Greg Daniels on ‘Upload’: ‘Technology is not the villain’

As the second season of the darkly comic web series drops, the creator says there are two sides to everything in life. Daniels says while technology has given us the vaccine, it has also given us Facebook  

In the 2033 world of  Upload, one can upload one’s memories and live forever in a digital afterlife. When a computer programmer Nathan (Robbie Amell) dies, his rich girlfriend Ingrid (Allegra Edwards) suggests he upload to the exclusive Lake View. He is at first happy with the state of affairs but begins to have doubts about his death and feelings for his human handler, or angel, Nora (Andy Allo). The first season ended with some questions being answered while throwing a whole load of new ones. 

Series creator Greg Daniels describes  Upload as primarily a love story. Speaking over a video call, Daniels says, “It is also a murder mystery. And depending on the scene, it could be a cautionary tale or an optimistic look at what technology could do for us.”  

Matter of perspective  

Daniels, who has co-created  Parks and Recreation and  King of the Hill, apart from working on  Saturday Night Live and  The Simpsons, says there are two sides to everything in life. “There is a good side and a way it can be misused.  Upload is about a bunch of characters falling in love, attempting to survive their circumstances and thrive.” 

Technology is not the villain in the show, says the 58-year-old writer and director. “Technology can give you great things like the vaccine. It can also give you things like Facebook which, eliminates journalism and democracy, and increases social anxiety. There are pluses and minuses to technology and in  Upload we are trying to look at both and have some fun with it.” 

You must remember this 

Like in much of science fiction, memory plays an important part in identity. “What are we if not our memories? In  Upload, when people are uploaded into a digital afterlife, they have no body. Their avatars are really the sum of their memories that have been recorded and put to life in an environment. Nathan, for instance, examines his memories and finds that he does not have access to some of them. When he does have access later, it changes his whole view of who he is.”