TV Show of the Week: Upload

This was a nice surprise when it popped up in my Amazon Prime recommendations list after I binged watched the entirety of The Office, another show created by Upload's creator, Greg Daniels. In two days I finished all 10 episodes. I was hooked since the first episode, because of two reasons. The first being the incredible amount of world building and the concept as a whole. It's clear a lot of care and attention went into every detail.

I didn't have to look at the reviews to know this was a popular show, so when it came to writing this review I thought I'd be safe with revealing some spoilers, but I second guess myself. It may be popular, but the audience can still grow, and this is a show that should definitely be enjoyed when going in blind. All I had was the synopsis and the creator's name before I clicked on the first episode.

What I will talk about stems from the synopsis and the conclusion my friend came to upon reading it. It didn't necessarily put him off, but instead put it on his ever increasing list of things to watch in the future, which can be synonymous to never watching it in a month of Sundays. Upon reading the synopsis given by Amazon Prime, he thought about the inevitable love story that will be developed over the course of the series, and how it's always a love story. I can see where he's coming from, because you do see a lot of new concepts having a love story in the centre, even forbidden loves are extremely common, which is what this deals with. A living person cannot have a relationship any more mature than being just a helper to an "Upload" - a person who has died but their consciousness has been uploaded to a virtual network so they can continue interacting with the living.

Whilst the forbidden love story is featured throughout the series, it's not actually the most prominent factor - the idea is. The love story only comes in when necessary, otherwise the rest of each episode just focuses on the afterlife of Nathan (played by Robbie Amell). The first episode may have incredible amount of world building, but in actual fact the whole series is spend building the world, exploring how each section works, whilst also satirising technology, whilst also exploring the mystery behind Nathan's death, whilst also exploring how people close to Nathan are dealing with him being in a virtual afterlife. It's easy to state that there being a love story is cliched, but there are so many more concepts in that world to focus on as well.

Upload needs a second season, not only because it ended on a cliffhanger, but it's obvious that there's more in that world which can be utilised, and because it ended on a belta of a cliffhanger.