LOVE DEATH + ROBOTS: Volume 4 – More murders, mechs, and probably one sentient toaster (trailer).
Here at SFcrowsnest, we’ve learned never to trust the trailer for Love, Death + Robots. Not because it lies—but because it tells you absolutely nothing and still makes your brain feel like it’s been chewed on by a cybernetic weasel wearing a monocle. And now, with the trailer for Volume 4 out in the wild and looking slicker than a replicant’s oil change, we’re back to wondering: just how bonkers is this next batch going to be?
For those who’ve wisely been bingeing instead of doomscrolling, LD+R has always been Netflix’s mad little sci-fi R&D lab—where rules are for breaking, art styles change like weather patterns, and every episode feels like the lovechild of Philip K. Dick and an AI that’s spent too long on Reddit.
So, what can we expect from Volume 4? Absolutely no one’s saying anything, but if the past is any indicator, here’s what might be bubbling in the animation cauldron…
1. Robots Being Delightfully Rubbish at Humanity
The trio of sassbot explorers from “Three Robots” have become something of a recurring mascot for the series. Will they return once more to mock the ashes of human civilisation? Probably. Let’s hope they find a museum dedicated entirely to crypto bros this time.
2. Art Styles You Could Hang in a Gallery… If They Weren’t Drenched in Gore
Past seasons have given us everything from photorealistic space horror to pastel-painted cat gods. Volume 4 looks to be pushing the visual bar even further. One scene in the trailer looked like Goya if he discovered Blender, while another resembled an episode of He-Man directed by David Cronenberg. All very promising.
3. Cybernetic Violence with Existential Dread on the Side
You can’t spell Love, Death + Robots without at least one sentient war machine asking why it was programmed to feel sadness while incinerating villagers. Expect a healthy helping of killer tech gone rogue, rogue tech becoming sentient, and sentient tech joining a dance troupe to understand beauty.
4. Sexy, Weird, and Uncomfortably Philosophical
This is still the only show where you might get a heartfelt meditation on mortality immediately followed by a mutant crab rave. Some episodes will be profoundly moving. Others will involve tentacles. Some will involve both. It’s best not to overthink it.
5. Tim Miller and David Fincher’s Ongoing Plot to Break Your Brain
The series’ co-creators show no sign of calming down. Fincher gave us “Bad Travelling” last time, complete with intelligent crustaceans and mutiny. Could he go full Lovecraft this season? Or, better yet, Victorian gentlemen hunting time-travelling werewolves through steampunk London? (Netflix, you have our email.)
6. Animation Studios Trying to One-Up Each Other
One of the unspoken joys of the show is watching animators basically show off: “Oh, your episode was set on Mars? Ours takes place in a black hole that dreams. In real time. Using fractal rendering.” It’s an arms race of visual ambition—and we all win.
7. Love, Possibly. Death, Definitely. Robots? Absolutely.
Some episodes will be sweet. Some will be tragic. At least one will contain a massive, heavily armed mech with feelings. Possibly romantic feelings. Who are we to judge? Volume 4 looks like it’s doubling down on what makes this anthology so gloriously unpredictable: style, smarts, surrealism, and the constant risk that you’ll fall in love with a character seconds before they’re devoured by a bioluminescent nightmare from another timeline. So charge your nanites, prepare your eyeballs, and maybe keep a therapy droid on standby. Love, Death + Robots is back—and it’s still the most beautiful way to question your place in the universe for 12 chaotic minutes at a time.
