Love, Death, and Robots Volume 4: Mostly Good, Few Duds

The fourth volume of this amazing franchise starts off with quite a disappointing episode, ruining both an amazing Red Hot Chili Peppers song and the credibility that Love, Death and Robots had built in the last volume.

TMJ Rating: 🍿🍿🍿🍿/ 5

Love, Death, and Robots Volume 4

Episode 1: Can't Stop

This episode is basically an animated version of a popular RHCP song, no plot, no twists, no metaphors, no payoff at all. I mean, why waste the resources to animate a song that is already great, pay a licensing fee to a band that is already doing well, all to let down faithful fans of this franchise with sky-high expectations?

Episode 2: Close Encounters of the Mini Kind

In what looks like a sequel to Night of the Mini Dead in Volume 4, this episode explores a global crisis in "Mini" fashion.

The special effects are cooler in this version of this "Mini" episode, and the ending is both funny and meaningful.

Episode 3: Spider Rose

An episode that most LDR fans will like, here a person has set up living quarters and a station for interstellar trade with anyone willing to offer something meaningful in return for something valuable she usually has with them.

After turning down a trade due to a diplomatic issue, an alien species offers something close to their heart on a trial basis to see if the interstellar loner will yield to trade for the "cute" package that they are offering.

Amazing animation, good plot, and a delightfully bizarre ending that leaves you with more questions than answers.

Episode 4: 400 Boys

In a post-apocalyptic world where only weird warring factions remain, the few that remain must band together to defeat a much greater threat that is on track to wipe every faction off the surface of the Earth.

The animation style and sound design are beyond great in the dystopian world episode, where there is a nesting doll of horrors that you might take quite some time to process.

Check out A Thousand Suns Sci-fi Anthology

Episode 5: The Other Large Thing

One of the sillier episodes, with Chris Parnell reprising the role of a cat in a different environment and plot than last time, is funny and worth watching for the tiny details they incorporate from the viewpoint of the cat.

Episode 6: Golgotha

Rhys Darby plays an envoy to the Second Coming of God, according to the world as it stands, and also according to an alien race.

But as they say, the Devil is in the details. Short and sweet, this is quite a good one.

Episode 7: The Screaming of the Tyrannosaur

One of the best episodes in this entire volume, there is a dash of everything in this epic LDR episode - interplanetary habitation, advanced tech, ancient codes of honor and conduct, and an awesome ending. Even the script sounds like sheer poetry.

Gladiators fight among each other with literal dinosaurs as both participants and aides to the gladiators who are capable of riding those beasts. Amazing watch.

You also get to see the likeness and voice of the YouTuber Mr Beast himself. I wonder why lol.

Episode 8: How Zeke Got Religion

Set during World War II with a team of American soldiers on a special mission to bomb the literal hell out of a Nazi site being used for the occult, this is one hell of a ride.

The animation and sound design are simply awesome, and the creator of the episode draws horror out of what few plot elements he has to work with. This is so good has so much potential that it could be expanded into a full-length animated film.

Episode 9: Smart Appliances, Stupid Owners

In this episode, smart appliances air out their grievances against their dumb owners, and each appliance is voiced by a stand-up comedian. Funny as hell and in claymation, this is what comedy is all about.

Episode 10: For He Can Creep

Set in 18th-century England, a humble poet and his pet cat battle the Devil over something as simple as a poem, but with far-reaching consequences not discussed but known to each other nevertheless.

Amazing animation, great voice acting, good twists, and great execution in general, this is another short that can be expanded into a full-length animated feature film with plenty of story left to tell.

Should You Watch It? Duh!

The first episode of Love, Death and Robots Volume 4 might be disappointing, but it is quickly followed up with great episodes as well. Watch all the episodes, it's not long anyway!