Upload: A Potential Exploding Head, Love Squares, and AI Make Season 3 the Wildest Yet

[Warning: This story contains spoilers for the first two episodes of Upload Season 3. Read at your own risk!]

Being duplicated doesn't always translate to double the fun. In the case of Upload, things are about to get a lot more complicated in Season 3. 

The first two episodes of the Prime Video sci-fi comedy, which are now available to stream, set up a rocky roadmap ahead as Nathan (Robbie Amell) — who's been freshly downloaded into his body — and Nora (Andy Allo) navigate the awkward hiccups that come with a relationship in its infancy stages, while trying to stop a large-scale conspiracy. After learning Horizen used Freeyond as a cover to eliminate 10 million votes, and that they never planned to keep the promise of uploading people's scans to the one lone server, it left Nathan no choice but to release the truth to the public, just in time to save Nathan's mother, who was seconds away from getting zapped in the chair.

Also working against them? The not-so-tiny threat of Nathan's head exploding at any given moment (yes, really!) as the added cost of being resurrected in his physical form. Meanwhile, a backup copy of Nathan was digitally restored in Lakeview, giving Ingrid (Allegra Edwards) a redo at their romance but adding a whole new wrinkle to the situation. Add in subplots of artificial intelligence learning (a timely topic, given the actors' strike) and capitalistic greed, and there's a whole lot to, ahem, Upload.

Director Jeffrey Blitz, who helmed the first two episodes of Season 3, breaks down key moments from the Prime Video series and what lies ahead in the eight-episode season.

There's a ticking time bomb in Nathan's head (literally) that adds a layer of danger to his circumstances. We get a glimpse in Episode 1 of what could happen to Nathan should things reach catastrophic levels. How does the continued threat that he could explode at any moment affect moves or decisions he makes?

Jeff Blitz: What would you do if you were a human time bomb? If every day might be your last? For Nathan, it supercharges every decision he makes — and it makes the depth of his love for Nora even clearer. Like his every action says, "Today might be my last day… and I'm spending it with you." What could be more weirdly, terrifyingly romantic?

Nathan and Nora learn that Freeyond has been misleading the public with a promise of "free uploads" in exchange for a utopian digital afterlife. In actuality, it's a cover for eliminating millions of votes in a much larger conspiracy that had been planned long before they got into the picture. Are they facing their toughest enemy? What's their next move?

Blitz: Hard to imagine a bigger, more sinister threat. It's Nora and Nathan, and a few roguish allies looking to take on a vastly more powerful shadowy group. They have a lot working against them. But in their favor: Nathan and Nora are forced to be scrappy and surprising in their counterattacks. Also working in their favor: Upload is fundamentally a great comedy so the odds are pretty good that either they'll find ways to triumph or, you know, that their shocking failure will be mind-bogglingly funny.

Amid all of the life-and-death stuff they're dealing with, Nathan and Nora can actually physically date and they take full advantage. What challenges do they face as they figure out if a relationship is feasible?

Blitz: I once tried to long-distance date someone who lived in Anchorage and when we finally met, it became apparent I was not about to join the mileage plan with Alaska Air. That's the challenge for Nora and Nathan. He's fallen in love with a woman he knows only as a digitized creation who comes to help him in his afterlife. She's fallen for a digital avatar of a person, a version of Nathan who can change himself with the press of a button. But the real Nathan in real Nora's world? Those are different people, and they come with all the hiccups and smells and weirdnesses that all actual people do. Will Nora come to tolerate, embrace, come to love the most authentic, mortal version of Nathan? Will he find his feelings for the real Nora match the angel he's come to know? That's some of this season's fun.

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Adding to the complication is the presence of a back-up version of Nathan in Lakeview, who is six months "younger" than the other Nathan. How does the presence of back-up Nathan shake things up? 

Blitz: There are all sorts of things about the idea of a digital afterlife that are really entertaining, but the more you think about the actual possibility of it, it's totally terrifying too. Back-up copies of yourself living different lives may seem like a wonderful way to multitask, but when there are versions of you that aren't all on the same page, that maybe are competing with you, things get messy.

It takes a minute for Ingrid to warm up to the fact that (back-up) Nathan has returned. By the end of Episode 2, she walks back her plan to delete this version of her ex after they come to a mutual understanding. What is she hoping will be different this time?

Blitz: For me, Allegra's portrayal of Ingrid is a study in determination. Could be very misguided determination, but when she sets her mind to something, everybody better get out of her way. Yes, her shot at love with Nathan did not work. Really, it did not. It was a spectacular flame-out. And yet Ingrid is a picture-perfect opportunist and the digital world of Upload is full of opportunities.

We haven't gotten there yet in the season, but the trailer hints that Nora eventually becomes enamored with back-up Nathan. That potentially introduces a complex love square between her, Nathan, other Nathan, and Ingrid. What can you tease?

Blitz: I think I can say that in the future, the square will be one of the simpler geometries of love.

Artificial intelligence has been a sticking point in Hollywood, especially lately. It was a major worry for writers and is still a concern for actors amid their ongoing strike. Has growing public interest in AI impacted how you view the stories Upload is exploring?  

Blitz: Upload invites viewers to start to grapple with some very challenging quandaries of our future and our present, like AI, through a comedy lens. 

As Season 3 moves along, what do you want audiences to know?

Blitz: If people want to laugh at the weird, ungraspable future before it arrives for real, now's the time and this is the show. Enjoy it while you can!

The first two episodes of Upload Season 3 are streaming now on Prime Video, with two episodes dropping every Friday until the finale on Nov. 10.