Upload Season 3 Episode 3 and 4 give us a little bit of that Lakeview fun with CyberDiscount Day, which honestly feels like something that could exist in our current reality and sort of does if you think about Thanksgiving and Black Friday rolling into one. Consumerism, am I right?
And amid the celebrations, Nora takes up a remote job to make some extra cash (honestly, how does she still have a gig there?) and realizes that there’s a rebooted version of her beau in the digital afterlife. She later informs Nathan who is strangely jealous of the copy.
It’s an amusing realization, but they have much bigger and pressing issues to deal with for the time being like making sure that OG Nathan survives his download. (But in the event that he doesn’t, there’s always a backup! Obviously, that’s a joke…).
Nathan’s nosebleeds are definitely concerning, but when Nora witnesses them, she immediately leaps into action and locates the doctor responsible for the first, unsuccessful, download. The doctor gives Nathan some pills and warns him that if things begin to escalate, he needs to re-upload before his head explodes (no biggie), but as I’ve questioned with any and every outsider thus far—can he be trusted?
Nora had every right to be hesitant about Nathan taking the unknown drug as he seems to be the only living and breathing example that downloading can work… at least for now. It redeems him in the eyes of the public and his peers, so who knows what he’ll do with this information?
As for Nathan, he’s semi-enjoying his new lease on life, though it’s not exactly a walk in the park, which is kind of what he was used to in the afterlife.
Everyone keeps making side digs at his “weight gain,” which is hilarious considering his fragile ego and how much stock he’s always put into his looks. He may be a changed man, sure, but it’s hard to shake some insecurities.
There’s also the fact that they are pretty much dirt-poor so he’s forced to work any job he can possibly find isn’t exactly ideal.
He finds out that Ingrid also has a job—a shocking fact to anyone who knows her—after she was forced to find a way to make money after her family cut her off for being “too obsessed” with Nathan. Lakeview Nathan doesn’t love her any less now that she doesn’t have money, which is sweet, but OG Nathan is surprised to see her when he goes to apply for a gig at the suit rental store.
It makes sense that this would be her choice of job—retail is horrible, but at least she’s always just a suit away from being with her dream man!
Things with Ingrid and OG Nathan were very much over, but the Lakeview Nathan is completely in love with her, even if he does briefly question where their relationship is going with the shady man when they break the rules and visit the first floor, the original version of Lakeview when it was first starting.
I love how many points of Lakeview there are to explore—and each more unhinged than the next—but it was fun to see Ingrid and Nathan dabble in a little mischief together. It’s almost like poker night all over again, except this is really Ingrid, and this is the relationship Nathan’s always wanted with her.
Of course, their adventure wasn’t without its complications as Tinsley panicked when she noticed yet another Nathan was missing, so she restored a third copy of Nathan but immediately destroyed it once she got a “duplicate” message. Nathan III turned into a puddle of jello blocks, but I have a feeling that’s not the last we’ve seen of him. There has to be a consequence to her actions, otherwise, what would prevent the “angels” from rebooting the subjects every time they got too advanced?
Reduced housing has proven to have many pitfalls for Nathan and Nora’s relationship, including preventing them from being intimate with each other—though the scenes of Nathan’s mom permitting them to have sex while she just turned the other way was too funny.
They are going through the very real ups and downs that come with no longer being in a long-distance relationship; in their case, they are actually living in the same realm. It’s not going to be easy, no one expected that, but it does feel like the magic has fizzled out a little bit. However, they still feel very much committed to making it work, and that’s the first step to a successful and long-lasting relationship.
They are learning a lot about each other, particularly that being honest isn’t Nathan’s strong suit. He says they can crash at his “buddy from college” Holden’s place only for Nora to find out Holden is an ex-girlfriend. It’s not an ideal meeting, but it seems like Holden might be someone who can help them navigate their difficult new reality and even expose Freeyond for being a corrupt digital afterlife funded by billionaires hoping to rig the election. Again, I hope we can trust her!
Then there’s the issue of what Freeyond is up to next (and side note: what happened to Nathan’s former partner?!). Choak may be old but he’s certain he doesn’t have “digital dementia” as he claims to have seen Nathan cleaning the bathroom during one of Freeyond’s top-secret meetings. He divulges the information to Ingrid’s father, who, in turn, bans him from the upcoming meeting. And that’s not all—after he informs Ivan that he’s behind his little Roomba vacuum cleaner and has so much data on him, the final shot of the episode finds Ivan clutching Choak’s drive…. did he remove him from Lakeview?
So much is happening in and around Lakeview that’s somehow eluding Lucy, but given that she nearly fell out of the car after falling asleep on the way to a corporate event, I’m not even surprised.
Aleesha has become Lucy’s right-hand woman after getting promoted at Horizen (and falling out with Nora). And she’s finally getting a storyline of her own that is intriguing and also concerning. After the corporate meeting, she hooks up with Karina (Roswell, New Mexico’s Jeanine Mason), who seemingly wields a lot of power… but, you know what I’m going to say, can she be trusted? It’s also a huge disappointment for fans shipping Aleesha and Luke, I know, but the upload in love with his angel and vice versa has already been explored so this offers a refreshing take. And maybe Karina will be an asset for Nora and Nathan in the episodes to come.
Aleesha also pitches the Founders Grove committee a plan to modernize Lakeview—and she’s the only person who makes any sense at all. If this is heaven, why would anyone want the crusty atmosphere that’s being offered? Lucy better watch out because “Leeci” is coming for her job. And she might just be good at it since she actually cares about Lakeview and the residents living there. Let’s just hope she doesn’t make the AI too powerful, though it’s kind of nice that she’s humanizing them.
Luke is also getting his own storyline, seemingly disconnected from his obsession with Nathan. After being informed that upload funding for veterans is ending, he takes matters into his own hands, venturing out beyond the limits to get a sales job in exchange for bitcoin, which is where he saw a wanted poster for Lakeview’s AI. Will he turn on the AI guy for a chance at the top prize? Also—who needs a digital afterlife where you continuously have to worry about the same things you did on Earth?! It’s such a bummer.
And for the question on everyone’s mind—what happens when Lakeview Nathan learns the truth about what happened to OG Nathan and his angel? He believes Nora deserted him and disappeared, but he has no idea that he chose her instead of Ingrid. Will that change things for him? Will Nora be in a love triangle with two Nathan’s?
What did you think of the episode?