funding necessary for the project. The project was originally intended to be a film with a budget of around $50 million, with several directors involved with each one directing different short segments and Blur Studio handling the animation for the film. The directors lineup included Miller, Fincher, James Cameron, Zack Snyder, Kevin Eastman, Gore Verbinski, Guillermo del Toro, Mark Osborne, Jeff Fowler, and Rob Zombie. The film was expected to have over eight or nine segments and to be rated R like the original Heavy Metal film. On July 14, 2008, however the production for the film stopped due to Paramount Pictures' decision to drop the film. The film was switched to Sony division Columbia Pictures, due to an ongoing fight between the former studio and Fincher during the production of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. On 2009, Eastman revealed that he reunited with Jack Black to make a comedy segment for the film. The former also revealed that Fincher and Cameron were originally intended to serve as executive producers of the film.

However soon after, the production of the film stalled indefinitely, as no film distributor or production company showed interest in distributing or producing the remake after Paramount Pictures took the decision to no longer distribute the film. It was revealed that the real reason for this is due to several film studios considering the film "too risqué for mainstream audiences." Miller commented that: "David really believes in the project. It's just a matter of time."

In July 2011, it was announced at the Comic-Con that filmmaker Robert Rodriguez had purchased the film rights to Heavy Metal and planned to develop a new animated film at the new Quick Draw Studios. On March 11, 2014, after creating his own television network, El Rey, Rodriguez decided to instead develop the film as a television series. However, Eastman revealed that he sold Heavy Metal and that the deal with Rodriguez was unlikely to stay standing.

Following a long decade to bring the animated anthology, Netflix took interest on the idea and decided to greenlit the series: "Well, David Fincher and I had tried to get a Heavy Metal film made for years and years. I mean, hundreds of meetings. The original movie came out in 1982 and it was very inspirational to a lot of animators who wanted to do adult animation. So when I met David, we wanted to do something together and we said, 'What about doing a new Heavy Metal film?' because he was an animation fan, but the world just was not ready for it at the time. But in the ten years that we did meetings and tried to get the project going, the world came around to see adult animation as viable, and Netflix was the one that was willing to take a chance. And so here we are." The studio gave Fincher and Miller a total freedom to allow them to "breathe life into their vision". The series would be taking the name of Love, Death & Robots instead, and it would consist of 18 episodes ranging from 5 to 15 minutes including a wide range of animation styles, from traditional 2D animation to photo-real 3D CGI. While working in Netflix for the series House of Cards and Mindhunter, Fincher discussed his wish to break free of the half-hour and hour-long format for the animated series: "We have to get rid of the 22-minute [length of a half-hour show with commercials] and 48-minute [length of an hour-long show with commercials] because there's this Pavlovian response to this segmentation that to me seems anathema to storytelling. You want the story to be as long as it needs to be to be at maximum impact or entertainment value proposition."

According to Miller, after the release of Deadpool, Fincher called Miller saying "OK, so we're going to use your newfound popularity to get our anthology movie made," only to eventually decide, "Fuck the movie stuff, let's just take it to Netflix, because they'll let us do whatever we want."

On August 12, 2022, Netflix renewed the series for a fourth season.

Writing

Philip Gelatt wrote more of the series' episodes than anyone, especially episodes that are adapted from short stories

Screenwriters include co-creator Miller and Philip Gelatt (screenwriter of the film Europa Report), the latter who wrote more of the series' episodes than anyone. Many of the short films are short story adaptations, including sixteen of the eighteen in the first season (most of which are adapted by Gelatt). Initially this was not planned, with the duo envisioning a variety of methods by which they would have developed the series. Miller originally suggested a longer list of stories that he wanted to adapt. Miller primarily wrote outlines and drafts for each short and allowed for scripts to be changed as studios saw fit in order to aid the production. Authors who have had their work adapted include Harlan Ellison, J. G. Ballard, Alastair Reynolds, Joe R. Lansdale, Neal Asher, Michael Swanwick, and John Scalzi, who also adapted several of his stories into scripts himself (except some of which are adapted by Gelatt). Miller in an interview revealed that they are free to choose the story they want, but admits wanting to get the storyline of the episode right in order to give them their original flash of brilliance to a story that would not exist if it were not for the authors having ideas. The third season includes more varied screenwriters with Philip Gelatt only writing four episodes of nine. Filmmaker Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Miller revealed that they chose to involve more screenwriters due to busying schedules of Gelatt. However, they also revealed that the writers managed to keep the episodes original to the short stories to make them more like them and ensure that they work.

