Upload remains the most ambitious sitcom on streaming television. What other streaming or network television sitcom satirizes American commerce better than the Greg Daniels sitcom? None; that’s your answer. Perhaps no show has ever captured the absurdity and even hubris of how the marketplace needs consumers and uses them as lab rats.
Simply put, Upload cuts to the chase of big money and big business – they don’t care if you live or die. No, just as long as you give them enough of your money. That’s what makes Daniel’s show pure genius. That’s by envisioning a world that capitalizes on fear and grief by creating a virtual reality afterlife.
The series began with Nathan Brown (Robbie Amell), a 27-year-old computer engineer who was uploaded to Lakeview, a digital afterlife. His rich girlfriend, Ingrid (Allegra Edwards), pulled the trigger prematurely. At Lakeview, he meets Nora (Andy Allo), his digital handler, and they eventually fall in love.
Nathan also makes a best friend, an unwilling participant, with Luke (Kevin Bigley), a veteran whose bromance usually goes one way. Also, his puppy dog love for his handler, Aleesha (Zainab Johnson) and Nora’s friend, is just as entertaining.
As the seasons progress, it turns out that Nathan was murdered after having missing memories recovered by Ingrid’s father. Nathan and Nora hook up with Matteo (Paulo Costanzo) and The Ludds, an anti-technology group bent on stopping the capitalists’ hold on the afterlife industry, downloading Nathan into a clone body being grown by Ingrid.
The new couple then begins a journey to expose the conspiracy of tricking the poor into uploading so they can gerrymander an election. However, Nathan has a nosebleed on the Hyperloop, a sign of download failure. That means Nathan and Nora have limited time to examine their relationship and expose the conspiracy.
Daniels has a sterling record when it comes to comedy. He has written for Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons. He was responsible for adapting The Office for NBC and co-creating Parks and Recreation and King of the Hill. Upload is his most layered and complex work, taking on big business and exposing their true intentions.
Do you not believe me? When you reach the point where Nathan and Nora come across a cattle farm that sells pink cancer as a steak substitute, you’ll agree. Why else do we eat foods known to have cancer-causing ingredients? Hell, there’s a story about banning a particular colorful candy in California: Daniels and his team of brilliant writers for the absurdity of consumerism and our need for it.
Upload is a brilliant satire that has no trouble rewarding viewers with its high-concept humor while remaining easily accessible. The one thing that needs to improve is ADHD-like concentration. Often, subplots need follow-up and development. For instance, Ingrid finds Nathan’s hair to grow a new Nathan or child lacks development. Even Luke, having had his premium access taken away, appears to have been restored without explanation.
The performances are good, with Amell continuing a pitch-perfect, endearing comic delivery and palpable chemistry with Allo. Bigley remains the funniest person in the series, whose positivity is infectious, particularly when it gets his character in trouble.
Writer Owen Daniels, the AI guy around Lakeview who sees the world through his relative innocence and often has the series’ funniest moments, is another standout. However, Allegra Edwards shines here and has a lot of fun in a role filled with insecurities. She plays Ingrid on many levels, from a superficial starlet to scenes full of melancholy about her lot in life.
Daniels, along with writers Daniels, Megan Neuringer, and Izzy Kadish, tackles weighty themes, including commerce, technology’s impact, and the essence of existence, like no other show on streaming. While some viewers may find the initial season’s humor excessively dark, the season shines when writers adapt the series to socially conscious issues. Upload’s season finale has a stellar cliffhanger highlighting the show’s commitment to ambitious storytelling that’s smart, funny, and thought-provoking.
Which, I think we can agree, is a rarity in mainstream comedy.
The third season of Upload will premiere on Prime Video on October 20, 2023, with two episodes. Two episodes will debut weekly every Friday.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dr2pEYI_R4]
Upload is smart, funny, and the most ambitious sitcom in streaming. Perhaps no show has ever captured the absurdity and even hubris of how the marketplace needs consumers and uses them as lab rats.
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I am a film and television critic and a proud member of the Las Vegas Film Critic Society, Critics Choice Association, and a 🍅 Rotten Tomatoes/Tomato meter approved. However, I still put on my pants one leg at a time, and that’s when I often stumble over. When I’m not writing about movies, I patiently wait for the next Pearl Jam album and pass the time by scratching my wife’s back on Sunday afternoons while she watches endless reruns of California Dreams. I was proclaimed the smartest reviewer alive by actor Jason Isaacs, but I chose to ignore his obvious sarcasm. You can also find my work on InSession Film, Ready Steady Cut, Hidden Remote, Music City Drive-In, Nerd Alert, and Film Focus Online.
