S01.E01: Welcome to Upload

[AnimeMania]

After a self-driving car crash, Nathan is uploaded to Lakeview, his girlfriend’s family’s digital after-life, where he meets his customer service rep, Nora.

Airdate: May 1, 2020

[iMonrey]

So far, I like it well enough. But it might be too similar to The Good Place, in that they can only go so far with the premise and I'm not sure how they end it. I can also see Ingrid dumping Nathan a mile away. You know that's coming. It's sort of like Downsizing in that respect, for those of you who've seen that movie. 

[Frisson]

With the “Good Place” over, I don’t mind a seem-alike. It also makes me feel like it’s a sunny side of “Black Mirror.” I’m intrigued.

[QQQQ]

I'm halfway through, and plan to finish it in one day. It's The Good Life + Total Recall + Ghost.

[Guest]

I like it and think it’s an interesting concept. My only negative is that it feels like they are telegraphing a lot of plot lines. Maybe they’ll swerve but just from the first episode I feel like I can predict the first season if not the whole series. 

[Danny Franks]

This was interesting, and kind of fun. The idea is pretty cool, as corporate dystopian worlds go. The reliance on technology leaving people apparently useless and helpless - Hell, the hospital couldn't even be bothered to treat Nathan for what seemed like a perfectly survivable trauma - and the complete corporate takeover of life and death feels scarily prescient.

The woman playing Nora was engaging. Empathetic with her... clients? Patients? But also exuding a toughness that I liked. But Robbie Amell is too bland for this role. He doesn't have the devilish charm that I imagine the character was written with. They needed someone with a bit more about them, if they want Nathan to be more than a goofy idiot.

I found some things really odd - the fact that they chose to have two topless scenes but CGI'd out the nipples was just weird. Either do it or don't, it's not that important. As I said, the fact that Nathan could apparently choose surgery or to 'die' was odd. The vapid girlfriend character was a bit trite, and it's obvious that they're setting up a scenario where she's roped Nathan into being together forever, then decides she doesn't want that.

[Avabelle]

I feel like execs have been trying to make Robbie Amell happen for years and I think they’ve finally done it. I like him in this. The character works to his strengths as an actor. 
 

Although I’ve a feeling I can already guess where the friendship with his angel is going, I am liking the comraderie between the two. 

 

[Avabelle]

Also feel like his best friend or girlfriend will end up being bad guys just given how his car crash happened And he can’t remember what he was developing. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I knew nothing about this show when I started watching so I had no expectations. I liked the near future setting and the small changes/updates from our world. I was pleasantly surprised by how funny the show is. I know Robbie Amell from Tomorrow People and some other guest starring roles that didn't let him be his silly.

The whole idea of uploading your consciousness so you can live forever virtually is interesting but I can understand why some people (like Nathan) would hesitate to commit to that. He is really beholden to his girlfriend now since she is paying for him to be there.

[blackwing]

On 5/4/2020 at 1:00 PM, Avabelle said:

I feel like execs have been trying to make Robbie Amell happen for years and I think they’ve finally done it. I like him in this. The character works to his strengths as an actor. 
 

Although I’ve a feeling I can already guess where the friendship with his angel is going, I am liking the comraderie between the two. 

 

I agree, I think he has a lot of charm here and this is a good role for him.  He looked like he was having a ton of fun during the dance party with his niece.

I liked him in the Tomorrow People, and I just saw the Netflix movie he is in with his cousin called Code 8 where he plays a guy with electrical powers.  My biggest complaint about him is that he looks so much like Tom Cruise, and I despise Tom Cruise.

I agree about how this seems similar to Downsizing.  I'm suspicious about how the girlfriend was so eager to get him uploaded.  Why wouldn't his mother have final say?  And you would think that if the upload process literally fries the patient's head and leaves the body for scrap, that they would warn the visitors / family about it first.

