Started November 12, 2020 · Ended · Based on 3 seasons, 24 episodes through April 5, 2024 · TV-14 · 45 min
Alex Rider is a teenage boy who gets recruited by a secret branch of the British intelligence agency MI6 to become a spy. He goes on dangerous missions, solves mysteries, and tries to protect his friends. The show updates the original books by changing the race of several main characters to be more diverse. It also adds a prominent female teenage hacker as a main ally for the hero.
Community feedback
Was our 43% Woke rating accurate?
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Alex Rider.
Woke representation / casting
The television show features a highly diverse cast that differs from the original books. Prominent characters like Jack Starbright and Sabina Pleasance are played by minority actors. The show also created Kyra, a skilled teenage girl hacker, to give the story a stronger female presence. These updates align with modern television guidelines for diversity. However, they are treated as natural parts of the world and do not distract from the spy thriller plot.
45%
Woke political dialogue
The dialogue is strictly focused on the spy plot, action, and character relationships. Characters do not talk about modern social justice, privilege, or systemic issues. The script stays faithful to the genre by focusing on high-stakes missions and survival.
Production
0%
Identity-driven story themes
The storyline is entirely driven by teenage espionage, family loss, and government secrets. There are no plots that focus on gender, race, or sexuality as systemic barriers or struggles. The characters are defined by their actions and skills rather than their identities.
0%
Western institutional / cultural critique
While MI6 is portrayed as cold, secretive, and willing to exploit a teenager, this is a standard spy fiction trope rather than a modern activist attack on Western systems. The villains are generic power-hungry billionaires and extremists. The show does not critique capitalism, traditional family values, or Western culture.
10%
Woke character or canon changes
Several major changes were made to the source novels to update the story for modern screens. Jack Starbright was changed to a black woman, and Sabina Pleasure was renamed and race-swapped to a British Indian girl. The Point Blanc boarding school was changed from all-boys to co-ed to include Kyra, a brand-new female character. The apartheid-era background of the book's villains was also replaced with generic neo-Nazi themes.
50%
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Some readers and online commentators complained that the race-swapping of main characters and the creation of Kyra felt like forced diversity. They argued these changes were made to check modern political boxes. This criticism remained small and confined to online forums, as the general audience praised the show for its dark tone and action.
30%
Creator track record context
The creative team has a very low activist profile. Author Anthony Horowitz is highly critical of modern sensitivity readers and cancel culture. Creator Guy Burt and the main directors maintain professional, genre-focused histories. A few producers have minor links to standard diversity programs, but the overall team remains highly neutral.
11%
TV Show · 2019
An antiquities expert teams up with an art thief to catch a terrorist who funds his attacks using stolen artifacts.
TV Show · 2017
Go deep into the clandestine world of the legendary brotherhood of warrior monks known as The Knights Templar.
TV Show · 2016
Bob Lee Swagger is an expert marksman living in exile who is coaxed back into action after learning of a plot to kill the president.
TV Show · 2022
High school soccer players from across Japan gather for a controversial project designed to create the best — and most egoistic — striker in the world.
TV Show · 2016
Even though two brothers are completely separated from each other after the imprisoning of their father and the kidnapping of their twin brother, they meet by coincidence years…
TV Show · 2018
When CIA analyst Jack Ryan stumbles upon a suspicious series of bank transfers his search for answers pulls him from the safety of his desk job and catapults him into a deadly…
TV Show · 2016
After a chance meeting in a hospital, an ardent soldier falls for a gifted surgeon. Opposing philosophies tear them apart, but fate has other plans.
TV Show · 2020
Desperate to take care of his pregnant wife before a terminal illness can take his life, Dodge Maynard accepts an offer to participate in a deadly game where he soon discovers…
