Upload

At first it seems like Daniels is going to mainly satirize our modern world, which the show does reliably and deliciously. But as “Upload” progresses a conspiracy theory pushes forward and the underlying theme of income inequality becomes clear. Still, “Upload” never forgets to be funny.

“Upload” is more amusing than it is laugh-out-loud funny. But it’s quick-witted, clever (an Arnold Palmer bot appears on a VR golf course in episode four) and twisty with a thread of mystery.

Smart, often hilarious series. ... Nathan and Nora's relationship is essential to the series, and Amell and Allo have electric chemistry.

There’s a lot of heavy stuff at play here, but it’s all handled with a deft touch. Even when “Upload” gets serious, it’s never more than a scene away from being funny as hell.

Daniels has succeeded to make the afterlife look like hell in Upload, even if it’s a hell with colorful foliage. And that’s just the kind of show we want to see right about now. But we also know he knows how to build a funny ensemble we’ll care about, and he’s on the way to doing that after the first episode.

"Upload" doesn't entirely reveal that mystery by the end of its 10 episodes, and that's just as well given that it leaves us wanting to see what karma and eternity have in store for Nathan and Nora, together and apart.

If “Upload” breaks no ground other than in digging up its influences, it has put the pieces together in a smart and satisfying way; if it leaves a host of philosophical questions on the table and picks up the practical ones, it has more straightforward things on its mind: love and suspense.

“Upload” is very much its own thing, and a good thing at that. ... I marveled at the way Daniels has set up the world of 2033. It’s hard enough to create an earthbound sitcom premise that’s sturdy and distinct, but Daniels has done that while toggling among a number of different realities.

Upload is at heart deeply human and deeply funny.

The show has good bones in an engaging lead, some spirited supporting characters, and a clear eye towards investigating the implications of a world where you can take your money with you when you die, but it’ll only take you so far.

The transitory nature of death in this universe allows the show’s writers to mine some very dark laughs out of moments of surprise violence or gore, and the fact that they’ve got William B. Davis, The X-Files’ own Smoking Man, on hand to lob some of the bleakest one-liners doesn’t hurt. But as bracing as Upload’s comedy can be, it’s the human side that often lets it down.

In light of “The Good Place,” “Upload” seems light on humor and connections we can embrace. Amell and Allo are good partners. They’re just caught in a situation that’s too raw for viewers who now are in the middle of a pandemic.

Upload, thankfully, is a series that doesn't require a spine — much like how I remember countless individual jokes in Idiocracy, but if you ask me what the movie's plot is, I couldn't tell you anything. What keeps the show going as more than just a joke-fest is that it's also a fairly sweet, budding love story between Nathan and Nora. ... It's probably not as good as The Good Place, but it's got plenty of laughs and ideas to make you think.

The chemistry between Amell and Allo is strong enough to push aside some sense of of overfamiliarity, and to cover for aspects of the show that don’t quite click.

None of the comedy is all that great, though. That’s at least a little to do with the performers, especially Amell, who’s serviceable as Nathan but not bringing anything to this project that’s not already on the page. ... It’s too relentlessly sad for the humor to work, and none of the humor is quite as sharp as Ingrid’s dangerous shoulder blades.

The arc of the season requires viewers to become invested in the budding romance between Nathan and his on-the-clock caretaker, and it’s difficult to work up any enthusiasm for fanning the sparks. Where the show excels is in playing out its premise at length, and in depth.

“Upload” feels like a spiritual tug-of-war between a handful of thinly sketched starting points that never coalesce into anything significant.

The intricately realized setting needs a story, however, at which point this fertile if familiar premise begins to suffer. ... He’s got some substantive ideas about inequality, technology and how one feeds the other; they only need time to be developed. The 10 episodes, some longer than 30 minutes and some shorter, hustle us through a linear plot pieced together from used-up components.

What glimpses we get of “Upload’s” electronic heaven seem at least beholden to a sensibility, however nasty; more often, we’re stuck with Nathan, a less-than-compelling Virgil leading us through a journey past life that’s, by now, become familiar enough to read as cliché.

"Upload" is a misfire for the great Greg Daniels, a high-concept series that plays like a bad sitcom.