The show leans heavily into identity-based storytelling, with racial conflict front and center. Characters are often defined primarily by their identity and experiences of oppression, sometimes at the expense of deeper individual development. Classic suspense is frequently interrupted by statements on social injustice, which, depending on your perspective, can feel like thematic overkill.

Traditional cultural institutions, family, neighborhood, law enforcement, are depicted as corrupt or complicit in evil. Masculinity is tied almost exclusively to trauma, and religious faith is treated ambiguously at best. The series revises 1950s suburbia into a clear-cut battleground for modern racial ideology.

Alternative perspectives are rarely shown with nuance. Those outside the central family's struggles are depicted chiefly as villains or caricatures, with little moral ambiguity. There is little space for internal debate or disagreement, everyone is either oppressor or victim, period.