Counterpart

The main story themes focus on classical philosophical questions about choice, fate, and meeting alternative versions of oneself, rather than modern social justice. However, some subplots feature identity-driven elements. This includes Baldwin's search for herself and her on-screen lesbian romances, alongside Naya Temple's perspective as a Muslim woman working in a high-stakes intelligence environment.

The show's criticism is directed at cold, secretive government bureaucracies and Cold War espionage tactics, which is standard for the genre. There are some portrayals of weaker, compromised men contrasted with highly competent female operatives, but this serves the psychological thriller plot rather than a modern feminist or anti-Western political critique.

The show did not cause a massive mainstream political backlash, but some conservative viewers and online tracking sites flagged it due to the inclusion of lesbian sex scenes and romantic subplots. Niche complaints argued that the queer romance subplots felt out of place and unnecessary to the main espionage narrative.

Creator Justin Marks has a very low score of 7, with no public record of social justice activism. While a few writers and producers on the crew have a history of supporting LGBTQ+ and diversity-forward storytelling, the majority of the large creative team focuses strictly on conventional genre storytelling and physical production.