Today I choose to try something different (TIC00058f)
I mentioned that I took the night off yesterday, vegged and watched TV. I was fighting a migraine tonight, but managed to hold it together until about 9:00 p.m. Today was Andrea’s birthday, and we did lunch together, take-out for dinner plus a nice cake that Jacob chose from the store (our one last year was a bit of a first-time outcome, so she deserves a good one this year), and no gift cuz it hasn’t arrived yet. We played a game after supper, watched some more TV, and then Jacob and Andrea headed to bed.
I was meditating on some work-related news I got today, and I didn’t really feel like concentrating on anything puzzle-like with my website or sorting bins. My ribs are out of alignment, I can’t get them to slide back in, and chiro isn’t until Friday.
So I was looking for something “different” to try. I have been binging Lost and Monk alternately over the last few weeks, but I was looking for a change. They’re both good shows, but they aren’t grabbing me to the level that their popularity would suggest. Lost is interesting, but also a little soap opera-y; Monk is decent but a few of the cases have been blindingly obvious from the moment Monk said “he’s the guy” and then there’s 20 more minutes or more to get to the solution. One was obvious for the how after the death, 60 seconds in, and another lasted about 90 seconds.
Amazon has been running ads in between episodes for a couple of other shows, and for one of them (Hanna), I have seen Season 1 but not Season 2. Yet it is a very high-intensity action show, not quite what I was looking for. They keep advertising Knives Out, but I intend at some point to watch that with Andrea. I’ve seen some of it on a preview, but not the whole movie.
Which leads me to a small show called Upload. It’s a bit like the Matrix or Altered Carbon in that a person’s consciousness can be uploaded to the cloud before death. And so there are businesses that basically run SIM-like worlds, where you can live for eternity in the afterlife. A virtual “heaven”, with in-app purchases.
The main character is named Nathan, and he’s played by Robbie Amell. I probably would have passed on the show if it wasn’t for him. Separate from being Stephen Amell’s cousin and hence I’ve seen promos for the show for some time, even before Amazon started flogging it to me, I liked Robbie when he was on a few other shows like The Flash and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.
But truthfully, I like him in just about everything…Alcatraz even if only short-lived; Revenge for a small part; the big lead in the short-lived The Tomorrow People. He sells “nice guy” better than just about anybody else. I’d love to seem him do a version of Heaven Can Wait, although Upload isn’t that far off.
I managed to binge a few episodes, and while some of it is simply dealing with “life after death” and continued contact with the living (he attends his own funeral since he’s basically an app now, and people can talk to him direct). His girlfriend is paying for all of the ongoing costs, and the two of them are trying to figure out how “their life continues” until the two of them are reunited in 60 years when she dies.
But the real “story” divides in two…first and foremost, there is a love story between Nathan and his “customer service rep” Nora. She’s lonely and can’t connect in the real world but she makes a connection with Nathan. Secondly, there is an underlying current of the capitalist nature of continuing to milk people after their death, and the sinister side of the business.
The woman who plays Nora, Andy Allo, is new to me. I’ve seen her in Black Lightning, but I don’t remember her. She has a huge “girl next door” vibe going on, and is awesome.
It isn’t exactly the best show ever, but it’s kind of interesting, and there are a few interesting cameos here and there. CSM is there from X-Files, for instance. And on a different tangent, there is regular ref to sex and hookups and nudity, oh my, which is too bad for the show. It has the potential for some interesting cross-over stuff that would be watchable by a younger audience but not with the extra stuff thrown in that doesn’t seem to ever fit properly I assume they don’t want people thinking it’s some Hallmark RomCom or something or they’re hoping to be sold to HBO? IDK.
Regardless, it fit the bill. A bit of mystery and a whole lot of falling in love. A nice delightful romance to watch and enjoy.
Today I choose to try something different and I quite enjoyed it.
What choices are you making today?
