It's primarily for entertainment but different people have different reasons why they have a Netflix subscription. I have one because, well, I review film and TV shows.
The other reason, the one that is relevant to what we are discussing today, is Love, Death & Robots. It’s one of the few shows that feels like it was made for creatives. It doesn’t follow the usual playbook. It’s short, strange, and it moves how it wants. Volume 4 doesn’t change that. It just keeps doing what it’s always done, and that’s a good thing.
If you’ve never watched it, Love, Death & Robots is an adult animated anthology. It was created by Tim Miller and David Fincher, produced by Blur Studio, and made with different studios around the world.
Every episode is a standalone story that leans into sci-fi, horror, comedy, or fantasy. Sometimes all of them at once. Most of the episodes are adapted from short stories, and Philip Gelatt does a lot of the writing or adapting.
Volume 4 keeps the same setup: different art styles, different tones, different runtimes. Some episodes are just five minutes long, some go deeper. One is basically a music video. There’s stop motion, 2D, 3D, puppets and a bit of live action, whatever fits the story. It’s all in.
My favourite episode this time? How Zeke got religion. It’s a WWII horror story that takes place in a plane and it is bonkers. The animation is colourful, but don't be fooled, what happens isn’t. It’s short, contained, and messed up in a good way. I still put Zima Blue from Volume 1 at the top, but this one comes close.
There’s also an episode where the messiah is a dolphin. Sounds like a joke, but it actually works within the scope of the story they tell. That’s kind of the point of this show. It pushes past what you expect.
Sometimes it’s smart, sometimes it’s absurd, but it always feels like the creators had full control, I mean you have another episode where cats fight the devil and a post-apocalyptic episode thanks to giant babies, they are crazy ideas, but they all make for an entertaining watch.
Here is my ranking for Volume 4, starting from best to what I thought was the weakest, How Zeke Got Religion, 400 Boys, Close Encounters of the Mini Kind, The Other Large Thing, Golgotha, Smart Appliances Stupid Owners, Can't Stop, For He Can Creep, The Screaming of the Tyrannosaur, and Spider Rose.
Nitpicks
Why haven't we seen an episode set in Africa with African creatives, to be specific, Avandu studio? I look at their work, and it is perfectly designed for the look and absurdity of the show.
The second thing, we only got 10 episodes. Some of them are too short, it would have made more sense to have this season at 16 episodes.
This isn’t a show you binge casually. It’s better in small doses. And yeah, don’t watch it with children around. It’s violent, raw, and doesn’t hold back.
If you’re into animation or storytelling that doesn’t play it safe, this one’s still worth your time. If you are new to the whole thing, start from Volume 1, get the tone, then work your way up.
