TV Show review
February 7, 2016 · TV-MA
Woke Score
Lower is better
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Letterkenny.
Woke representation / casting
Natural fit for a rural Ontario community with local First Nations and Mennonite groups as they exist in real towns; no evidence of forced diversity or identity swaps.
Woke political dialogue
Scattered jokes poking fun at overly sensitive PC attitudes and extreme right-wing figures in isolated episodes, but the series centers on everyday small-town rivalries and crude banter rather than ideological arguments.
Identity-driven story themes
Touches on acceptance of gay-coded characters and capable women in traditional rural roles, but these emerge organically from community life without serving as central identity-driven plots.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Light affectionate ribbing of city attitudes or modern changes intruding on rural traditions; celebrates local customs, fighting culture, and loyalty without activist-style attacks on broader systems like patriarchy or capitalism.
Review
Letterkenny is a Canadian comedy series created by and starring Jared Keeso as Wayne, a tough farmer in a small rural Ontario town. It follows Wayne, his sister Katy, and friends as they deal with daily feuds between local groups like hicks, skids, and hockey players, often ending in fights or rapid-fire slang-filled arguments. The show celebrates rural traditions, community loyalty, and crude small-town humor while lightly mocking both overly sensitive modern attitudes and extreme outsiders, without any central push for identity politics or social lectures.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Almost none treating the show as woke; it is frequently recommended as an example of unfiltered rural comedy, with only minor progressive critiques of its crude stereotypes and one episode’s anti-alt-right satire drawing mixed fan discussion.
Creator track record context
Jacob Tierney’s personal queer identity and work on inclusive projects provide minor context for tolerant themes; Jared Keeso and the core team show no history of political activism or social-justice focused prior work; Jenny Lewis’s family background noted but does not appear to influence the show’s rural authenticity.
Production