For the production of the second season, Miller revealed that they changed supervisors to offer a different perspective from the previous season. When Nelson was recruited she convinced the crew including Miller to introduce stories that the latter never thought that would be introduced for the show. To bring the different nature of each episode for the series, the crew worked with different creators and companies to get the different styles for each episode. Unlike the first season that contained 18 episodes, the second season is shorter than the previous one having only released eight episodes. Miller confessed that it was originally meant to get the same amount of episodes like the previous one, however Netflix asked them to shorten it in order to release it sooner in the streaming service, with the remaining episodes being released as part of the third season. Another factor to consider is the COVID-19 pandemic that affected the production of the show which caused the production to be suspended, which would lead the crew to take the decision of making the second season shorter in order to avoid more delays.

Animation

While Blur Studio is in charge of producing the series, it also was in charge of animating a few episodes for the show. As each episode has a different animation style, the visual effect supervisor for the series revealed that they contacted different studios: "We've been competing against some of these companies for years and admire them greatly. It was thrilling to bring everyone together and let them apply their unique visions to these shorts. It was here where all the creative freedom really paid off." The episodes produced by Blur Studio contain a 3D video game animation style, while also approaching the hand painted one. Tim Miller revealed that for the each different stories, the crew approached certain studios for the specific stories to ensure what episode fit better with the animation style.

For the remaining thirteen episodes, several animation studios were involved - Unit Image, Red Dog Culture House, Able & Baker, Axis Studios, Platige Image, Atomic Fiction, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Passion Animation Studios, Elena Volk's Independent Studio, Blow Studio, Pinkman.TV, Studio La Cachette, Sun Creature Studio, and Digic Pictures. For the episode of "The Witness", the director of the episode Alberto Mielgo used a "never-before-seen aesthetic" to capture the realistic vibe, which lead to several discussions over if it was used motion capture for the streets and building. However, Mielgo confirmed that it was all animated and that it was not easy to do as they needed to keep the characters moving from scratch by using a software that was not used before.

For the following seasons, some of the returning studios besides Blur Studio were Passion Animation Studios, Pinkman.TV, Unit Image, Axis Studios, Blow Studio, and Sony Pictures Imageworks. The series also involved new studios with Atoll Studio and Blink Industries joining the second season, while Polygon Pictures, Buck, and Titmouse joined the third season.

Animation studio	Country of origin	No. of episodes produced
Able & Baker	Spain	1
Atoll Studio	France	1
Atomic Fiction	United States	1
Axis Studios	Scotland, U.K.	3
Blink Industries	England, U.K.	1
Blow Studio	Spain	3
Blur Studio (main)	United States	8
Buck	United States	1
Digic Pictures	Hungary	2
Elena Volk's Independent Studio	Russia	1
Passion Animation Studios	England, U.K.	2
Pinkman.TV	Spain	2
Platige Image	Poland	1
Polygon Pictures	Japan	1
Red Dog Culture House	South Korea	1
Sony Pictures Imageworks	Canada	2
Studio La Cachette	France	1
Sun Creature Studio	Denmark	1
Titmouse	United States	1
Unit Image	France	2

Release

Netflix released the first trailer for the series on February 14, 2019; the trailer featured Matt Green's industrial hardcore remix of AMBASSADOR21's "We Are Legion". The episodes of the show are displayed in different orders to different users, which differ from how most shows are displayed on the service. The first season consisting of eighteen standalone episodes, was released worldwide on Netflix on March 15, 2019. In response to an accusation that the episode order was based on the streaming company's perception of a user's sexual orientation, Netflix responded that there were four unique episode orders, released to users at random. On April 19, 2021, Netflix released the teaser trailer for the second season; it featured Colin Stetson's track "Reborn" from the Hereditary film soundtrack. The eight episodes of the second season were released on May 14, 2021; four days earlier Netflix released a 45-second long Red Band trailer of the series. On April 19, 2022, a teaser trailer for the third season was released which featured footage from previous seasons of the series as well as footage from other The Crown and The Queen's Gambit also distributed by Netflix. Another two trailers were released on May which featured footage from the shorts for the upcoming season and confirmed that there would be nine episodes instead of eight. The official trailer was released on May 9, 2022, while the final trailer was released just four days before the volume 3 premiere. On May 18, 2022, Netflix released the premiere episode "Three Robots: Exit Strategies" for free on their YouTube channel while the entire third season was released on May 20.

