Easter eggs

## References to Tim Minchin's works

Lucky largely borrowed his biography (raised in Perth, pianist and songwriter) and personality (scientific and sceptical mindset, generally nice person) from Tim himself and there are many references to Tim's work in the series.

* Lucky's and Toby's former group was named "Dog Swamp". Tim's old group (with his brother Dan playing guitar) was named "Timmy the Dog".
* "Balsa wood and glue" from "The Aeroplane" lyrics also feature in another Tim's song Greed (Balsa Wood and Glue).
* Lucky says Pete or Brad spilt red wine down his pants/Jeans. These are names of Tim's band members Pete Clements and Brad Webb who he toured Back with. Both were also playing with Tim during his Orchestra tour back in 2010-2011.
* In the queue for the airport, the guy in front has a Che Guevara key ring hanging from his rucksack and tattoo. Tim sings about Che in his song “The Fence”
* The aeroplane scene has Jaxon, “with an ‘x’”, offering Pringles. Pringles are mentioned in the song “I’ll Take Lonely Tonight.”
* Lucky lists what he had from the mini bar when leaving the hotel, one of the items is “chocolate coated peanuts things”, maybe a reference to snickers mentioned in the song “I’ll Take Lonely Tonight”. White wine is also on the list, White Wine in the Sun is Tim’s Christmas song.
* In Fold Meg says she is dressed like "Bob the fucking builder". It's a quote from the song "If you really loved me".
* In Enough's enough Lucky and Meg are waiting for Billie at gate 23A, that is mentioned in the song Airport piano.
* “I’ll Take Lonely Tonight” final chords are played in Enough's enough (right before Lucky gives his talk about puzzle pieces, introduces Billie and Toby to the audience and starts playing the Aeroplane with them).
* Season 1: all these situations in which a variety of people tell Lucky (or Meg) that they used to play an instrument (oboe, French horn, violin, piano) refer back to Tim's early standup, namely the lead-in to "Mitsubishi Colt", where Tim describes similar conversations.
* Lucky's motto "One in a million things happen all the time" is actually a recurring motif on Tim's standup.
* In season 2 Tomatoes Lucky says “something without boutique in the name”, when asking for a drink at the bar. In his song “ I’ll take lonely tonight “ he sings of his “3.5 star boutique hotel”.
* In Tomatoes, Patrick talks about his friend receiving a letter off Queen Elizabeth, which he kept in a draw. Tim received the AM in 2020, maybe he keeps this in a draw too, alongside the cupboard where he keeps his awards?
* ”You’ll find me in the corner playing blues on the piano” is a lyric from Talked Too Much and Stayed Too Long, song. In Tomatoes, we see Lucky playing piano in the care home.
* As Lucky and Meg leave the care home in Tomatoes episode, Lucky says “ “Anyway by the sound of things, she wasn’t, isn’t ya post pictures of your labradoodle kinda person”, which is a reference to Tim, who often posts pictures of his Groodle (golden retriever / poodle cross) Sonny Walters Minchin.
* In Bananas, Duncan is talking to Meg and says “white guys think they can do anything they want”. This is a familiar topic and fear, that Tim expresses in interviews and podcasts, the fear of the cancel culture and awareness that he is in a privileged position and is hyper aware of that when expressing his opinion.

## Plants and payoffs

Plant/payoff (or setup/reveal, or foreshadowing) is the technique in which a writer plants a small detail that later in the script grows into something bigger. There are plenty of those setups in Upright, some of them are obvious, most of them — not so much.

