Upload Season 4 hit Amazon Prime Video with just four episodes, and star Robbie Amell has touched on the decision in a recent interview. From 2020 to 2025, Amazon Prime Video subscribers have enjoyed four seasons of Upload, a near-future sci-fi comedy drama from The Office creator Greg Daniels. The series stars The Flash actor Robbie Amell (brother of Arrow star Stephen Amell) as Nathan Brown, who dies prematurely in 2033 but lives on in a digital afterlife.
In this virtual world, he bonds with his living handler, Andy Allo's Nora Antony, and remains under the thumb of his obsessive living girlfriend, Allegra Edwards' Ingrid Kannerman. After five years, Upload is ending with its fourth and final season, but, in a confusing twist, is wrapping up the tale in just a four-episode run.
Why Upload Season 4 Is Only 4 Episodes
Robbie Amell addressed Upload Season 4 only being four episodes long in an interview with Mama's Geeky, promising that they are "great episodes." The Upload star clarified that "the series finale was written as a series finale," confirming the show's fate wasn't sprung upon them, and they were allowed to resolve the story in a satisfying way and without dangling cliffhangers:
"What will be interesting is it’s only four episodes, sadly, but they’re four great episodes, and it means the final season moves very quick. The series finale was written as a series finale. Greg wrote it. It’s beautiful."
Interestingly, as Amell described the four-episode count as "[sad]" and not that Season 4 "moves very quickly," it seems likely that having such a short final season may not have always been the plan for Upload.
When Upload was renewed for a fourth and final season in March 2024, creator Greg Daniels explained in a statement (via Deadline) that, from the beginning, he always had "the story arced out over four seasons:"
“When I conceived Upload many years ago, I had the story arced out over four seasons, so I am thrilled to make the ending the fans deserve and the characters and creative team have been working towards.”
While Season 4 was always the end of the line for Upload, that isn't to say this was exactly what Greg Daniels envisioned for the series' conclusion. The slashed episode count and extreme pacing, which many have criticized as rushed, have some wondering if Amazon placed limits on the Upload team.
Having struggled to pick up steam with Season 3, Amazon may have thrown the Upload team a bone with its final renewal, allowing them to complete the four-season arc on a reduced episode count and lower budget.
Notably, Upload creator Greg Daniels is a major figure in the comedy TV space, having been behind The Office, Parks & Recreation, and King of the Hill. While Daniels will next be busy with The Paper at Peacock, Amazon may have also been eager to remain in his good books for any future projects.ar
Had Amazon not allowed Upload to continue, it certainly would have faced an uproar from angry fans after Season 3 ended on a jaw-dropping twist cliffhanger.
Despite facing an abbreviated final season, Upload got to finish its tale, and all four seasons are streaming on Amazon Prime Video, featuring Robbie Amell's Nathan, Andy Allo's Nora, Allegra Edwards' Ingrid, and many more.
Upload Stars Explain the Amazon Show's Struggles: 'The Little Engine That Could'
Despite having dropped from eight to four episodes going into the final season, actress Allegra Edwards explained to The Wrap how it felt "unheard of" to end with a complete story on streaming. This is especially impressive given that Upload premiered in 2020, just months after the COVID-19 pandemic began, causing delays to Season 2, only to survive and contend with the 2023 Hollywood strikes:
"It’s unheard of! Especially for a comedy on like — these streaming platforms can be so saturated, you know? It’s been a gift of grace the whole time, even when it felt kind of dire, and ‘Gosh, the strike could really put us back,’ or ‘Is COVID going to shut us down?’ A lot of these big questions. But boy, this has been the Little Engine That Could."
While Upload was originally met with solid viewership, COVID-19 particularly "added tons of time" between freshman and sophomore seasons. Regardless, through all the fears about the show's future, Amell told how "Greg was always so chill about everything, and he kind of set the tone for everyone else."
While the strikes didn't delay Upload Season 3 as writing and production were already complete, it may have impacted its viewership. Amell noted that Season 3 brought the first fears of a potential cancellation as they "couldn't promote the strike season," leaving some fans unaware it had even been released:
"It never seemed too scary that we weren’t going to [return] until maybe after the third season, because we couldn’t promote the strike season. It was really tough to know what the numbers were, how we were doing, and if anyone was watching it. And I still have people come up to me who love the show and ask about season 3. And I’m like, 'Season 3 is available. You can go watch it right now.'"
Upload director Sarah Boyd previously told The Direct how everyone was "going to be on the edge of [their] seats" waiting for a Season 4 decision, noting how it would be a "humungous disappointment" if the story was never finished.
Amell pointed out that, after every Upload season, there was a period of "several months" of "looking at the numbers and the ratings" before a renewal decision came and allowed writing to commence:
"It’s not like they ever said, ‘Oh, you did such a good job Season 1, we’re going to pick up Season 2 right now. It was always a process of looking at the numbers and the ratings. The season would have to be over for several months, and then they would pick up the next season, which we would have to start writing."
Actor Andy Allo also chimed in and revealed her conflict surrounding Upload's four-season run, in that she partly feels they have been "lucky" but also that they "got the tough end of the stick" in facing so many external challenges:
“In some ways, I feel like we’re lucky. In some ways, I feel like, man, we got the tough end of the stick, you know? But we’ve been so resilient, and it’s been really cool to see how our fans and the audience have just rallied around us.”
Read more about Upload's tragic series finale and its unexpected deaths.
