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Does the Episode Order of This Netflix Show Change Based on Sexuality?

Netflix is denying changing the viewing order of Love, Death & Robots for users based on whether they are gay or straight.

Raffy Ermac

Digital Director, Out.com

Raffy is a Los Angeles-based writer, editor, video creator, critic, and digital director of Out Magazine. The former editor-in-chief of PRIDE, he is also a die-hard Rihanna and Sailor Moon stan who loves to write about all things pop culture, entertainment, and identities. Follow him on Instagram (@raffyermac) and Twitter (@byraffy), and subscribe to his YouTube channel.

Read Full Bio

Raffy Ermac

byraffy

March 20 2019 2:40 PM EST

May 26 2023 12:31 PM EST

Is Netflix getting a little too personal with the way they give viewers their fave shows and movies? That's what the internet seems to think...

When Out in Tech cofounder Lukas Thoms noticed that he and his straight friend Andrew each had a different viewing order for the episodes of the popular streaming service's newest sci-fi anthology series Love, Death & Robots, he took to Twitter to share his discovery with everyone.

\u201cJust discovered the most INSANE thing. The ORDER OF THE EPISODES for Netflix's new series Love Death & Robots changes based on whether Netflix thinks you're gay or straight.\u201d
— Lukas Thoms (@Lukas Thoms) 1552964454

\u201cOn the left is my account, starting with the one with a lesbian storyline, and the right is my straight friend Andrew's account, starting with the one that has the most realistic and explicit hetero sex.\u201d
— Lukas Thoms (@Lukas Thoms) 1552964454

After Thoms' tweet got some viral attention, Netflix responded, confirming that while Love, Death & Robots does actually have different ways to watch the series (there are four, apparently), a user's episode order isn't based on things like sexuality, gender, or race because they don't have access to that kind of information from viewers.

\u201c@LukasThoms We've never had a show like Love, Death & Robots before so we're trying something completely new: presenting four different episode orders. The version you're shown has nothing to do with gender, ethnicity, or sexual identity \u2014 info we don't even have in the first place.\u201d
— Lukas Thoms (@Lukas Thoms) 1552964454

"We've never had a show like Love, Death & Robots before so we're trying something completely new: presenting four different episode orders," Netflix tweeted. "The version you're shown has nothing to do with gender, ethnicity, or sexual identity—info we don't even have in the first place."

After speaking with someone at Netflix, Thoms was able to confirm that different episode orders for Love, Death & Robots are completely random, and not based on a viewer's sexuality.

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\u201cA final update: a friend I trust at Netflix looked into this, and apparently the episode ordering is just a 100% random A/B test that doesn't involve any ML. Identity-based recommendations are still a good discussion to have, in this case it was just random!\u201d
— Lukas Thoms (@Lukas Thoms) 1552964454