While marketed as a quirky relationship drama, 'Penelope' heavily foregrounds identity over nuanced character work. Several key characters seem chosen for diversity box-checking rather than genuine narrative fit, and their arcs often feel defined by those traits. This emphasis frequently overshadows plot depth or organic development, creating more of a showcase than a story.

The show treats traditional ideas about family, gender, and community with thinly veiled irony or outright subversion. Masculine roles are routinely undermined or lampooned, and almost every traditional family structure is questioned or deconstructed. Religion, when it appeared, was played for laughs. Classic cultural anchors get the short shrift here.

There’s barely a whisper of dissent from the show’s progressive outlook, any character voicing non-ideological points gets painted as out-of-touch, backward, or the butt of the joke. Dialogue and storylines quickly shut down any meaningful debate. The result is a glaring absence of worldview diversity.