Upload

This is a really interesting series. What seems like it's a bit of a vacuous rom-com, actually has an undercurrent with real substance and excellent acting. I kept watching through the early episodes, as it hints that there's a bit more going on, and I am glad I did as I was satisfied by the end. It's an easy to watch but clever series.

I was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed Upload. It takes place in a futuristic world where people can upload their consciousness into a virtual world after they die. It's about a man named Nathan Brown (Robert Amell) who uploads his consciousness after his death (or murder?). It then shows how he has to get used to his new life in this virtual world where the more money you have the more you can have what ever you want. It's such a fun and creative show with plenty of laughs. It also smartly points out how flawed our species is and what we think is important. The episodes are only around a half hour long so you can binge through the 17 episodes so far pretty quickly.

Upload is an imaginative look at a hyper-consumerized near future in which even death can be avoided - for a price. It would have been easy to play this scenario for cheap laughs - and sure, there are some - but Upload goes further, exploring relationships, ethical boundaries, and most of all, the blind spots in the mirror we hold up to ourselves.

The series has more range than you'd expect: mostly cheerful, but with moments of suspense, disappointment, and even (real) death. It reveals itself in stages, as each two-dimensional character, in turn, suddenly displays real depth. It's like watching popcorn, wondering when the next kernel is going to blow, always a little surprised by which one it turns out to be.

The humor is pervasive, and the writers didn't settle for (only) the obvious "hey, remember, I'm actually dead" jokes. The laugh-out-loud moments, for me, were much subtler - like in the news video showing a group of headless bodies as they are encountered by first responders, one of whom slips a pulse-oximeter on a corpse's finger.

My wife and I pretty much binged this series in about three sittings. I only wish we'd discovered it later, as a second season may be as much as two years away. Regardless of when that actually happens - unless I've been uploaded by then myself - I'll be watching.

Very entertaining and easy to binge-watch. If you're looking for something light to watch, this is it.

This is a fun show with great characters that you love more and more with each episode. Robbie Amell and Andy Allo, I believe in their first starring roles in a TV series, have great chemistry together. You cheer for things to go well and get upset when they don't. And all the side characters really add to this, Idiocracy-like, future world.

Just remember, it's definitely not a copy of The Office or Parks and Rec. It has a more dramatic connected storyline than those shows that really gets you involved, wanting the main characters to succeed (or fail).

The only downside? I wish there were more episodes. I can't wait for season 2!