Love, Death + Robots’ Episode 17 Review: “Alternate Histories”

Love, Death + Robots is a Netflix Anthology series created by Tim Miller and David Fincher. Here is the review for Episode 17, “Alternate Histories”, which will contain spoilers. You can read the spoiler-free review of the entire series by clicking these words. You can check out our archive for reviews of each episode by clicking these words.

One of life’s mysteries is, “if Hitler didn’t exist, or died before he came into power, what would the world look like today?” The question serves an impactful butterfly effect that reverberates through an infinite number of alternate universes. Well, imagine if you could explore those possibilities and even make it fun, where you witness Hitler die in different scenarios? Love, Death + Robots Episode 17, “Alternate Histories”, explores this notion in its amusing way.

“Alternate Histories” is about an application where you can explore different timelines; as a test example, Episode 17 shows us six different ways Hitler died before he came into power. In one he is merely killed by a random civilian. As each timeline is explored, the crazier and funnier his deaths become, and the more absurd the history becomes. For example, at one point Hitler is killed by a blob of what looks like jelly – World War 1 still happens but ends sooner, and Vladamir Putin is the first man on the moon.

Episode 17, “Alternate Histories”, is not meant to be taken seriously but it did make me wonder if this kind of scenario-based application can be created in the future so we can all delve into the complex paths we’ve taken in history, and what would have happened if we made wiser or less wise choices. We’d all love to go back in time and pimp slap Hitler to death, and Love, Death + Robots gives us the delight of being able to witness that.