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Review: “Upload” Season 2

by Emily Nagle

Season 2 is finally out for Amazon Prime’s sci-fi drama “Upload“, which tells the story of deceased computer programmer Nathan Brown (Robbie Amell), who gets uploaded to Lakeview, a ritzy digital afterlife in the near future. Shot at the Mohonk Mountain House resort in New Paltz, the place is what dreams are made of, with daily breakfast buffets and pet therapy.

Much of the show focuses on what’s going on between Lakeview and the real world, where Nathan’s angel, or personal assistant, Nora (Andy Allo) quickly bonds with him, while his living girlfriend Ingrid (Allegra Edwards) stays connected by putting on a virtual reality suit (unbeknownst to Nathan, who has been told that Ingrid uploaded to be with him). When the show last left off at the end of season 1, Nathan and Nora were discovering that Nathan’s death may not have been an accident, but a murder. In other words, he didn’t really die in a self-driving car accident.

Nearly 2 years later, the sci-fi comedy has returned. Nora and Nathan are continuing to uncover the details behind Nathan’s death, and realize they are in deeper than they could have ever imagined. Meanwhile, Ingrid reveals the truth to Nathan about how she’s not actually dead, and has been growing a clone body for him to download into. She’s convinced that now they’ll finally be together again, but upon finding out he’s been manipulated, Nathan breaks up with Ingrid, and the first thing he does in his new body is meet up with Nora to stop billionaire David Choak (William B. Davis) from rigging an election.

Something that was prevalent in the first season and continues in the new seasons is that artificial, cheap-looking CGI. There’s a scene where Nora takes on a cat avatar to spy on Nathan and Ingrid through a window, and the creature looks straight out of “The Sims”. It’s unclear if this was done to show nothing in Lakeview is real and it’s just a giant virtual world (even though the animals depicted in pet therapy are real). Most likely it’s because the CGI is on the cheaper side – the car scenes in the real world are very clearly green-screened. The CGI in general is pretty cartoony, but it doesn’t take away from the show, which is more story-driven instead of relying on visuals. The cheap-looking visuals can be interpreted as being part of the whole sci-fi feel of the series. They’re meant to be goofy moments in a surprisingly dark story.

In this season, Nora and Nathan investigate the cause behind the car crash that killed Nathan. He and his friend Luke (Kevin Bigley) take a virtual tour of New York City led by Nora and another angel Aleesha, during which they discover Choak has downloaded into a robot body so he can rig an election. They also find out that Choak was responsible for Nathan’s death by searching through his memories. With Ingrid out of the picture, once Nathan returns to the real world, he’s on a mission to stop Choak and get justice for his death.

This season is slightly shorter than the last one; it consists of 7 episodes, while the first season had 10. With each episode lasting a little under half an hour, it’s the perfect binge-watch for a cozy rainy day. I was initially drawn to this show for its paradise-like depiction of the afterlife, but ended up getting sucked into the deeper story. It goes from being a sci-fi comedy to a crime drama, but it’s not super crime-heavy. That being said, if you’re looking for a lightly silly show that’s rich in story, “Upload” delivers.

Both seasons of “Upload” are available to stream now on Prime Video.

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