Now that Netflix has announced that has been renewed for a fourth season, relieved LDR fans on Reddit are exhilarated and full of suggestions. When two wildly creative filmmakers like David Fincher (Fight Club) and Tim Miller (Deadpool) team up to create an animated science-fiction anthology series, one would expect some wild, cutting-edge stuff.
Showcasing different directors and animation styles in every episode, Love, Death & Robots is designed to celebrate animation as art and update a lot of classic science-fiction themes and ideas along the way. It's NSFW from time to time because the show narratives and visuals often showcase monsters, violence and dark comedy.
Bring On More Stories By Classic Sci-Fi Writers
Having already mined short stories by Alastair Reynolds, Peter F. Hamilton and John Scalzi, the stage is wide open for Love, Death and Robots to tackle more classics, which seem to vibe better with the anthology's overall attitude than the newer stuff.
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Thrilled by the show's willingness to readapt older stories, Redditor Neo2119 suggests the producers look to more sci-fi greats including, "Asimov, David Brin, Larry Niven, Kurt Vonnegut & many others." Isaac Asimov (Foundation series) in particular was interested in AI and robotics, penning stories including "I, Robot," "The Robots of Dawn" and "Robot Dreams."
"Bad Traveling" Is The Best Episode Of All!
"Bad Traveling," an episode from Volume 3, involves the crew of a sailing ship who have been taken hostage by a giant man-eating crab (Thanopod), one of Love, Death and Robots' most terrifying creatures thus far. The Thanopod demands the sailors transport him to a smorgasbord (an island full of unsuspecting people).
Lots of Redditors agree with user nahdawgeatmyass that "Bad Traveling was just absolutely amazing." There's a lot going on in this rather bloody episode, from the ethical and strategic decision-making of the captain, who has to keep the Thanopod fed during the journey, and the unnatural intelligence of the monster itself.
Surviving The Corporate Axe
"Good to see they didn't axe this with the animation cuts," says Redditor TheRain911, referring to Netflix's current round of cancellations that chopped some of its animated series.
While their animated show ledger was thinned, Netflix only discontinued projects that were in-house programs of its own animation studios (IGN). 3rd party productions, including Blur Studio's Love, Death and Robots, emerged unscathed. Having entertainment industry powerhouses like Fincher and Miller at the helm surely added extra armor to the series' durability as well.
The Twilight Zone of The Modern Era
"It’s a Twilight Zone for the modern era if it keeps going this well," Reddit user Blu3sku1L states. It's always dangerous to compare a modern show to a legendary classic like the original Twilight Zone that has a long, established history of influencing many TV shows that followed it.
There's no doubt that Love, Death and Robots presents some of the worst dystopian worlds viewers have seen in a while, but loyal acolytes of the show do see their beloved series through rose-colored glasses. Yet, this is the kind of fandom that keeps a show's heartbeat viable in terms of viewership, and who knows?
The Four Types Of LDR Episodes, From Great To Immature
Despite their love for Love, Death and Robots, many fans on Reddit are willing to acknowledge that every episode in an anthology isn't going to be everybody's cup of tea, and they're not all going to be great, either.
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According to Reddit user NoNefariousness2144, "There are four types of episode in this show." This list includes, 1) episodes that are amazing and interesting with deep themes, 2) episodes that fall short of amazing and interesting, 3) cute but forgettable and 4) terrible and immature. All agree that the episodes on level 1 are brilliant.
Hoping Season 4 Will Keep Up The Good Work
Nothing frightens show fans more than the prospect of a lousy new season that would cause disappointment, waste their time and cast a shadow over the great installments that came before.
"Fantastic news!" shouts Redditor donuteater111, "Hopefully it will be on par with season 1 and 3 (though I still really liked season 2)." Short film anthology shows are always going to have a hit-or-miss aspect to them due to the quantity and eccentricity of the stories they produce, and Love, Death and Robots' best episodes are stellar. Plus, it's unlikely that Fincher, Miller, and company have run out of ideas for season 4.
Love The Three Robots!
First appearing in LDR Volume 1, episode 2, "Three Robots," the story follows a trio of robots as they explore the ruins of a long-extinct human city. Based on a short story by the ever-irreverent sci-fi author Jon Scalzi, the goofy robots reappear in Volume 3 in "Three Robots: Exit Strategies."
"The Three Robots shorts are my favorite!" comments Reddit user AstraCraftPurple. Judging by the overall response, Redditors seem to either love or hate the Three Robot shorts, but cat-lovers appeared to tip the balance to favorable. The silly antics of K-VRC, XBOT 4000, and 11-45-G do supply a humorous break from a lot of serious, bloody, scary and sometimes R-rated material in the other episodes, and the three droids do make the Love, Death and Robots best characters list.
Hoping For More Expectation-Twisting
Film shorts are notorious for bizarre or unpredictable endings, and if anything, Love, Death and Robots hasn't hit that button hard enough. Anthology fans love a good, dark, turn of the screw.
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"Subvert our expectations by having an army unit stumble upon an ancient eldritch horror," offers Redditor cairoxl5, "but they have a good time and learn something positive about themselves." The narrative opportunities for animated shorts have almost no boundaries, so Love, Death and Robots can subvert and twist conventional plots until hell freezes over, which might be a good story idea in itself.
Please, Sir, May I Have Some More?
Few bits of entertainment news thrill fan bases more than the joyous announcement of a new season, while news of cancellation results in throes of anger, disappointment, and loss.
"I hope they have many more seasons," exults Reddit user BlankImagination, "Love, Death & Robots had me hooked from the first episode." This is the kind of fan response TV executives love to hear. Between the loyalty of the fans and the assumed desire of Fincher and Miller to continue, this may have been an easy call for Blur Studios and Netflix.
Great Show, But Fewer Soldiers Vs. Ancient Evils Would Be Good, Too
From Aliens to Starship Troopers to Predator, science-fiction action shows have long loved the idea of the best versus the best, as in the elite human soldiers duke it out with ominous, apparently-unstoppable alien foes.
Reddit User yrrosimyarin loves the show, but hopes "... we're done with 'modern military unit stumbles into an ancient evil' plot lines for next season." When producers make an anthology show about robots you do have to expect things to get pretty trope-y from time to time. It's very likely the creatives have noticed their dependency on particular plots and fans should expect some new story directions in season 4.
NEXT: The 10 Best Anthology Series as good as Love, Death and Robots on Netflix
