Love, Death & Robots, the anthology series that seemed to have come out of nowhere in 2019, has surprised us with another season on May 14. The series comprises animated shorts in a wide variety of styles, all connected only by the three titular motifs. Even though each episode is only five to 20 minutes long, they are all made with more love than I’ve seen in any other show. I personally don’t know of many shows that are an anthology series like Love, Death & Robots. It definitely gives the viewers a unique experience similar to Black Mirror. The animation style for each episode is distinctive, eccentric, and unpredictable. I’d say it’s still up for discussion whether or not the newest season is as good as the last, but nonetheless, I can still appreciate the series.
There’s quite a bit to unpack in this second season, with the first episode involving a woman fighting off her rogue Roomba. Something I can appreciate in the newest season that kept the series consistent was the animation. The quality of the graphics and the details are as pristine as ever. That’s not to say I wouldn’t have wanted more episodes with a different animation style like we saw in the first season. The animation in almost all of the episodes for season two is too similar to video game cut-scenes for my personal preference. I really admired the sort of clay animation style they were going for in the sixth episode (“All Through the House”). As far as ratings for each episode go in order from one to eight, it’d go something like: good, good, meh, meh, good, good, meh, amazing. Because that’s really all this season was — a whole lot of meh with only a few good episodes. There was just so much potential for the second season to be as amazing as the first season, but the creators really flopped.
I can easily name a few of my favourite episodes from the first season that really stuck with me and that I have mentioned a few times to my friends (like “Fish Night,” “Zima Blue,” and “Good Hunting”), but I can’t do the same with this newest season. It’s possible that I held my expectations to a higher degree for the second season than I should have. It’s not to say that it wasn’t a good season; it just didn’t have the spunk or pizzazz of the first season. There were some memorable moments like the glowing whales breaking through the ice in the second episode (“Ice”), and the creatures featured in the fifth episode (“The Tall Grass”), but I found that some episodes didn’t have enough story to be complete. I found myself wondering about certain plots in some of the episodes – and not the kind of wonder that leaves the viewer reeling and wishing for more, but the kind that left me confused. The last episode (“The Drowned Giant”), with its sense of mortality that was beautifully shared through the eyes of a gentle scientist, was honestly amazing; I just wish I felt the same way about all of the episodes.
I guess I was just expecting more from the season, considering how much they jammed into the first. I think an aspect that was missing from the second season was the use of a few comedic relief episodes. The second season had the potential to be really great, but I think it was just a bit under developed. If the creators had added in a few more episodes, it would’ve made a substantial difference and given the season the oomph it needed. For anybody that has not watched the first season yet, I recommend watching the second season first so you aren’t as disappointed as me.
