The third season of “Love, Death & Robots” was released on May 20, 2022. Among the nine stories that make up three, one way or another concerning the cosmos. This is a story about what curious fans of astronomy and cosmonautics can see from them.
What else is “Love, Death & Robots”?
On May 20, 2022, the third season of the series “Love, Death & Robots” was released on the streaming service Netflix. Rather, it would be correct to call it the third collection. After all, it is a set of adaptations of science fiction stories.
There are several characteristic features of the series. The first is that each series not only has an absolutely independent plot, but is also made by its studio in a different style from the others. Here you can find photorealistic computer graphics, classic drawing, simple 3D, and even a feature film. All series are short films.
The second feature is that the authors do not limit themselves to what they show: violence, blood, eroticism, profanity, acute social and political topics — all this is the main component of the series together with fantastic ideas.
Another feature of the series coming out in 2019 is that the basis of some plots are the works of very famous science fiction authors. And these series are usually stronger by plot than the rest, which explains the “unevenness” that the series is often blamed for.
How did the third season turn out?
The third season consists of nine short films. All genres of animation and feature films are still present. However, it is worth noting that this time the authors got too carried away with the idea of feeding the viewer cruelty and depression for everything that was in the series before.
The cosmos somehow concerns three series. They are clearly better than what is shown in this collection. Perhaps the reason is that all three were created according to the stories of recognized masters of fiction: John Scalzi, Michael Svenvik and Bruce Sterling. Of the rest, we can only mention the story of the war with rats.
Will Elon Musk save himself on Mars?
It is important to note that all three stories that are supposedly about space are not really about it in the first place. For example, the first episode of the season “3 Robots: Exit Strategies” is essentially a satire on society’s myths about how to survive the apocalypse. In it, we meet again with three interesting, but little naive robots from one of the episodes of the first season. And it is based again on the story of John Scalzi, known here primarily as the author of the space opera “Old Man’s War”.
This time, the heroes in the company of black humor are in the camp of survivalists, on a drilling platform converted for storage and in an underground bunker. And in all places they see the same picture: their inhabitants did not survive the apocalypse.
Finally, they get to the launch pad of rockets that are supposed to take very rich people to Mars. Will SpaceX be able to take a million people there as promised? Will it be able to take at least millionaires there. The heroes see dozens of spacecraft similar to Starship, but they all remain standing on the surface.
In general, the theme of space as salvation from the dying Earth is an extremely popular social myth. For some reason, people forget that an eight-month flight to Mars is far from a transatlantic flight, and the red planet requires survival skills more than Antarctica. But the rich and other chosen people continue to escape into space.
In the finale, the heroes find out that one of the rockets managed to launch and are very happy about it. Maybe it was the clever Elon Musk who managed to escape? To find out, you need to watch it to the end. Although those who remember the series finale from the first season may guess so.
How to mix substances correctly on Io?
The plot of the series “The Very Pulse of the Machine” takes place on the moon of Jupiter Io. To some, it may seem like a completely fantastic world, but the data of its research draws a picture very similar to a cartoon: a yellow surface, black lava, unstable geology and steep cliffs. This body larger than the Moon is significantly influenced by the tidal forces of a giant planet, which generates such extreme conditions.
The main series is a short story of the same name by Michael Svenvik in 1998. He is one of the parents of cyberpunk, although he is known mainly as the author of the techno fantasy “The Iron Dragon’s Daughter”. The novels “Vacuum Flowers” and “Stations of the Tide” are much less known among us. They are a kind of cyberpunk in space, and a lot of attention is paid to changing human thinking under the influence of artificial factors.
The last is very important for understanding the plot of the series. For in fact, about the consequences for the perception of reality of mixing psychoactive substances. Yes, at the very beginning we are shown a planetoid car, very similar to the one that Toyota is building. It gets into an accident. Then there is a rather controversial scene from the point of view of reliability with one dead astronaut and another, whose oxygen tank is damaged.
One can argue for a long time whether the design of spacesuits is stupid, in which a balloon from one spacesuit cannot be freely connected to another without removing the entire spacesuit. Or what kind of satellite it is that gives communication only once every 12 hours. The fact remains: Martha Kivelson sets off on a 41-kilometer journey, dragging her friend’s body with her on a travois.
Living in space requires determination. In order to reach the point of salvation, Martha has to inject morphine first, and then amphetamine. Drugs are not the best helper in an emergency situation and Martha begins to hallucinate. It seems to her that a dead friend is talking to her. But even worse is the mixing of psychoactive substances. Paranoid delirium joins the hallucinations.
Suddenly, the hero comes to the conclusion that Io is talking to her because of a dead girlfriend, who is actually a giant alien machine. And here they start playing with the audience. Because we really don’t know how far technology can get. Whether a companion is really talking to the main character, or just ravings remains unknown until the very end.
What is the most important science in space?
The third story related to space is “Swarm”. It is based on the story of another cyberpunk father, Bruce Sterling. The main thing you need to know about the original source: it was written forty years ago. At the time of writing, its topic was a breakthrough and, in principle, has remained relevant until now.
Fans of science fiction have already heard all this, it is interesting, but not shocking. The only thing to notice before watching the series: this is not “Swarm” like a bunch of other works. They are created under its influence.
Humanity has achieved vision and settled on other planets. But the development of technology and space science has not deprived them of purely earthly shortcomings. Political ambitions are ready to result in space wars, people do not even know if they will destroy themselves.
On the other hand, there is a giant beehive hanging in the middle of space for millions of years. The perfect biological machine. A civilization that has abandoned the personal mind, but got rid of all the problems that people could not leave on Earth.
Biology turns out to be no less important than physics and computer science. And people steal its achievements, believing that no one will complain. But it turns out that the swarm is able to respond to threats more flexibly than people thought. And it has a proven weapon against the likes of us.
Biology is really the key to everything. And the swarm, who perfectly owns it, gathers the winners, creating an improved version of people. The series makes you think about how important biological and social research plays in space exploration.
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