Upload season 3 episodes 1 and 2 recaps & review

Open Go TV / October 20, 2023 / Reviews

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In season 3 of Upload, Nathan and Nora work side by side in the real world to combat a capitalist conspiracy. The episodes are streaming on Prime Video.

Episode 1 recap: Ticking Clock

Nathan stays with Nora while they plan to infiltrate Choak Tower and shut down Freeyond before innocent people are downloaded and cast away.

Matteo is also around and he holds some animosity toward Nathan because Nora left him for Nathan. Luke covers for Nathan at Lakeview even though he isn’t happy, and Nora asks Aleesha if she can take a day off and join them but Aleesha says she has more responsibilities now.

Nathan and Nora go for a walk in the park and Detective Sato approaches them to ask a few questions about what Nathan is doing still alive. They tell him to connect the contract killer with David Choak if he wants to catch a break in the case.

Ingrid is packing up her stuff and leaving Lakeview, meanwhile, Tinsley is re-uploading a backup of Nathan’s avatar. Luke holds auditions for a new best friend but none of them compare to Nathan.

Nathan and Nora sneak into Choak Tower successfully but Nathan figures out that he needs to go to the primary server located in New Jersey to shut it down. Before leaving, they come across a meeting of the billionaires who own the various upload companies.

Among them is David Choak, and Nathan gets a recording of everyone present. He also swipes a VIP key card from one of them, but he is spotted by Choak, who calls for their plan to open Freeyond to be fast-tracked.

The backup Nathan still believes that family day is still happening and doesn’t remember anything beyond the dinner party. He calls up Ingrid wondering where she is, and she rushes into a hug suit rental place to see him.

Freeyond centers open up everywhere so Matteo and Nora head to one of them to convince people not to sign up, while Nathan and Ivan head to New Jersey to shut down the servers.

They also sent the meeting video to Sato so he could help with the case. Nathan arrives at the Freeyond center and sees just a single server for the entire system. Nora and Matteo try to persuade people not to go into the Freeyond clinic but don’t have much luck.

Nathan finds a prerecorded message apologizing for the death of millions of people after a Luddite attack on the Freeyond servers so he releases it early, turning away the people waiting in lines all over the country.

Matteo and Nora rush into the center and gather all the people who have been uploaded already when Detective Sato shows up. He is overcome with greed and plans to sell the video to the Choak after tying up their loose ends.

He shoots Matteo but gets a hole blown through him when Nora pretends to upload Matteo. Nathan and Ivan arrive soon after and they escape with all the hard drives of people.

Episode 2 recap: Strawberry

The news reports cover the supposed terrorist attack by Luddites and attribute Sato’s death to the same incident. Nora and Nathan arrive at a farmhouse to return a young man’s hard drive to his family.

The couple threatens to shoot them at first because they believe that their son died in the terrorist attack, but their younger son shows them a message the man sent before he was going to get uploaded.

They are thankful that their son was returned and invite Nathan and Nora in for dinner. Lucy announces to the rest of the staff that the role of the engineers has been downsized and Aleesha now has the responsibility to teach the A.I. how to deal with residents.

Ingrid is enjoying her time with the backup Nathan and when Tinsley is summoned, she pulls her aside. She asks Tinsley what she did, and Tinsley replies that because she couldn’t find him, she just used a backup copy of him from a few weeks prior.

Ingrid tells Tinsley that since she did something illegal, she has to follow all of Ingrid’s commands or face prosecution. She makes Tinsley take on an ugly avatar to break the news to Nathan that Family Day is canceled and throw in some outfit perks as well.

Nathan and Nora have dinner with the farmer couple, who talk about the dangers of the Luddites, and when Nora tries to tell them the truth, they say that she is the one who is misinformed. She wants to push on but Nathan convinces her to drop it.

The couple also insist that Nora and Nathan stay over since it is pretty late, but they have to stay in separate rooms since they aren’t married. Nora asks Nathan to help with the dishes, but Nathan makes up a reason and leaves.

Nathan sleeps on a bunk bed with the couple’s son, and when asked about the Luddites, he says that they aren’t as dangerous as people make them out to be.

Nora and Nathan flirt a little through the wall and then go to sleep. Aleesha visits Luke and tells him that since she has new responsibilities, he will be getting a new angel.

He says that he’s fine with it, but before he can change his mind, a new angel is already assigned. Bati shows up when summoned, and Luke feels even more dejected.

He spends time watching his memories and ends up erasing memories that make him sad and replacing them with fun children’s cartoons that used to make him happy.

The next morning, Nathan and Nora are taken to the farm to do some manual labor, and Nathan isn’t exactly up for it. Nora has been feeling off ever since Nathan was downloaded, and after some helpful advice, she has a conversation with him.

Ingrid wants to use this second chance to be exactly the kind of woman that Nathan prefers, someone more simple like Nora. She sits down for a meal with Nathan and the guilt of her dishonesty weighs over her.

She finally tells him the truth and he reacts favorably, offering her some hope in their relationship. Aleesha decides to check in on Luke and when she sees that he’s miserable, she visits him.

She tells him that she’s not leaving him forever, and he doesn’t need to erase all the good memories from his mind, even if they’re causing him pain right now.

David sees the backup Nathan and tells him that he saw him outside but Nathan is clueless about this. David begins questioning what he saw and Ivan plays into this thought to throw him off.

Nora tells Nathan that in the initial part of their relationship, she technically worked for him which is why she felt a little aggrieved when he didn’t pick up his slack now that their actually together.

They clear up their conflict and head back home to return the rest of the hard drives.

Review

Third-season syndrome could possibly be a thing, as these episodes are slightly dull and many of the jokes do not land as well as they usually do.
The foiling of the Freeyond plan and the betrayal and death of Detective Sato feel rushed and underdeveloped since they are resolved right in the first episode. After creating such a clever, politically motivated evil plan it is a little disappointing that it is thwarted with ease.
Aleesha’s arc doesn’t seem as significant or connected to the main narrative, and while there is obviously room for it to improve, this isn’t the strongest start.