The third season of Upload is eight episodes long. Takes place in a world where your consciousness can be uploaded and you can live a digital afterlife. That is because your head is basically cut off during the upload process, which seems like a weird side effect. Anyway, it follows Nathan who died and was living in the luxury afterlife of Lakeview. In the previous seasons, he uncovered the sinister reason for his death, as well as having a complicated relationship between his pre-upload girlfriend Ingrid, and his new love Nora.
Last season ended with what is a cliffhanger, but one that was predictable. Surprisingly, the first episode of this season doesn’t wipe it away but continues with showing that it is an eventual certainty. It gives Nathan a countdown timer, and his fate constantly haunts him and Nora. Both are aware of the risks, but they are both fighting to try and stop the evil plot by the big corporations, where they have initiated their plan of getting more people to upload via the promise of the free digital afterlife.
Despite the intriguing premise and reason, the plot gets distracted easily and still prefers to focus on the relationships side. Ingrid and Nora are still fighting over Nathan, even though in a completely different way this season. Nora, now spending more time with Nathan, must deal with maybe that everything is not perfect. It does make the show more grounded but it’s the twisted ways of the future where capitalism wants to intrude into every aspect that is the more interesting part of the show.
Still, there is a plot development regarding Nathan that was probably on a lot of viewers’ minds when the show first started. When you end up uploading someone’s consciousness, then there is a record, there is a copy. So, what happens when that is misused? It gives rise to a more philosophical side to things, even though the show doesn’t get too serious, it still touches upon those concepts, giving food for thought.
The relationship between Nathan, Ingrid and Nora continues to somehow get more complicated. While Nathan is a charming enough guy, he can easily make a lot of people like him or fall for him, which can be kind of weird. At least the new complications are something different than your typical romance drama. It’s somewhat elegantly mixed in with the other subplot of finding out the truth of Nathan’s death. A lot has been reviewed, but the characters are now trying to definitive find evidence of the motive to foil the plans.
From time to time, it shows the advancement of the AI and the digital world, and how it’s making progress. Although, and it’s been like this from the very beginning, it is a bit hard to accept as normal and possible given it’s just so different to what we expect. AI that ends up acting very much like a human, and having these weird physical restrictions in the digital world? The deliberate uncanny valley of impossible actions? Sometimes it’s there for laughs, other times it feels it is serious… and it misses its mark.
Given that this isn’t intended to be the last season, the finale is on yet another cliffhanger. The final episode was great in that it progressed the plot to the point where the characters were going for. Just that the resolution may not be what everyone intended. There are some minor revelations here and there. And while the cliffhanger itself initially didn’t seem too major, it ends with a character throwing some doubts at you.
Overall, the third season of Upload is decent. It is more of the same but progresses the plot more. It’s less opaque as a lot of the mysteries are now revealed. It even touches upon the philosophical side, however light. At the end of the day, it is a fun and light comedy drama that doesn’t waste your time.
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