Snow In The Desert
Snow in the Desert begins the latest episode of Love, Death & Robots with a lone wanderer called Snow walking through this barren, choked desert. Water is in short supply and this man is a wanted fugitive. Hiding out at a local bar, Snow surveys his surroundings. It doesn’t take long before a group of bounty hunters show up, hired by a merchant named Baris. Snow is challenged by this trio, eventually managing to kill two while the third, a shotgun-wielding man, is bested by a woman named Hirald who shows up to lend a helping hand. Snow offers his hand as a sign of friendship – the one that hasn’t been severed – and they head out into the wilderness. As day breaks, they hide inside a day tent, which is there to protect them from the worst of the heat. During the night, the pair take off on the move again. It turns out Snow has regenerative properties and this is why the bounty hunters are after his testicles. Hirald works for Earth Central Intelligence and she knows all about him. They want the same thing the hunters do but given they’re controlled by AI, Snow is distrusting. Still, he shows her the base he’s se up for himself complete with water and food. He even has a box of strawberries. It’s unknown how long Snow has been alive but it seems at least several centuries – one of which ending painfully with the death of his wife after she grew old. After sleeping together, Hirald awakens to find the bed empty and Snow gone. He’s well-aware Baris has launched an offensive team against him and begins taking them out, one at a time. Hirald jumps in to help but takes a bullet to the face for her troubles. Eventually it comes down to Baris and Snow. However, Hirald stands back up as it’s revealed that she’s actually a synthetic AI. The gunshot to the face simply peeled away the human skin to show her synthetic parts. After Baris is taken care of, she reveals that she has a mostly human brain and it seems she was reconstructed with the human side still intact. Snow has someone to live with after all, although the bounty hunting doesn’t look like it’s over any time soon.
The Episode Review
Snow in the Desert is a really cleverly written episode, one that takes clear inspiration from The Mandalorian but manages to create a living, breathing world complete with immortals who can regenerate and live forever. Scientists and other hunters would inevitably want Snow’s DNA to try and replicate this formula, which makes sense as to why he’s a wanted man. The reveal about Hirald though is a really nice touch. There’s a sense of poetic justice at the end, with Snow now able to finally live with someone else who can share this immortal life with him. However, it’s still unknown exactly how long Snow has been alive and what he did to make him a wanted man in the first place. This only adds to the allure and intrigue of the episode though, with more photorealistic animation bleeding through too. Either way, Love, Death & Robots continues to deliver the goods here.