* Billie's theme is the one planted early and growing throughout Season 1 and beyond. We can (but most of us don't) hear Billie playing the keyboard in the very first episode, when Lucky is watching the video message from Jen. Then, at the end of the 4th episode, we see more of Jen's video and the theme is continued, but we are still unaware of Billie's existence. In the 5th episode Lucky tells Jen that he wanted to bring the piano to Billie, without mentioning her name, but at this point he just sounds delirious. In the 7th episode Jen's video plays all the way to the end, where we see Billie at the keyboard. And finally, we meet Billie (and hear her performing the theme on Lucky's piano) in the 8th episode. Later, in the second season, the Billie's theme grows into "The Aeroplane" (Tim explains it on Facebook and Tiktok).
* In the end of the 2nd episode Meg asks Lucky if he can hear that his mom is dying while lying on the road and listening (which idea makes them both laugh). In the 5th episode Lucky actually does hear his mom while he lying on the road and she is in coma.
* In the 4th episode Lucky tells Meg that Perth people only want to talk about "how the rest of the country owes them more respect, and how the city centre is really taking off". It turns out to be very accurate, that's exactly what they talk about when Meg makes another attempt to talk about her brother.
* In the 5th episode Joselito hands Lucky a jar full of drugs, with a comment "enough there to kill a camel". Some hours later the drugs come handy for Lucky to euthanize a camel. An encounter with a camel was also foretold by a sign.
* The technique of planting these details and using them later in the story is also known as Chekhov's Gun. It is believed to help in creating a compelling and engaging story, and in setting the pace of the story. In Fold Lucky literally sings a song to the accompaniment of the firing gun, that is introduced a bit earlier and used at that moment as a percussion instrument.
* "Cat's Cradle" theme in the end of the 2nd season. In "Harmless Untruths" the book is first planted (almost literally, though unintentionally) and then revealed as a manual used by Chubba to build his sect. Chubba's harmless untruths include (but aren't limited to) boko-maru ritual, as shown in the end of Enough's enough.
* The visual used to advertise series 2, is Lucky and Meg lying passively in a boat. This could be a reference to Cat’s cradle where the golden boat of Papa Monzano, which has served as his bed, also serves as his coffin as he is cast into the sea. In series one, Lucky, when asked if that is a piano on the back of the ute, he says “no it’s a coffin”. Could this also be a reference to this and the acknowledgement that this is Lucky’s cross he is carrying towards redemption, but fears it may bury him?
* In Tomatoes, a resident is seen looking at a magazine, upside down I think, and the header says Brother and the image is two young people relaxing together. One could be mistaken for Meg and the other Barley.
* At the airport in Tomatoes, Meg is eager to buy some headphones and a pink furry neck cushion, later in the season is echoed with pink furry handcuffs and as the season Opens as Lucky is stuck in the forest

## Echoes, reprises and rhymes

The structure of Upright reminds of some musical form (for now it's a binary form). There are certain recurring and developing themes both inside each season and connecting two seasons together.

* The first season opens and closes with the sounds of piano. Namely, the 1st episode starts inside the piano and we hear the keys rattling. The 8th episode ends with the sound of piano lid being closed (somewhere inside the house).
* The second season opens and closes with Lucky giving concerts.
* In the final episodes of both seasons Lucky is playing and singing a song together with Toby and Billie.
* 3rd episode of both seasons: Meg is dealing with her first period/first pregnancy (never stated explicitly that those were first, yet heavily implied in both cases).
* Exactly in the middle of both seasons (namely, at the very end of the 4th episode) we hear Lucky whispering/shouting "Meg!" right before the screen turns black. It's also the moment when their paths diverge for some time (for some part of the next episode).
* 5th episodes of both seasons: Lucky is explicitly compared to Jesus (or called Jesus) by a woman helping him in his journey.
* In the first season, it's Meg who tries to comfort Lucky telling him that his mom is not dead, though in a coma (the middle of 6th episode). In the second season, it's Lucky who is trying to comfort Meg, telling her that her mom is alive (also the middle of 6th episode).
* Meg, explaining the accident in the 1st episode: "I don't believe in coincidences". Meg, explaining the accident in the 8th episode: "He doesn't believe in mirrors".
* In Bananas, Meg says to the Dr, “I better get a f\*\*\*ing lollipop for this”, this is a carry over from Season 1, when Meg asks for a lollipop, when at the Drs.

## Visual details

* 8th episode. Lucky is wearing a t-shirt from Kalgoorlie with a picture of an excavator pouring coal into a truck. But if you don't look too closely, the picture resembles a crane truck loading a piano into a ute, which actually must have happened in the end of the 7th episode.
* 1st season. Meg is wearing a pendant in the shape of letter M (which is both her name and her brother's name starting letter). In episode 5 Matty (Matty's ghost, actually) is wearing the same pendant.
* At Barney and Barb’s Banana and Llama farm, they have a lot of ‘Merch’ for sale. As Meg and Lucky get led through the facilities there is a random door, with no walls attached, with the label The Secret Garden. This could hint at the Secret ‘Garden’ to follow and possible be a nod to The Secret River, in which Tim appeared as the Character, Smasher.