Reception

Volume I

For the first volume, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes compiled 43 critic reviews and identified 77% as positive, with an average rating of 7.03/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "This animated anthology has enough creative Death to satisfy cyberpunk aficionados who Love their Robots to have some Heavy Metal influence, but the series' lofty ambitions are often undercut by a preoccupation with gore and titillation." Metacritic sampled 4 reviews from mainstream critics and calculated a weighted average score of 65/100, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Writing in The Daily Beast, Nick Schager described the series as "Black Mirror for the ADD-addled video game crowd" and praised the show for its "diverse affair rife with violence, humor, and a healthy dose of sensuality". Peter Rubin of Wired magazine praised the show and its boundary-pushing nature, saying that "sometimes, you just want to see Adolf Hitler suffocated by a giant mound of gelatin". Rubin further voiced frustration with the seemingly "endless parade of stoic supermen and the women who deceive or escape them", noting that at times it seems as though Fincher and Miller have aimed the show at a "particularly retrograde subset of genre fans". In a more negative review, Ben Travers of IndieWire described the episodes as "too often hyper-masculine and half-baked" and gave the series a C grade, though the review was based on only 6 of the 18 episodes. Abby Robinson of Digital Spy called the series problematic in its portrayal of women as primarily sexual objects and victims of trauma, labeling it as "firmly rooted in the past".

Volume II

The second volume has an 80% rating from 15 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 6.70/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The quality of shorts can be uneven, but Love, Death + Robots' sophomore volume is a well-oiled machine of creativity." Matt Fowler of IGN said the season needed a higher episode count, "even though its first season had too many. A shorter catalog is probably best here since this year's batch of stories features some repeating themes. That being said, the series continues to be an enjoyable thought-provoking buffet of animated wonders and wickedness". Steve Green of IndieWire praised the season's quality though he was critical over the shorter amount of episodes, "The show remains an anthology, but look hard enough and you'll see at least one hint that these shorts might not be occupying wholly distinct universes after all." Petrana Radulovic from Polygon called the second season less violent and more mature than its predecessor, "That isn't the only difference between seasons, however. Objectively, the shorts in volume 2 are less edgy and violent, trading in gratuitous nudity and gore for poignant storytelling. It's more mature this time around and less messed-up, which makes for stronger viewing."

Volume III

The third volume holds a 100% rating from 16 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 8/10, the website's critical consensus stating, "A concise collection of memorable cybernetic fables, Love, Death + Robots' third installment is its most well-balanced yet." Writing for The Verge, Andrew Webster called volume III "arguably the strongest collection yet" praising the stories and various animation styles used in each short. Johhny Loftus from Decider praised the season for its visuals and exploration of real life topics, "Love, Death & Robots keeps the run time tight and visual pizzazz expansive as it explores its titular topics in relation to society and ourselves. And oh yeah, swear words." Tara Bennet from IGN considered that the stories for each episode weren't strong enough as the craftmanship though she praised the animation, "Love, Death and Robots Vol. 3 is the least accessible of the three seasons, especially if you aren't interested in an overabundance of gory violence. While there are some impressive examples of CG animation, the craftsmanship is mostly stronger than the stories featured."

