Love, Death + Robots season 3 episode 2 review: David Fincher's stunning animation debut is the highlight of the season

Netflix's highly anticipated animated sci-fi anthology, Love, Death + Robots Volume 3 premiered on the platform on May 20, 2022. The season consists of 9 episodes, one of which is directed by executive producer David Fincher, who made his animation directorial debut.

Titled Bad Travelling, the episode revolves around a group of passengers on a ship, led by a sailor named Torrin. The official synopsis of the episode on Netflix reads:

''Release the Thanapod! A ship's crew member sailing an alien ocean strikes a deal with a ravenou monster of the deep.''

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Love, Death + Robots Season 3 Episode 2 recap and review

Recap

The crew members of a jable shark-hunting ship decide to send the sailor, Torrin, below decks to negotiate with a monstrous crab-like creature called Thanapod. Torrin asks Thanapod to give him the key to a box that contains a pistol with which he can threaten the other passengers on the ship who voted for him to be sent below decks.

After gaining access to the pistol, Torrin feeds the hulk-like man, who chose Torrin to be sent belowdecks, to the Thanapod. He later discusses with the other passengers the demands of the creature. The Thanapod needs to go to the Phaiden Island, which is highly populated. The situation poses a moral dilemma and Torrin suggests to the other crew members that they deceive the creature and drop it off on an uninhabited island so that thousands of innocent lives are protected. When two passengers vote against this, Torrin kills them and feeds them to the creature so that its hunger is satiated for a while.

Later that night, the crew members decide to kill Torrin, who, anticipating the betrayal, murders them all. The ship is now left with another man, hidden in a chest. Torrin uses his help to dump the dead bodies below decks for the creature and its children to eat. Later, he kills the survivor and escapes the ship before spilling the jable shark's oil all over the Thanapod's room and setting it on fire.

Review

Bad Travelling is by far the most disturbing episode of the season. In his animation debut, David Fincher displays remarkable control and maintains relentless tension throughout. The writing is quite strong and the moral ambiguity at play makes the episode infinitely more interesting.

The quality of the animation is top-notch, with the visuals creating an aura of dread that plays well into the episode's thematic ambitions. Fans of Love, Death + Robots will definitely love the episode as it has everything the show is known for: horror, fantasy, action, and violence.

You can watch Love, Death + Robots season 3 episode 2 on Netflix.