Netflix Review: Love, Death & Robots Season 1

Once in a while, a brand new season comes along packing the right combination of wit, humor, horror, sex, violence, and enough science fiction twists and turns that will make you want for more till the screen tells you that that was the end of Season 1. That is what I honestly feel after the last episode of The Secret War. If one is a sure sucker for Role Play Games (RPGs), animation, mechs, robots, UFC - style plots sprinkled with a whole lot of twists of the occult, artificial intelligence (AI), time travel, love, sex, and gore...this is the right one for you!

I mean, this is not just some Animatrix mixed with a Pacific Rim plot, it is a series of episodes that has no connection to one another. Each is unique and special, making you guess as one episode expires. I have to admit that the 5-second waiting seems too long for a time since I could not wait for the next episode. Suffice it to say, the variety makes the entire Season a fruit salad best for desserts: leaving you wanting for more but often not good enough to fill your hunger. Great strategy, I must say and I just cannot wait for the Second Coming!

My Personal Picks from the 18

Me being subjective and all for this is my style for now. All of the 18 episodes are good, but there are a few which for me really stand out. My pick for the best is Sonnie's Edge, Suits, Shape-Shifters, Blindspot, and The Secret War. These episodes for me serve as bench markers for the other episodes or even possible episodes from the next seasons. Sonnie's Edge albeit a bit related to Blindspot since the end is almost the same being programmable AIs, Sonnie's Edge being the opening episode automatically stole my heart away. I was madly in love already from the start. I mean, who would not love a story about a raped lady turned arena-controlling monster warrior hunting the bad and corrupt. Although the sexuality was more than teasing, the gore and twist, in the end, will surely leave one wanting for more...but that was the catch! And the episode ends leaving you at the end asking why it was so short that it did not last long enough. This format and feeling are the same for all that I have mentioned as best episodes: The Secret War bombing scene at the end is super great for an RPG or real movie sequel; Suits makes you wonder if it was something out of a Starship Troopers franchise or was the Alien queen able to populate the planet leaving humans huddled in protective domes constantly waiting for breaches; Shape - Shifters was more of the Dog Soldiers style clip but with a little twist on how the human soldiers see the 'dogs' in the 'field;' and of course, The Secret War was more of the grander version of Hellboy movies except there was neither secret society nor Hellboy to kick the hell spawns ass and the setting was back in World War 2. All these episodes will definitely make your senses heightened especially if you want them at night, alone. I have to say that out of the 18 episodes, these five can not only be considered for a full flick but also have more viewer reactions than the others.

More than OK, but You want something more

Other episodes that have common plots are Suckers of Souls (more of the Dracula + Mummy amalgamation movie style), The Dump more of the Iron Giant style but in a morbid evil version of a robot, Helping Hand seems to be patterned after the movie Gravity, and Ice Age was more of an extended scene from the first Men In a Black movie where the locker has an entire civilization, or Orion Belt having a marble with a galaxy in it. These episodes are equally good but they have become too common among movies that watching or seeing them makes you wonder why there are short animated versions of them on Netflix.

Obvious ones you don't want to...or miss?

Now, don't get me wrong but I like the entire season..it is just that the other episodes seem to drag the time or they serve (at some point of watching their short stint) as fillers to the void. Take the case of Lucky 13. I have seen so many stories from the heydays of Bioman to Power Rangers. Heck, I believe even the flapjacks and Macros jets even have such inclusions in them. For this reason, I do not see this episode as something special but more of a short segment in another Star Wars or Star Trek movie. Alternate Histories and When The Yogurt Too is examples of witty segments but not the type which will make you interested to finish simply because there was so much talk and less action. For someone who prefers the action more than the dialogue, these two episodes are more of a drag than a treat. The same holds true for the other remaining episodes. However, the distribution of these 18 episodes is so good that you would want to watch and see what is waiting for you at the end till you realize that the season has ended.

Conclusion

While I would give the special 5 my highest scores and praises, an equal number may need some work to avoid being mere fillers for the 'void.' However, it is also important to know that, again, because the episodes have been systematically spread out nicely and there is no real connection among them, continuously watching all 18 will make you want some more. Now that is entertainment and that is what I am paying for!