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
2019	British Academy Scotland Awards	Best Animation	Jon Yeo and Caleb Bouchard (Episode: "Helping Hand")	Won
	Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards	Outstanding Short Form Animated Program	David Fincher, Tim Miller, Jennifer Miller, Joshua Donen, Victoria Howard, Gennie Rim, Alberto Mielgo and Gabriele Pennacchioli (for "The Witness")	Won
		Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation (Juried)	Jun-ho Kim (background designer) (for "Good Hunting")	Won
			Alberto Mielgo (production designer) (for "The Witness")	Won
			David Pate (character animator) (for "The Witness")	Won
			Owen Sullivan (storyboard artist) (for "Sucker of Souls")	Won
		Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation	Brad North, Craig Henighan, Jordan Wilby, Troy Prehmus, Jeff Charbonneau, Alicia Stevenson and Dawn Lunsford (for "The Secret War")	Nominated
2020	Annie Awards	Outstanding Achievement in Animated Effects in an Animated Television/Media Production	Viktor Németh, Szabolcs Illés, Ádám Sipos and Vladimir Zhovna (for "The Secret War")	Won
		Outstanding Achievement in Music in an Animated Television/Media Production	Rob Cairns (for "Sonnie's Edge")	Won
		Outstanding Achievement in Production Design in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production	Alberto Mielgo (for "The Witness")	Won
		Outstanding Achievement in Editorial in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production	Bo Juhl, Stacy Auckland and Valerian Zamel (for "Alternate Histories")	Won
2021	Annie Awards	Best General Audience Animated Television/Broadcast Production	"Ice"	Nominated
		Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production	Dan Gill (for "All Through the House")	Nominated
		Outstanding Achievement for Editorial in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production	Julian Clarke, Matt Mariska, Valerian Zamel, Brian Swanson and Ky Kenyon (for "Pop Squad")	Nominated
		Outstanding Achievement for Production Design in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production	Robert Valley (for "Ice")	Nominated
		Outstanding Achievement for Storyboarding in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production	Jennifer Yuh Nelson (for "Pop Squad")	Nominated
	Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards	Outstanding Short Form Animated Program	David Fincher, Tim Miller, Jennifer Miller, Joshua Donen, Andrew Ruhemann, Cara Speller, Victoria Howard, Philip Gelatt, Robert Valley and Jennifer Yuh Nelson (for "Ice")	Won
		Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation (Juried)	Patricio Betteo (background artist) (for "Ice")	Won
			Dan Gill (stop motion animator) (for "All Through the House")	Won
			Laurent Nicolas (character designer) (for "Automated Customer Service")	Won
			Robert Valley (production designer) (for "Ice")	Won
		Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation	Brad North, Craig Henighan, Dawn Lunsford, Jeff Charbonneau and Alicia Stevens (for "Snow in the Desert")	Won
2022	Golden Reel Awards	Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Animation Series or Short	Brad North, Craig Henighan, Jeff Gross, Dawn Lunsford, Alicia Stevens and Jeff Charbonneau (for "Snow in the Desert")	Won
	Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards	Best Short Form Animation Series	Love, Death & Robots	Won
	Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards	Outstanding Short Form Animated Program	David Fincher, Tim Miller, Jennifer Miller, Joshua Donen, Sergio Jimenez, Victoria Howard, Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Alberto Mielgo (for "Jibaro")	Won
		Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation (Juried)	Alberto Mielgo (character designer) (for "Jibaro")	Won
		Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation	Brad North, Craig Henighan, Anthony Zeller, Jeff Charbonneau, Zane Bruce and Lindsay Pepper (for "In Vaulted Halls Entombed")	Nominated
	Visual Effects Society Awards	Outstanding Animated Character in an Episode or Real-Time Project	Maxime Luere, Zoé Pelegrin-Bomel, Laura Guerreiro and Florent Duport (for "Snow in the Desert" – Hirald)	Nominated
	Artios Awards	Outstanding Achievement in Casting – Short Form Series	Ivy Isenberg, Natasha Vincent	Nominated
2023	Golden Reel Awards	Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Broadcast Animation	Brad North, Antony Zeller, Zane Bruce, Lindsay Pepper (for "In Vaulted Halls Entombed")	Won
		Outstanding Achievement in Music Editing – Broadcast Short Form	Jeff Charbonneau (for "Night of the Mini Dead")	Nominated
	Producers Guild of America Awards	Best Short-Form Program	Love, Death & Robots	Nominated
	Visual Effects Society Awards	Outstanding Compositing and Lighting in an Episode	Tim Emeis, José Maximiano, Renaud Tissandié, Nacere Guerouaf (for "Night of the Mini Dead")	Won
	Annie Awards	Outstanding Achievement for Animated Effects in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production	Kirby Miller, Igor Zanic, Joseph H. Coleman, Steven Dupuy, Josh Schwartz (for "Bad Traveling")	Won
		Outstanding Achievement for Character Design in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production	Alberto Mielgo (for "Jibaro")	Won
		Outstanding Achievement for Music in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production	Rob Cairns (for "The Very Pulse of the Machine")	Nominated
		Outstanding Achievement for Storyboarding in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production	Emily Dean (for "The Very Pulse of the Machine")	Won
		Outstanding Achievement for Writing in an Animated Television / Broadcast Production	Andrew Kevin Walker (for "Bad Traveling")	Won

See also

• Oats Studios, an independent film studio distributing short films, mostly by Neill Blomkamp

External links

• Love, Death & Robots on Netflix
• Love, Death & Robots at IMDb