TV Takes: ‘Upload’ on Amazon Prime is happy watching with a twist of mystery

Name of show: Upload

When it debuted: May 2020

Where you can watch it: Streaming on Amazon Prime Video

What’s it about: In the not-too-distant future, young coder and party guy Nathan (Robbie Amell) finds himself living in a digital afterlife. His still-living girlfriend controls the purse strings in an existence where add-ons are extra for the unalive entities living at Lakeview.

Things get complicated as he falls for his living concierge, Nora (Andy Allo), who’s trying to figure out what happened to some of Nathan’s memories and why he’s dead at all.

From the living — an adorable niece, his mom and a self-appointed cousin investigating Nathan’s suspicious death and upload — to the dead, which include a 19-year-old stuck in his prepubescent avatar and an ultra-rich old man who eats black rhino steaks (played by the Smoking Man of X-Files fame), the rich characters keep you hooked on an otherwise grim story. It’s hilarious and just a little too easy to imagine as reality.

Is it worth watching? 100 percent. Writer and creator Greg Daniels (from The Office and Parks and Recreation) has a winner here. I’m flummoxed about why there’s so little buzz about this gem, which launched a couple of months into the pandemic. They’ve already confirmed a second season.