We mean it when we claim that modern sci-fi anthology shows rarely get any better than this! With its previous two seasons, Love, Death & Robots pleasantly surprised fans, and the show continues to do so for the third season.
Themes, tone, and subject matter vary considerably across the animated shorts, but one thing is constant: the surprise factor or shock value in the narrative! Yes, it’s an animated show, but the realism in some of the episodes will have you wondering if it’s live-action.
The stories include everything from gloomy futuristic worlds to combating scary alien beings and other monsters, and they cover almost every aspect of the science fiction genre. As we take you through the nine mesmerizing episodes, this video will be jam-packed with some of the most shocking and unforgettable moments from the program. Expect the unexpected and revel in the pinnacle of animation accompanied by some fantastic stories!
Witness the Variant of Cthulhu in a war-zone: In Vaulted Halls Entombed (Episode 8)
The way this episode began, we didn’t have the slightest idea about the horrors in store for us. It started off with a routine operation for a special ops team, who seemed capable and equipped enough to handle any kind of adversaries.
They are tracking a hostage taken by the terrorists, and they finally spot them at a distance, going inside a network of caves. The soldiers followed them into the cave, but they couldn’t imagine a threat greater than the terrorists inside the dark cave network.
The eerie tunnels didn’t exactly give out the happy vibes, but the first shock comes when they discover the skeletal corpses of the hostage and a few others, probably the terrorists who just walked in moments ago!
As they are wondering what could have reduced a human body to a skeleton in such a short time, they are attacked by thousands of flesh-eating spider-like creatures. A couple of them fall, and finally, the Sergeant and a feisty young lady named Harper are the only ones who escape into the inner sanctum.
The most terrifying moment in the episode comes, when they realize that the ancient cave tunnels actually have a trapped elder God, who looks surprisingly like Cthulhu. His deep golden eyes and the giant wings on its back add to the striking resemblance, and he keeps demanding to be freed from the shackles that bind him.
The elder God soon takes over the mind of the Sergeant, who tries to release him and kill his comrade Harper. She manages to save herself by stabbing him to death, but it is clear that the mind-warping powers of Cthulhu would be too much for her to handle.
She empties her magazine on the trapped Cthulhu without any results because bullets do nothing to the mighty monstrosity. Eventually, she emerges out of the cave network, and it looks like she gouged her eyes out to avoid being mind-controlled. The ending keeps you guessing, but the shock value is high for this episode, especially for the spine-chilling appearance of Cthulhu, the eldritch God!
The Curse of the Jewelry Creature and her maddening scream: Jibaro (Episode 9)
Jibaro is more of a fight between two different forms of evil – a toxic relationship that eventually ends in the loss of both. The story is about a brave knight who leads his soldiers to seek riches along the river in Puerto Rico.
They somehow awaken a mysterious lady, who is bejeweled and has the ability to emit a maddening scream powerful enough to lead people to their deaths. There is also something enchanting and addictive about her, and it seems like the other soldiers cannot resist her temptations.
Her mysterious dance moves and her screeching voice are as creepy as things get! As the soldiers fall to their deaths, the knight is not all that affected because he is deaf. The power of her high-pitched screams has no effect on him, and this seems to develop a fascination in her for the knight.
There are plenty of disturbing moments in this episode, but none are as sudden and abrupt as the moment when they embrace each other. The moment of passion is bloody and the knight knocks her unconscious and rips out the gold from her body. Just when the viewer starts expecting an unlikely romance, they see her blood pouring into the river.
It is almost like her jewelry was a part of her skin, and the parts being taken off cause her to bleed out and lose consciousness. Later, as the knight tries to get away with all the riches, he is thirsty and drinks from the river. He suddenly gains his power of hearing, thus making him vulnerable to the jewel-clad lady.
The agonizing cries and unnaturally high-pitched screams of the lady bring about his downfall – or was it his greed! The story treads into the idea of gray characters, and it is tough to root for anyone in this narrative. The surprising twists and turns, however, will keep you interested the whole time!
The non-stop slaughtering act by the genetically enhanced Grizzly Bear in Kill Team Kill: (Episode 5)
This was a classic tale of a military experiment gone wrong! The end result – a genetically engineered Grizzly bear with infinite strength, which turned on its own! The episode starts off with a Special Ops team heading out for a special mission, and you can tell things are going to get ugly when they come across the scattered bodies of dead soldiers who seem to have been butchered by a mysterious force.
The mystery is soon revealed to be the massive bear-like creature which is built like a tank, and the bullets do no damage whatsoever. Eventually, the monstrous creature is dealt with and destroyed, but not before it wipes out an entire team of soldiers!
