14 Best Love, Death & Robots Episodes Ranked

The journey that led to the production of "Love, Death, and Robots" is almost as fascinating as the program itself. It involves Hollywood's gradual evolution, grudges, and a rare resurrection of a project from development hell. in the late 2000s, David Fincher teamed up with Tim Miller, the eventual "Deadpool" director, to adapt the 1981 Canadian adult animated picture "Heavy Metal." The pair planned to break the film into short segments directed by other directors. However, none of this happened until Netflix took it up, altered the title to "Love, Death, and Robots," and turned it into a series.

According to an interview with David Fincher published by The New York Times, Tim Miller has collected almost 350 short stories to convert into animation. Each episode features a fresh animation style and a new story world. Fincher's essential contribution was his desire to break away from the predictability of half-hour comedies and hour-long dramas. As you progress through the episodes, you never quite know what you're going to get next.

To their credit, Netflix opted to embrace the loose structure and show the episodes non-chronologically on their site. The show's anthological structure worked wonderfully because each episode might appeal to a different audience based on their preferences. However, to rank the top episodes, we will only consider those with at least a rating of 7 on IMDb.

It's Christmas Eve in "All Through the House," and Leah is awakened by the noises of Santa Claus moving around in the basement. Excited, she wakes up her brother Billy so they can both go downstairs to see their secret gift giver. They sneak into the hallway, go down the stairs, and slip behind the sofas, remaining as silent as possible. At last, they catch a glimpse of his shadow behind the Christmas tree, which looks eerily like Santa Claus. However, when the creature emerges, the kids are shocked to discover that it looks more like the xenomorph from the movie "Alien" than what we all envision of Santa.

Leah and Billy try to return to their room without alerting the frightening-looking creature, but they make too much noise, and the creature notices them. The creature approaches them threateningly and pins them against a wall. It then begins to scrutinize their faces, and he murmurs "good" and gives them their Christmas gifts. Later, Billy wonders what would have happened if the monster had considered them bad.

Despite all the proof that the visitor is Santa, he simply seems different. The audience and the characters fear something considerably more sinister is at work right up to the end.

In "Ice Age," Rob and Gail move into a New York apartment and notice an old refrigerator while moving. Rob tells Gail that he likes these antique refrigerators because of how they were made. When they decide to unwind with a cool beverage, Rob takes an ice cube from the fridge upon which he finds a little mammoth. When they investigate the refrigerator, they uncover a lost civilization within.

They discover that this civilization is growing far faster than our own. The tiny world catches up with modern society in a matter of minutes, but that's when things start to spiral out of control. Nuclear war breaks out, exploding in Rob's face. Gail then suggests they close the fridge and give society time to work out their issues. They later open the refrigerator again and realize that society has developed far beyond our own, at which point it transforms into a singular energy and vanishes into thin air. Rob flicks off the refrigerator, believing it is the end of that civilization. However, the next morning, they discover another culture has begun forming within the refrigerator.

Looking at people through such voyeuristic eyes is both exciting and terrifying. While it is uncertain why we go to war, it is abundantly clear how damaging it is. Additionally, it demonstrates how some facets of how our own lives are both under our control and entirely outside of it.

Three robots walk through a post-apocalyptic wasteland, exchanging humorous banter as they try to figure out human civilization and what ultimately led to their demise. They examine human technology and make jokes about the end of civilization, claiming that it was finally brought about by our failure to address the climate catastrophe.

However, it turns out that the choice to give cats opposable thumbs expedited human extinction. A cat they discover during their exploration begins to follow them and speaks in a very assertive cadence, claiming that the cats hastened human extinction using tools such as nuclear weapons, climate change, and environmental calamities. The cat demands to be petted, and the three robots agree to stay on Earth a little longer.

"Three Robots" is the only episode of the series that has spawned a sequel, and with good reason. No other episode addresses humans' self-destructive actions as explicitly as this one does. From our politics to our technology, all of humanity's ideas are presented as harmful to us in some manner.

In "Pop Squad," Briggs, a cop from the future, makes an arrest. The house is dingy and poorly lit, implying that it contains low-income residents. Briggs notes that the home's owner has devised novel ways to care for newborns. Briggs then takes several children from house and shoots them.

Briggs' world is filled with immortal humans, but breeding is forbidden since there isn't enough room for new people. Humans have lost touch with their humanity after living for so long. However, Briggs begins to experience a crisis of consciousness, which eventually leads him to discover another woman who has unlawfully had a child. When he questions why she had a kid, she simply says that her daughter makes life worthwhile. Their mutual distrust leads to a brawl, and Briggs chooses to flee rather than take either of their lives. 

However, he finds his partner waiting outside, and the two have a gunfight in which they both die, with Briggs having finally done something selfless by protecting the woman and her child.

Lieutenant Zakharov leads a troop of soldiers into Siberia to monitor a village infested with monsters. The platoon then follows the path the monsters have taken, fights a few of them, observes another platoon battle them from afar, and even figures out where the creators originated.

Soon, the platoon finds itself in a full-fledged battle with the creatures. Zakharov orders his son to flee with the coordinates of their location and all the information they have obtained. He then requests that air support bombs the creatures so that everyone else is safe, even if it means sacrificing their own lives. The creatures annihilate the soldiers, leaving none alive before Soviet aircraft destroy all of the creatures.

"The Secret War" explores the nature of sacrifice and gives the viewer a front-row seat to witness what some individuals are willing to give up for the broader benefit of humanity.

In early twentieth-century China, Liang and Yan meet by coincidence. When Liang's father, a human, goes looking for Yan's mother, a Huli Jing (a shapeshifting fox-like creature), Liang and Yan argue, prompting Liang's father to capture and murder Yan's mother. Liang assists Yan in escaping when he assures his father that Yan's mother had no puppies. Years later Liang goes to an industrialized Hong Kong and maintains contact with Yan.

However, industrialization has severely limited Yan's abilities, and she can no longer shapeshift, which prevents her from hunting. Instead, she uses her beauty to entice men to do her bidding. This enrages Liang, as this type of behavior is what caused their disagreement years ago. Liang thought this was why Huli Jings were so reviled; they bewitch men. However, Liang soon realizes that the men are the ones who are taking advantage of Yan. Following a series of unfortunate incidents, Liang and Yan decide to transform her into a mechanical Huli Jing, but instead of hunting for food, she pursues people who victimize women.

"Good Hunting" looks at technological advancements impact our lives. In the episode, technology is shown to be able to be used for good or for evil — it all depends on who is using it.

A reporter is invited to Zima Blue's island to interview the reclusive artist, who hasn't had direct contact with the press in over a century. Over time, his work has come to defy all expectations. Zima Bluer began by creating billboard-sized blue murals that have now reached a size that is celestial in scale. His enigmatic personality adds to the universal acclaim and adoration for his art. Nobody knows where he comes from, although it is revealed that he started in portraiture.

Zima Blue assures the reporter that most of the stories told about him are false. He informs her that he is not a man but was initially created to be a pool cleaning robot. His creator tweaked him when she needed to make other robots, and he has been passed down from owner to owner, each of whom has added their own unique tweak until he finally became sentient. He then tells her that the company's blue tile for pools is called Zima Blue and that his final artistic performance would be to convert back into a pool-cleaning robot.

"Zima Blue" delves into self-actualization and explores how no creative activity or accolades ever made Zima feel complete. Instead, he finally finds genuine satisfaction after recognizing his true essence in one of the best episodes of "Love, Death & Robots."