Love Death & Robots: "Bad Traveling"

 Love Death Robots: Bad Traveling 

Love Death & Robots (2019-present) is an anthology series in that every episode is created by a different animator and 2 episodes rarely share the same plot. They all follow the same dystopian style of storytelling, but each episode takes on a different idea. They cover things like aliens, sentient robots or even household items that come to life to share their grievances. They take on a sort of “What If” take to storytelling and go in depth even in such a short run time. Most episodes have a strong theme of gore, violence and sometimes nudity so viewer discretion is advised. Each episode has a run time of no longer than 30 minutes, with the shortest episode running for only 6 minutes. The episodes aren’t numbered and can in turn be watched in any order. To add to this, Netflix will play the episodes in a backwards order, unless the watcher picks a specific episode to start with. Another unique aspect of this series is that each episode opens with 3 symbols in a line that hint to the theme of the episode.




"Bad Traveling" opens with the symbols of 2 “X”’s with a skull in between. These symbols hint to the pirate-like story that is about to unfold. This episode is based on travelers sailing through a creature-ridden sea with one of the creatures in the belly of their ship. The creature specifically is a large crab-like creature that has developed a taste for human flesh. This episode is animated in a way that has very moody lighting and every shot is intentional. themes of political corruption. There is also a strong theme of body horror and violence which is made realistic due to the animation style. There is a strong use of tight spaces and intentional lighting that adds discomfort to the viewer.






“Bad Traveling” is the highest rated episode on IMDb at 8.7/10 stars. It is extremely well animated and incredibly paced. One thing I really like about Love Death Robots is the diversity of episodes and their messages. One episode could have an anti-war message or dive into giant life questions about morality, and then the next episode would just be a miniature version of the zombie apocalypse. A few other episodes are good to note or focus on. “Kill Team Kill” is a good commentary on masculinity and war machines gone rogue. “How Zeke Got Religion” is one of my personal favorites. It is set in World War 2 and battles with the idea of religion during wartime. “The Witness” follows a woman running after witnessing a murder. That episode in particular has a crazy plot twist and amazing camera work. Overall, I think that Love Death & Robots is worth checking out!