So, what was the most shocking moment in the episode? Well, there was plenty to choose from! The first sight of the creature, the vicious attacks where it rips the victims apart and tears them in half in some cases, and the list goes on. However, the one moment that steals the show for us, would be the time when the creature pretends to be dead! Just as the surviving soldiers start to celebrate, it attacks one of them fatally, and it was one of the most unexpected scenes in the episode.
Even the climactic moment, where the explosive eye of the creature pops out and takes down the last couple of survivors, is going to be a nasty surprise! The idea of putting together a near-invincible bear-like monster that was developed as a tool to take down militants in Afghanistan was a masterstroke, and the narrative never falls short on the thrills. Overall, this was easily one of the most brutal and violent episodes with loads of blood and guts and gory twists in the plot!
The Most Dangerous and Efficient Creatures of the Galaxy: The Swarm (Episode 6)
This is space horror at its finest, and the sheer mystery and uncertainty in the narrative is enough to keep viewers on the edge of their seats. The episode begins with a human scientist named Dr. Afriel, who is seen interacting with an alien species for a certain specific knowledge that he needs for humanity. He is about to dive into the secrets of an ancient alien race, and Dr. Mirney is already there working among the creatures.
These creatures apparently lack the sensitivity and emotions of humans, but they have mastered the balance of coexisting with sufficient food sources being created by their untiring labor. The idea is to experiment with artificially made pheromones, and find a way to control the workers of the hive. Since these creatures have no emotions, they wouldn’t feel the pangs of slavery, and the plan was to gather genetic information of an alien egg and create a new queen with her own hive.
The plan backfires dramatically, and then the twists are slowly revealed! It turns out that the alien species is far smarter than what was anticipated, and they gave birth to an extremely intelligent entity called the Swarm. It was simply the activation of an ancient protocol, which happens every time the future of the species is threatened. The Swarm takes over the mind and body of Dr. Mirney, and it is used to communicate with a cornered Dr. Afriel.
This is easily the most haunting scene in the episode, and to watch the young lady transformed into something so monstrous is terrifying! Ariel is given two choices – to retain his consciousness and breed with Swarm-controlled Dr. Mirney to fight humans or be taken over just like his colleague. He remains defiant and places his hopes on the human race, but you can tell that his fate is sealed at the hands of this creepy and intelligent alien race! Moral of the story: You simply don’t mess with an alien species that survived for millions of years!
The Talking Crab and its insatiable hunger: Bad Travelling (Episode 2)
We here at Marvelous Videos are a sucker for creature-flicks, and the second episode was a treat for us with a story revolving around the flesh-eating crab monster! The plot traces the perilous journey of a shark hunting vessel back in the day, and the treacherous unknown oceans hid something utterly terrifying – a death-defying monster! It was called the Thanapod, and this giant crustacean was far too powerful for the crew of the fateful ship. It was also an intelligent creature, which struck a deal with one of the crew members, Torrin.
It demanded to be dropped off on Phaiden Island, and in return Torrin’s life would be spared during the journey. Torrin, however, had no plans to relent to the Thanapod’s plans because that would simply endanger the lives of the innocent people on the island. Meanwhile, the other crew members are not exactly compassionate, and they would do anything to get the creature off their ship.
It all boils down to a murderous showdown, and the body count keeps rising. For the shocks, we have to hail the first appearance of the Thanapod on a rainy night. It simply uses its claws and sheer power to slay a few crew members and drag the bodies under the deck into its little hideout. The scene, where the Thanapod babies are shown, with hundreds of them crawling under the deck, is equally terrifying.
The real showstopper, however, would have to be the final scene, where Torrin uses shark oil to light up the Thanapod and its numerous babies into a ball of flame. The ship explodes and he barely manages to escape the flaming ship with his life, rowing away to safety! There are a couple of twists that are sure to blow your mind, and besides the murderous mayhem, the politics among the crew also makes things interesting. Bad Travelling is among our favorites in the season, and do let us know in the comments below if you agree!
The Barren and Dead Planet, but it’s sentient: The Very Pulse of the Machine (Episode 3)
It is never wise to explore a strange alien planet without proper backup, and two astronauts learn this the hard way. Martha and Burton are out exploring the landscape in the rover and the rugged terrain has a few nasty surprises along the way. A sudden sulfur explosion erupts and it causes dangerous undulations and throws the rover off-track. Burton is killed upon impact, and Martha has an uphill task ahead of her!
She must find a way to get back to safety, which is a good 40km away, and she has to walk this huge distance with her oxygen supply getting lower by the hour. To add to her misery, she fractures her arm along the way, and the painkilling drugs start having strange hallucinating effects on her. She starts seeing things, but the real question is how much of her visions are real!
As you can imagine, it is all a recipe for a disaster, and things don’t end well for Martha, or at least her physical form. It is revealed that her co-pilot Burton continued to live after her death because her presence was assimilated into a part of the sentient planet. It tempts Martha to give up and she jumps from a cliff when the oxygen gets too low. The biggest twist actually comes in the last scene, where we see Martha communicating with Earth!
