TV Show review
November 22, 2017 · TV-MA · Ended
Woke Score
Lower is better
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Godless.
Woke representation / casting
The all-women town and tough female characters (especially Mary Agnes in pants taking practical leadership) plus the visible lesbian relationship stand out to viewers, though the premise fits the mining-accident story logic and casting avoids obvious mismatches or heavy DEI signaling.
Woke political dialogue
No modern activist language, identity lectures, or political messaging appears; all dialogue stays in period Western style centered on revenge, family loyalty, and survival.
Identity-driven story themes
The women running and defending La Belle plus the central lesbian romance for a key character add clear gender and queer visibility, yet these remain supporting elements rather than the main driver of the outlaw revenge plot.
Western institutional / cultural critique
The villain uses religion cynically and a mining company tries to exploit the town, but these stay classic Western themes of lawlessness and personal sin without activist framing of patriarchy, capitalism, or colonialism as present-day systemic evils.
Review
Godless is a 2017 Netflix Western miniseries created, written, and directed by Scott Frank. It follows a young outlaw on the run who hides in a remote New Mexico mining town left almost entirely to women after a deadly accident, while his violent former gang leader hunts him down. The core story delivers classic revenge, survival, and redemption themes with strong acting and wide-open landscapes. Audience-visible elements include marketing that pushed a "No Man's Land" female-ensemble angle and a clear lesbian romance subplot for one of the main women characters.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. This is an original story with no established characters, source material, or historical figures altered for identity or DEI reasons.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Some viewers and online posts criticized the marketing hype around female empowerment and the premise as unrealistic or forced for the era; complaints stayed limited and did not become a major public controversy.
Creator track record context
Scott Frank and the rest of the key team carry low cached woke scores with no pattern of activist, identity-driven, or social-justice projects.
Production
