In Prime’s comedic ‘Upload,’ heaven is a big data buy away
What if, before you died, you could transfer your consciousness to a digital afterlife?
Before deciding, know that your loved ones could stay in frequent contact with you and even visit — and virtually touch you — from time to time. Sounds pretty good, right?
Well, you also should be aware that, just as in the real world, you will be subjected to targeted advertising and that perks come with costs, those to be paid by your estate or the person footing the bill for your second existence. (Try not to worry too much about the money used to buy the data that keeps you living in comfort running out or, worse, about the possibility of the person responsible for you hitting a very-consequential delete button.)
That’s the intriguing and alternatingly fun and horrifying premise of “Upload,” a mostly entertaining, sometimes lagging comedy series that recently debuted on Amazon’s Prime Video platform.
From Greg Daniels, the TV veteran who created the American version of “The Office,” “Upload” begins with a commercial for Lakeview, a digital-afterlife platform featuring a fake-but-lovely environment modeled after grand Victorian hotels and owned by a company called Horizen.
Soon enough, Lakeview becomes home to Nathan Brown (Robbie Amell), a good-looking and conceited, if not-altogetherunlikeable, coder whose life hangs in the balance after a very-rare self-driving car accident. (Voicecommanded automobiles in this future are to the point where they’re so safe that it’s quite likely foul play was involved with Nathan’s crash.)
At the hospital in the aftermath of the accident, Nathan isn’t so sure whether he wants to go to the upload area or risk a more-finite death by opting for the operating room. However, his clingy, rich girlfriend, Ingrid (Allegra Edwards of “Briarpatch”),
The show’s writing staff clearly has had a blast concocting this future, in which virtual phone screens magically appear in hands, star ratings are crucial in a dating app, some of today’s companies have merged to create odd conglomerates — Oscar Mayer Intel seems to be a giant in food printing and more — and the living rent elaborate high-tech suits to rendezvous with the uploaded.
pushes him toward a life at Lakeview — hers is a loyal Horizen family, with “unlimited data on both sides” — and he gives in to her.
Nathan doesn’t quickly take to life at Lakeview, where an annoying hologram pushes free brandname gum samples and where he soon finds himself in pet therapy — with a real shrink talking to him via a lifelike dog avatar.
Along with what appears to be a shower greater than any he had when he was alive, a bright spot is his “Angel,” the Horizen customer-service representative assigned to him, Nora Antony (Andy Allo). She and the other reps sit behind a multiple-monitor rig and can communicate with the uploaded after donning fancy glasses. They are, of course, to remain completely professional within this odd professional dynamic.
Nora doesn’t think that much of Nathan at the beginning — to screw with him, she programs his hair so it always sticks up in this one frustrating spot — but the two quickly grow close. It is obvious early in this 10-episode first season that their increasingly romantic feelings for each other will be a problem both for the very-long-distance relationship Nathan is trying to maintain with Ingrid and for Nora with her cold supervisor, Lucy (Andrea Rosen, “Take Me to Your Mother”).
It may sound as though spirituality is missing from “Upload,” but an impactful subplot involves Nora desperately wanting her ill father (Chris
Williams, “The Great Indoors”) to upload, while his desire is to reunite with his late wife in an actual heaven after he dies. That endlessly frustrates Nora, who views his uploading as a way for him to stay in her life.
The show’s writing staff clearly has had a blast concocting this future, in which virtual phone screens magically appear in hands, star ratings are crucial in a dating app, some of today’s companies have merged to create odd conglomerates — Oscar Mayer Intel seems to be a giant in food printing and more — and the living rent elaborate high-tech suits to rendezvous with the uploaded.
At times, “Upload” drags, and you wish its vibe were a bit punchier and more absurd. However, this show is concerned with having a heart, and it’s hard to find fault with that.
Plus, Amell (“The Tomorrow People”) and Allo (“Pitch Perfect 3”) share a nice chemistry and make Nathan and Nora easy to root for, respectively. When they’re on screen together, “Upload” is at its best.
Consider this a minor spoiler: Daniels and company leave Nathan in a very dark place, both figuratively and literally, so it’s comforting to know “Upload” already has been renewed for a second season.
Binge TV is a semi-regular series about something that can be watched in a batch on demand, be it via a streaming service or cable/satellite. “Upload” season one can be streamed via Amazon’s Prime Video platform.