Clearly, it was not all hallucinations, and there was something strange and supernatural going on. This episode taps into the horror of the unknown, the feeling of being stranded with no hope, and the unexplained fear grips you hard as you try to embrace what just happened! Burton continuously communicating with Martha after you watch her face ripped off in the accident gives proper horror movie vibes, and the real shock in the episode is just how creepy it gets!
Killer Bots, Courageous Rats, and Humans: Mason’s Rats (Episode 7)
Mason’s Rats is probably the most bizarre episode in the entire season and the premise alone is strange enough to warrant this tag. It is the story of surprisingly intelligent rats who have the determination of a hardened soldier and the brain of a scientist. Mason is an old man who runs a farm, and he has a serious problem with the increasing number of rats in his compound.
He tries to settle the matter by himself, but after shooting a couple of rats dead he finds out that the rodents are well-prepared to deal with him. So, he turns to the experts, the masters of pest-control and rodent-control! The company delivers a super-advanced machine that shoots the rats die in the wink of an eye. The demolition act continues, but the rats soon find a way to overpower the killer bot.
This calls for a specialized version of the killer bot, and this time it seems to be far too efficient and powerful for the rats to deal with. It slaughters the rats brutally, and their bravest efforts to fight back are all in vain. However, Mason has a change of heart after watching the never-say-die attitude of the rats who keep fighting against all odds. Finally, he takes matters into his own hands and shoots the killer bot out of service.
The rats seem grateful for his help, and they put behind the bad blood between them as a truce seems to have been achieved. The most astounding moment in the episode was the second version of the killer bot and its killing methods. It would simply butcher the rats in the most gruesome ways, and the relentless killing would make you root for the rats who kept trying to find ways to defeat the machine. We loved the feel-good kind of ending and the adorable friendship that forms between Mason and the surviving rats!
Bad Night + Bad Luck = Zombie Apocalypse: Night of the Mini Dead (Episode 4)
Zombie apocalypses are hardly cute – unless you are watching a miniaturized adorable version of the proceedings! That is exactly what happens in Night of the Mini Dead, and this episode brings you the weirdest zombie breakout you have ever watched. It all starts when a young couple indulges in a passionate night of lovemaking in a graveyard. Some kind of curse is unleashed, and the dead come back to life and go on a rampage. It soon expands into the outside world, and cities start falling one after another.
The military might of the world is unable to contain the insane zombie attack, and eventually, we see the White House fall before the zombie horde. However, the President decides to take out the zombies as well and launches too many nuclear missiles together. It probably brings retaliation from some other countries, and the final moments show the world blown up in a flash of light!
We were dumbfounded by how quickly things unfolded in this episode. The super-fast turn of events meant that the whole thing was a shock that you never recover from. It is fun to watch, but the end of the world can only be funny to an extent! What we found particularly unnerving about this episode, was the realization that the destruction of the Earth meant nothing for the universe.
The last scene actually shows a view of the Milky Way galaxy, and it is only a tiny dot of flash that goes off signaling the end of our planet. Never before has watching a zombie flick made us feel such deep philosophical thoughts, and hats off to the makers for the remarkable presentation!
The Obvious death of obnoxious humans: Exit Strategy (Episode 1)
The first episode of the third season may actually have the least amount of surprises and shocks for you. But make no mistake the overall theme is grim and depressing enough to leave a strong impact. We are told the story of three robots exploring a post-apocalyptic world, where humans have become a thing of the past! Those who have watched the first season of Love, Death & Robots will remember this one because it started off the season back then.
The same robots are shown continuing their exploration, and this time they discover more about the reasons that drove humanity to extinction. The selfishness, economic division, and complete disregard for the environment in humans are cited as some of the reasons, and it is one of those episodes that try to mask the gloomy theme with some well-placed humor.
As we said, the shock value might be minimal here because there is no in-your-face kind of twist here. You will realize the true horror of this episode when you start to comprehend how real the apocalyptic situation actually is. Everything that the robots say about the humans and the way they ended is a bit too close to reality for comfort! Watching the robots discuss stuff that might be coming true in the future is a true horror show, and the light humor in the narrative hardly softens the blow! Oh yes, there is one genuine surprise when you see that a talking cat has reached Mars as a part of the exit strategy of humans!
Overall, we have to say that we were mightily impressed by the rich quality of content. Every episode had something special to offer, and you can be sure that this show is going to fetch quite a few awards. It is visually stunning, and the stories are as thought-provoking as they are entertaining. It is rare to watch a show so intelligently made, and we strongly recommend Love, Death & Robots for all you sci-fi and horror fans out there!