The following contains spoilers for Season 3 of Love, Death + Robots, now streaming on Netflix.
One of the most popular sub-genres in sci-fi and horror has been the zombie niche. Fans lapped up these stories for decades, trailing from older films such as Night of the Living Dead, to dramas such as The Walking Dead, to modern action takes such as World War Z and Zack Snyder's Army of the Dead.
Seeing as Love, Death + Robots dissected various horror stories, including the robot apocalypse, it was just a matter of time before it did its own zombie apocalypse. This arose in Season 3's fourth episode, "Night of the Mini Dead," from Deadpool's Tim Miller and Jeff Fowler. What made this so intriguing, though, is it had a weird origin and a much darker, existential ending that spoke to mankind's place in the grand scheme.
Usually, zombie stories originate from some virus in a lab, but this went the supernatural route akin to flicks like White Zombie. The outbreak began due to folks being perverts with no respect for public grounds. A couple trespassers in Europe broke into a cemetery and had sex all over the grounds, even desecrating a statue by performing obscene acts on it.
Unfortunately, this resulted in the statue falling over and cracking. This got the dead to rise up and devour the naked couple, before they all moved on in rabid fashion. This undead legion quickly began attacking joggers, consuming cities and in the blink of an eye, it spread all across Asia and the Eastern Hemisphere. It felt somewhat comical, given the slapstick animation style and high-pitched voices, evoking the Minions from Despicable Me, but the journey got twisted toward the end of the short.
America denied the virus was in the country, but soon enough, the zombies mutated into giants, overrunning a gun-loving culture, who felt the zombies would make perfect target practice. The authorities lost control and soon enough, the White House was taken.
Seeing destruction on the lawn, a desperate President gave up, launched nukes and started a world war. Everyone began panicking and firing, with the undead being the catalyst to rendering the planet extinct. It spoke to politicians and governments today, and how some powers-that-be mismanaged pandemics such as COVID-19 on the international stage.
Ultimately, Love, Death + Robots wanted viewers to understand the Earth's position in the galaxy. As the planet blew up, the final shot zoomed out to show it detonating in minuscule fashion, all to the sound of a fart. It was a cynical scene about how humanity was but a speck of dust in the cosmos and a jab at how important situations get handled like crap rather than via unity and mature, responsible responses.
To see how this zombie apocalypse unfolds, Love, Death & Robots Season 3 is now streaming on Netflix.