Season 2

Season 2 also known as Volume 2, of Netflix's American adult animated anthology streaming television series of Love, Death & Robots (stylized as LOVE DEATH + ROBOTS, and represented in emoji form as ❤️☠️🤖). It was released on May 14, 2021.^[1]

Synopsis[]

SYNOPSIS LOVE, DEATH + ROBOTS is a blast of the future with its roots deep in the past. Show creator Tim Miller teamed up with director David Fincher after years of wanting to make adult animated features and short films at his animation house Blur Studio. When his directorial debut DEADPOOL hit big, they saw their opportunity and the anthology series found a natural home at Netflix. “We couldn’t have been happier at the response to the show,” recalls Miller, of the excitement around season one and the appetite for more. “It was exactly the kind of passionate reception from animation fans David and I hoped for, but for many long years had been told wouldn’t happen.” For season two Miller was joined by Jennifer Yuh Nelson as Supervising Director. The Oscar-nominated director has vast animation experience – having worked in the industry for years and helmed Kung Fu Panda 2 and 3. Together they sought talented and diverse animation directors from around the world, for a blend of styles and stories ranging from violent comedy to existential philosophy. “It’s a tonal and stylistic Jenga game,” says Jennifer Yuh Nelson, “Trying to figure out which director might best handle what story.”

Cast[]

Episodes[]

No. in series	No. in season	Episode title	Directed by	Adapted script by	Based on the story by	Animation studio(s)	Original airdate	Durations
19	1	Automated Customer Service	Meat Dept (Kevin Dan Ver Meiren, David Nicolas, Laurent Nicolas)	TBA	John Scalzi	Atoll Studio	May 14, 2021	13 minutes
20	2	Ice	Robert Valley	TBA	Rich Larson	Passion Animation Studios	May 14, 2021	13 minutes
21	3	Pop Squad	Jennifer Yuh Nelson	TBA	Paolo Bacigalupi	Blur Studio	May 14, 2021	18 minutes
22	4	Snow in the Desert	Leon Berelle, Dominique Boidin, Remi Kozyra, Maxime Luere	TBA	Neal Asher	Unit Image	May 14, 2021	18 minutes
23	5	The Tall Grass	Simon Otto	TBA	Joe Lansdale	Axis Animation	May 14, 2021	11 minutes
24	6	All Through the House	Elliot Dear	TBA	Joachim Heijndermans	Blink Industries	May 14, 2021	7 minutes
25	7	Life Hutch	Alex Beaty	TBA	Harlan Ellison	Blur Studio	May 14, 2021	14 minutes
26	8	The Drowned Giant	Tim Miller	TBA	J.G. Ballard	Blur Studio	May 14, 2021	14 minutes

Production[]

Development[]

On June 10, 2019 Netflix renewed the series for an eight-episode second season.^[2]

Writing[]

Love, Death and Robots Volume 2 will incorporates a blend of animators, a significant number of whom are notable in Hollywood. Tim Miller’s activity workshop, Blur Studio, is assuming responsibility for three of the season’s eight shorts. The principal scene, “Pop Squad,” will be coordinated by Jennifer Yuh Nelson, most popular for her work on the Kung Fu Panda films. The subsequent episode, “Life Hutch,” was likewise coordinated by a Blur Studio veteran, Alex Beaty, who worked in the liveliness office for Kung Fu Panda 3 and the Deadpool film. Mill operator himself is coordinating the episode “The Drowned Giant.” Most of the Blur Studio’s work has a hyper-practical style that was displayed in the Love, Death and Robots season 1 episode “Sonnie's Edge” and the other episode “Shape-Shifters.” The season 2 trailer showed traces of that equivalent style, with close-ups of the characters from Blur Studio showing each pore and wrinkle in their skin.

Another returning craftsman is Robert Valley, who coordinated the episode “Zima Blue.” Valley has a particular two-dimensional movement style described by straight edges, rakish shapes, and squares of shading. An activity group comprised of Leon Berelle, Dominique Boidin, Remi Kozyra, and Maxime Luere will likewise be returning for season 2. The group coordinated the episode “Beyond the Aquila Rift,” an amazing nitty-gritty short that prompts somewhat of an uncanny valley reaction in watchers.^[3]

Trivia[]

Not all the icons in Love, Death and Robots are static. Many of the images shift or change during the few seconds that they're shown on screen, reflecting the importance of animation in the series. In season 2, three episodes have unchanging symbols — "Snow in the Desert," "Pop Squad" and "The Drowned Giant." The "Snow in the Desert" icons are a strawberry, a symbol of the fertile Earth that Snow remembers (and the strawberry he eats); a large "X" identical to the "death" symbol in the series logo, foreshadowing the multiple deaths in the episode; and an upside-down heart with two dots, perhaps indicating the unexpected romantic connection between Snow and Hirald.^[4]
The "Pop Squad" icons are more specific. The dilated eye is an image that appears in the episode, a visual representation of the immortality most characters attain through advanced medicine. The hat is a reference to Detective Briggs and more specifically, his role as a rogue detective. The style is reminiscent of film noir, a genre where tough, dysfunctional detectives often rebel against a corrupt law enforcement system to do the right thing, as Briggs does in "Pop Squad." His death wish and his ultimate end also fit the genre.^[4]
The last icon shows a stuffed dinosaur which, in the short, is a reoccurring symbol of childhood innocence that haunts Briggs. The icons that appear before "The Drowned Giant" are a little more straightforward. The skull with x's for eyes represents the death of the giant, while bones literally appear in the episode after the giant decomposes. The short ends with the image of a gigantic phallus in a tent — not subtle, but lighthearted.^[4]
The remaining five episodes of Love, Death and Robots season 2 include animated icons. Before "Automated Customer Service," a robot icon vacuums the sunglasses off the iconographic head next to it, foreshadowing Vacuubot's quest to purge a house of all living things. A cactus represents the Western retirement community in which the short is set. The three icons for "All Through the House" include a Christmas tree with ornaments that rearrange into a face, hinting at the surprising and horrifying creature awaiting two children after they sneak downstairs to catch Santa. An image of a wrapped present represents the reward for good girls and boys the short centers on, while a droplet of sweat or possibly blood adds an element of horror.^[4]
The "Life Hutch" icons provide the most hints to the events of the short, with a hand that starts whole and ends with two broken fingers, warning of the bloody fight awaiting a grounded pilot. An asteroid represents the intergalactic space war that acts as a backdrop for the short, and a flashlight depicts the basic tool that ultimately becomes critical for the pilot's survival.^[4]
In an unusual title card, the three icons for "The Tall Grass" are all the same (similar to the icons used for the season 1 short, "Zima Blue") — patches of tall grass animated to sway. The identical icons are an appropriate representation of the Love, Death and Robots short, where the tall grass is prominently featured as a setting, symbol of rurality and home for hidden horrors.^[4]
"Ice" has the icons most loosely connected to the story — a hand flipping the bird that is one of the final images of the short, an ice cube and a pipe with smoke coming out, the drug of choice for modded teenagers.^[4]