By Brandon Labecki, Current Staff
The third season of “Love, Death + Robots” offers more of the eye-dropping visual wonders of the previous seasons, with as many odd, compellingly quick-witted and grim stories as the episodes preceding it.
From stunning 3-D realism to heavily 2-D stylized artwork, the anthology series sticks to its name and more for curious audiences as nearly every episode is a mystery of what to expect: episodes are by turns heart-wrenching, thought-provoking, disturbing, brimming with slapstick, or filled with gore comedy. The possibilities are endless and the series makes full use of that fact.
Every season, however, has extreme highs, mediocre watches and lows because of this experimental presentation. Some of the best the show has to offer this season may be the episodes “Bad Traveling” and “Mason’s Rats.”
“Bad Traveling” explores a sea-faring crew and their dilemma related to following the ominous orders from a giant creature stowed aboard their ship. Although slower in pace, the tension on the crew and with their chances of making choices slowly running out, the episode easily holds attention with a chilling atmosphere.
“Mason’s Rats” switches things up. Instead of suspense and disturbing imagery, this episode matches gore to a highly absurd comedic outlook as it concerns an older farmer in the distant future signing onto the latest technology to take care of a rat infestation on his property. Using a more stylized aesthetic to match the tone, “Mason’s Rats” blends child-like sci-fi fantasy elements with real-life consequences of death and mayhem, making it the perfect storm to watch.
Other standout episodes include “In Vaulted Halls Entombed” and “The Very Pulse of the Machine,” each utilizing their respective animation styles to the best of their abilities along with stories that only get better upon rewatches.
The third season of “Love, Death + Robots” was released May 20 and is available for streaming on Netflix.
(Images are official publicity material.)
The West Bend Current 