Is Penny Dreadful: City of Angels woke?
TV Show · 2020
Penny Dreadful: City of Angels has a wokeness score of 8/10, which we rate as Strongly Ideological. Woke messaging is very prominent and often feels forced or shoehorned in. Characters and plot are primarily shaped to serve the ideology. Many viewers feel the agenda overshadows the entertainment.
Key points
- Explicit parallels drawn between 1938 LA racism/Nazism and 2020 political issues by creator.
- Mexican-American protagonist and community positioned as victims of systemic white oppression and urban development.
- Supernatural demon Magda drives plot by fomenting racial conflict and exploiting progressive-era prejudices for ideological messaging.
Wokeness analysis
Penny Dreadful: City of Angels centers its narrative on 1938 Los Angeles racial tensions, the construction of the Arroyo Seco Parkway displacing Mexican-American communities, and the rise of Nazism, framing these as deliberate parallels to contemporary issues like xenophobia, police brutality, and political demagoguery. Creator John Logan explicitly stated the show was designed to reflect 2020 events, including the marginalization of ethnic communities and foreign interference in elections, with the story existing to highlight systemic racism against Latinos as the core conflict. The protagonist Tiago Vega, the LAPD's first Mexican-American detective, repeatedly confronts institutional white supremacy, while subplots involve activist protests against development projects portrayed as tools of oppression, lynchings by police, and a demon character Magda (Natalie Dormer) who weaponizes femininity and whispers racist incitement to advance a race war. Diversity is foregrounded through a Chicano family at the center, a Jewish partner, pachuco culture, and critiques of white authority figures like corrupt councilmen and Nazi sympathizers. Supernatural elements serve the ideological plot rather than driving independent entertainment, with dialogue and finales delivering on-the-nose commentary equating historical events directly to modern America. This heavy-handed approach prioritizes social commentary on identity, gentrification, and anti-fascism over pure storytelling, leading many viewers to perceive the agenda as overshadowing the horror-noir premise.
Plot
Set in 1938 Los Angeles, the series follows Tiago Vega, the LAPD's first Mexican-American detective, and his Jewish partner Lewis Michener as they investigate a gruesome murder amid rising racial tensions. The plot intertwines the murder case with Mexican-American folklore featuring Santa Muerte and the shape-shifting demon Magda, the construction of the Arroyo Seco Parkway threatening Chicano neighborhoods, Nazi sympathizers in the German-American Bund, and radio evangelism. Supernatural forces exacerbate real-world conflicts including police brutality, community protests, and political corruption in a city on the brink of chaos.
Analyzed by AI on September 7, 2026