 

[AnimeMania]

58 minutes ago, blackwing said:

And you would think that if the upload process literally fries the patient's head and leaves the body for scrap, that they would warn the visitors / family about it first.

I don't think that was supposed to happen. They told him not to move but he did anyway. 

[Mabinogia]

5 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

I don't think that was supposed to happen. They told him not to move but he did anyway. 

Thank you for that. I was wondering why they would have his loved ones watching if they expected that to happen. If it wasn't supposed to happen that makes a lot more sense. lol

[Zoe]

It was kind of surprising seeing throughout the whole season random extras wearing face masks... 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

40 minutes ago, Zoe said:

It was kind of surprising seeing throughout the whole season random extras wearing face masks... 

Wearing masks has been the norm in urban cities around the world for several years now due to poor air quality. I already had several N99 masks before the coronavirus due to fire season.

[shrewd.buddha]

If nothing else, I appreciate that Upload is demonstrating that a possible digital afterlife is not the utopian wonderland that most sci-fi stories make it out to be.  Like most things, it would be limited to those who could afford it. And those that participated would be at the mercy of whatever company designed the digital universe - who could also pull the plug at will. 

Nathan appeared very alert and healthy despite being near death - which was either a swipe at corporate manipulation or the show taking liberties to get the plot where they wanted it. 

It does seem strange that Nathan would not be in contact with his friends and family, since that appears possible. 

And it would be a great scam to create a digital afterlife. Who could prove that it actually existed - or was instead populated by very sophisticated AI's impersonating the deceased? 

Edited May 23, 2020 by shrewd.buddha

[bettername2come]

So, as much as I'm enjoying The Good Place vibes and the comedy, my mind is reeling with the sci-fi dystopia conspiracy stuff right now. They said Nathan and his business partner were working on an app to be a free version of Upload and then Nathan "dies" in a self driving car accident? Dude was definitely murdered. And now he can't remember what he used to code. And what was that that got deleted after Nora left her shift? 

15 hours ago, shrewd.buddha said:

Nathan appeared very alert and healthy despite being near death - which was either a swipe at corporate manipulation or the show taking liberties to get the plot where they wanted it.

Yeah, I'm thinking the show will reveal he wasn't as "near death" as they claimed. He was talking pretty well for a guy with a punctured lung. Although the doctor didn't sound like she was lying, especially since she gave him the choice of the OR,  but I think someone could've falsified any digital data she was looking at. 

Also, I do think this is the best project Robbie Amell's ever been involved in (sorry, Code 8). It plays to his strengths and so far seems not too comparable to anything else. 

[Kel Varnsen]

On 5/1/2020 at 9:29 PM, Frisson said:

With the “Good Place” over, I don’t mind a seem-alike. It also makes me feel like it’s a sunny side of “Black Mirror.” I’m intrigued.

I finally got around to watching this. I was put off for a long time, because Black Mirror keeps going back to the brain gets downloaded into a computer story so I wasn't sure there was anything new to tell. But this was interesting, and has grabbed my attention way more than Space Force. What the hell Greg Daniels?

[Paloma]

I didn't know about this show until I got a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime, and my husband and I binged it in 3 nights. it might be the only thing that would get me to keep a subscription. I loved The Good Place and understand why people compare it to that, but Upload is different and (IMHO) does not suffer in comparison.  

On 5/1/2020 at 9:29 PM, Frisson said:

It also makes me feel like it’s a sunny side of “Black Mirror.”

Agree with this, and again I don't think Upload suffers in comparison. Overall  it's a very well-done mash-up of genres. I don't want to risk spoilers so will comment more in the later episode threads.

[KarenX]

On 5/18/2020 at 9:51 AM, blackwing said:

My biggest complaint about him is that he looks so much like Tom Cruise, and I despise Tom Cruise.

OMG yes. Although I love Sci Fi Tom Cruise, this is a huge distraction/detriment because hecis not tapping into the Tom Cruise energy that I expect when I see him.