Netflix has been having a pretty awful time as of late, with its subscriber numbers plummeting, its shows being cancelled, its content being stripped away by fierce rivals, and hundreds of its staff being laid off.
Which is why Netflix executives will be pleased to see its new R-rated (18+, TV-MA) TV show series Love, Death + Robots: Volume 3 has launched to excellent critical acclaim, with the series currently sitting on a perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes score in June 2022.
"That thing about third times being the charm is true, for Volume 3 of Love, Death & Robots is the best of them all," writes critic Nguyên Lê of The Spool, while Andrew Webster of The Verge says Volume 3 is "arguably the strongest collection yet: nine genre shorts without a weak link among them".
The praise for Love, Death + Robots: Volume 3 doesn't end there, either, with Johnny Loftus of Decider stating that the series is, "full of rich imagination, smart details, and a refreshing lack of restraint, in both its visuals and language." While Collier Jennings of But Why Tho? A Geek Community says that the show, "continues to push the boundaries of animated anthologies".
From my point of view, what's most interesting about Love, Death + Robots is that it seems to have got better as each season has gone on. Series one of the show has a 77% Rotten Tomatoes rating, while season two has a 80% score – then the third season has just dropped and bagged a 100% score.
You do get these slow-to-wind-up sleeper hits every now and then, but it is quite rare as most shows launch out of the gate with their best material and then subsequent seasons see the quality drop off. It seems here, though, that the makers of Love, Death + Robots have kept polishing the show's initial premise (anthology short stories that lean, in general, toward sci-fi, horror and action) and refining it so that it is delivering better results the longer it goes on.
For me, I also think this is the sort of content Netflix needs to be producing more of – shows with interesting or unique premises that don't cost the Earth to make. Each episode of Stranger Things Season 4 has been reported as costing $30 million to make, which over the course of a full seasons is a dump truck load of dollars to plump up – and while that show is good, I'd much prefer a lot more shows produced for the same spend that deliver what Love, Death + Robots does.
Which is great news for Netflix, and for those still with a subscription to the streaming service, as all three seasons (including the brand new Volume 3) are available to stream right now.
