Two And A Half Robots
Charming, funny and surprisingly well written, Three Robots is the second episode in Love, Death & Robots’ anthology series. It’s an episode that changes things up from the grimy underworld of monster hunting right into the comedic clutches of three robots. Out on a sightseeing expedition in a post-apocalyptic city, Three Robots takes us to a grim future where humankind is all but extinct. As the three robots at the heart of this tale navigate the concrete jungle that nature has begun to reclaim, the curious AIs puzzle over various human inventions. This results in an amusing plot development where the robots are taken aback by a rogue cat that’s taken a shining to them. As they discuss what to do next, hilarity ensues. This all builds toward another ending that subverts expectations. It turns out that cats may well have been responsible for the downfall of humankind after all and as we ponder over what this all means, hundreds of cats walk out of the shadows and surround the robots. This closes out an amusing episode on a somewhat ominous and dark note but one that still works well given the undertones of the episode. Tonally Three Robots feels very different to Sonnie’s Edge and this stark contrast works extremely well, especially off the back of that episode. The sudden shift across to comedy whilst maintaining the unexpected plot twists is really what makes this episode as good as it is. Added to that are ideas around humanity’s future and what legacy we’ll leave, all wrapped up in an episode that shies away from exposition, instead letting its visuals do the talking. All the while, allowing the humour to flow from three synthetics that interact in a surprisingly human way. There’s a fair few interesting shots here too and whilst the animation isn’t quite as photo-realistic as the previous episode, the lighting effects are top notch. There’s a lot to digest here and even more that you could pick apart. The backgrounds of each scene really tell a story of their own and from the opening establishing shot through to the closing scene with the rocket, Three Robots is a very nice episode and one of the stand-outs from this show.
