‘Upload’ Star Andy Allo Breaks Down Nora & Nathan’s Emotional Series Finale Ending

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Upload, Season 4.]

Upload has closed the book on Nathan (Robbie Amell) and Nora’s (Andy Allo) story as the series finale revealed their fate.

As fans will recall, Season 3 saw Nathan downloaded from the digital afterlife into a physical body, but when Nathan’s ex Ingrid (Allegra Edwards) had him copied and reuploaded, it meant there were two Nathans in the world. In Season 3’s cliffhanger ending, one Nathan revealed that the other had been deleted from the system, but which one?

It turned out that Nora’s Nathan was the one seemingly cut from the system, which plunged her into a deep depression as Season 4 opened. But when Nathan started appearing to her, Nora was convinced he was still alive in some shape or form, which led her to investigate alongside Nathan’s friends and even Ingrid, who got her happy ending with her Nathan.

Ultimately, Nora’s Nathan was located, but the wear and tear on his physical body after being imprisoned and tortured led to a steep decline, which left him and Nora only a few moments of togetherness. In the end, they exchanged vows in a virtual world of Nora’s creation as they spent one final perfect day together before Nathan succumbed to his condition.

Despite the death of Nora’s Nathan, he left behind a digital ring drive that seemingly left the door open for a reunion. Below, Allo breaks down the finale, Nathan and Nora’s ending, and much more.

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What was your reaction to reading the finale script? 

Andy Allo: Well, at first, I was quite upset. I really wanted Nora’s Nathan to make it, and it was tough. I just had a different idea of where I saw things going, and Greg [Daniels] was so secretive; he didn’t share anything with us until the last minute, and he has such a great poker face. I went through all the stages of grief. When I finally came into acceptance, I was like, “Wow, this is actually really beautiful.” Being able to let someone go lovingly and coming to that place of like, “Okay, my life can go on. I can live without this person,” and especially when you love someone so much. So I think that was really beautiful.

The ring drive that Nathan leaves Nora after he’s died, is that a copy of his memories or his actual consciousness? Will she use it?

I think it’s memories, but if we go back to Season 1, Episode 1, that’s what was being uploaded, and they were all his memories. [Nora] built his avatar, designed it from there, and imported his memories. So I would say I don’t think it’s a far reach to say she could recreate him and grow another body and download him again. But I feel like in that final scene there, which it’s a cliffhanger, I’d like to imagine that it’s just this sweet thing that she can go back to and relive those moments.

Nora goes through a deep depression at the start of the season while living at Aleesha’s (Zainab Johnson) apartment. Was it fun leaning into the more unbuttoned side of Nora and exploring the apartment dynamics? 

That was a lot of fun. Because we didn’t have a lot of time filming, it was so nice to be put in these situations where we all got to spend more time together and do scenes together that we normally never really got to do. There were these little pockets throughout the seasons, but that was really, really special. I don’t know how fun it was to be depressed all the time. I feel like Nora was grieving so much. And then at the same time, I was also grieving the show coming to an end. So it was this weird double grief, which, honestly, I think really helped.

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What fond memory or aspect of making this show remains prominent in your mind?

I feel like I grew up a lot on this show. I really came into my own as Nora was also coming into her own. So I think the takeaway for me will be so many. Being able to grow up on the show really encapsulates the whole thing. I hadn’t been a lead on a show before, so it gave me the opportunity to step into bigger shoes in a space where sometimes you [question yourself]. And so in that sense, I feel like as an artist and a storyteller, I really came into my own, and Greg really believed in me, even giving me opportunities to shadow and believe in me as a director was really impactful. It was great to see a story from beginning to end, but it doesn’t really end for me in the sense that the things that I learned are long-lasting.

Do you think there’s any lingering resentment towards Ingrid on Nora’s side, as she got her happily ever after with her version of Nathan?

I think throughout the journey, especially in Season 4, [Nora] was coming to terms with [how her] Nathan was different. And that was a whole different person. I have resentments. I don’t think Nora does. I think she definitely came to a place of peace and serenity around it. And I think that’s one of the beautiful things about how the season ended and the show ended is the friendship between Ingrid and Nora.

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When the season ends, Nora is seen sitting in a cafe similar to the one she brought Nathan to in her own virtual world. Is she living a virtual life, or is that reality?

I feel like it is reality. I do feel like she went to Montreal to start fresh and found a cafe that looks very similar to what she designed, but I think VR worlds are based a lot on what’s real. So I imagine there’s this cool cafe in Montreal that I want to build out and go there. For her to go to the real thing and see it, I think, is really special and just giving herself that permission to live her life.

What was it like shooting those final scenes between Nathan and Nora with Robbie Amell?

It was just an emotional roller coaster. I was so happy that we were getting to experience that, and there were these moments of levity of him even looking in the reflection and flexing. Those were such sweet moments. But then saying goodbye. It was twofold because those scenes, especially the bedroom kind of goodbye scene, were scheduled on the last day or so of filling everything. They put those specifically at the end, and so as Nora is saying goodbye, I was also saying goodbye. It was just a heart-wrenching day of saying goodbye to Nathan, but also saying goodbye to Upload.

Upload, Seasons 1-4, Streaming now, Prime Video