Spoilers below for Prime Video’s Upload Season 2, so be warned if you haven’t yet watched!
The first season of Prime Video's Upload delivered the kind of hilariously glitch-filled (and occasionally deadly) future that one might expect from one of the biggest tech companies in the world. Season 2 has provided an equally bonkers journey into the digital afterlife and the reality surrounding it, and even with fewer episodes to explore, creator Greg Daniels unleashed a slew of new details and twists that ranged from “somewhat innocently horrifying” to “inarguably heinous.” From the A.I. Guy’s nightmarish visage on the Prototykes babies to the DreamHub website streaming the uploads’ subconscious thoughts to the shocking reveal that Freeyond is being used for voter manipulation, Upload went all out in following up on Season 1's cliffhanger ending.
CinemaBlend spoke with Upload’s cast going into the second season’s premiere — including Robbie Amell, Andy Allo, Kevin Bigley, and Zainab Johnson — and as seen in the video above, I had to ask everybody what they thought they most disturbing elements were that were introduced in Season 2. Here’s what Robbie Amell had to say:
I thought the I thought the Prototyke was hilarious, but Freeyond was the grossest. I was like, this just feels so real, and so on-brand just in the world right now. It's like this is messed up and I could totally see it happening.
In a manner that somewhat mirrored the two actors’ close-knit relationship on the show, Andy Allo echoed Amell’s thoughts, and couldn’t keep from laughing just at the thought of actor Owen Daniels’ face on the Prototykes. In her words:
Absolutely, yeah. I think seeing Owen as the baby A.I. guy was just really disturbing. [Laughs.] But yeah, I absolutely second what Robbie said. Freon was just crazy.
I don't think anybody will be able to refute the fact — or Fact with a capital F, even — that the Prototyke scenes provide instant discomfort and slight nausea, as well as an innate motivation to put one's hand over its face. It's impossible not to want it to stop existing!
Of course, both Robbie Amell and Andy Allo are also correct in their assertions that Freeyond is the top dog (or bottom dog?) for its plot to convince poor and homeless people to upload their consciousnesses without charge, namely so it would remove all of those citizens from taking part in voting. Considering how sensitive the topic of voting is these days, it's not so hard to understand where Greg Daniels and his creative team came up with the idea.
But let's bring things back around to the horror of babies that have small adult faces on them. Kevin Bigley, who plays Nathan's always-entertaining Lakeview BFF Luke, did give the DreamHub app props for wrecking privacy, but the Prototykes once again earned a high honor. According to Bigley:
Isn't that a good sign when you really can't pick a more disturbing aspect of this show? I think that [DreamHub] certainly is, probably, the most invasive. I'd say Prototykes is the biggest abomination out of everything. But yeah, and even just the idea of uploading and just zeroing off somebody's head is pretty disgusting in and of itself. So it's really hard. It's kind of a pick-em.
Co-star Zainab Johnson, who plays Luke's ever-flummoxed angel Aleesha, shared those opinions as well. It says something about the weirdness of Prototykes that Johnson still went with that even though the DreamHub storyline meant Luke's naughty dreams about Aleesha were online for any and all to see. (I guess it technically doesn't count as a nude leak if it's just someone's dreamlike version?) In any case, here's how the actress put it:
Yeah, yeah. I can't decide. Obviously like, Nick, if you've been able to see a bit of the season, you know why it's especially problematic, something like DreamHub, for Aleesha. But the Prototykes, the Prototykes. Even on set, even shooting scenes for the Prototykes, some of our reactions are genuine reactions.
Kevin Bigley then shared a hilarious story about him and Zainab Johnson watching a Prototykes scene for the first time, but before the visual effects had been added in, which created a whole other level of grossness for all to endure. Hilariously calling the whole thing "disgusting," Bigley described the situation as such:
I would even say, Z, you and I were both included on this when they were first doing the Prototykes. So we got to see the first kind of cuts of the season, and when they first showed the Prototyke, it was a baby without a face. So they were gonna put Owen Daniels', the A.I. Guy's, face on there, and it was just faceless flesh palette, or this canvas of flesh, and everyone just was like, 'Ah! Oh, God!' Like we just recoiled. And Greg laughed his ass off. He thought it was so super funny, because he was like, 'That's just a placeholder. We're gonna put Owen's face on there. But our reaction got him thinking, which is an interesting perspective from a father to be like, 'Which is worse to have on this baby? No face at all, or my son? [Laughs.] Which one?And so he asked Z and I. We were like, 'I think, no offense, but maybe your son. Maybe put Owen on there.'
Absolutely nothing against Owen Daniels, but my goodness, does he have the perfect features to place onto the face of a trauma-inspiring digital infant. I feel like that's almost a compliment when viewed from a very specific point of view. And that viewpoint would be from behind, where the little bastard's ugly mug can be avoided. And even though I say "little" there, I am not just limiting it to the baby version, as every age range that Daniels' Prototyke reached sparked another set of discomforted shivers.
For those who somehow can't get enough of the Prototykes, both seasons of Amazon Studios' Upload are available to stream now on Prime Video for those with a subscription. While waiting for hopeful news about Season 3's chances of existing, be sure to check out some of the other best shows on the streaming service, and head to our 2022 TV premiere schedule to see what else is arriving on the small screen soon.
