It’s sort of amazing that Greg Daniels and Prime have gotten three seasons (so far) out of this show. Like its main character, Nathan Brown (The Tomorrow People’s Robbie Amell), Upload is visually appealing, charming, and occasionally very deep. Unlike Nathan, it’s witty and works hard. These shows are great at getting a loyal fan base but less so a wide one.
In season two, Nathan discovered trouble in paradise. The virtual afterlife his consciousness inhabits, Lakeview, is also home to the late billionaire, David Choak (Owen Daniels, aka The X-Files’ Smoking Man!), and Choak is still controlling business interests IRL. One of these may indeed be Freeyond, another virtual afterlife designed by a pre-deceased Nathan. As fate would have it, Nathan’s socialite girlfriend, Ingrid (Allegra Edwards, Briarpatch), commissioned a clone body for Nathan to be downloaded into and — despite the likelihood of the body not lasting long (think Scanners for the imagery) and the revelation that Nathan and his concierge “angel” Nora (Andy Allo of The New Power Generation and Pitch Perfect 3) had fallen for each other — she assists them in the process of escaping Lakeview management. They are now dealing with corporate exploitation of the masses, the burden of proof (literal and figurative) that it involves mass murder, and the reality of their once virtual attraction.
In Lakeview, Ingrid, Nathan’s military veteran pal Luke (Sirens and Undone’s Kevin Bigley), and Nathan’s new angel, Tinsley (Mackenzie Cardwell, Little Fish), all have to adjust to a Nathan-less virtual existence. This culminates with the refreshing of a backup Nathan being introduced, essentially making two versions of the one person.
As Nora and Nathan go on the road to return people’s scanned consciousnesses to their families, they are met with a cross section of Americana with one thing in common: they are all misled by various interpretations of Freeyond’s misinformation campaign. This cuts to serious themes of the show. While Lakeview’s upcharge DLC, abuse of hapless AIs, and virtual opulence are played for laughs, there is regular undercurrent of very thinky bits. Corporate consumerism, unregulated bioengineering, the nature of consciousness, tribalism, and religious beliefs (and different attitudes about them) are all main branches of this little Keebler tree. Fingers crossed it lasts long enough to bear fruit.
Upload Season 3 is now streaming on Prime Video.
