The Ark

The series features a very diverse cast. It has several women in top leadership and science roles, including the de facto captain, the chief engineer, the head doctor, and a young black female engineering genius. Also, the security chief Felix Strickland is an openly gay man who was married to another man on Earth. This confirmed LGBTQ+ representation adds noticeable weight to the casting.

While the main plot centers on sci-fi survival, Felix's story arc focuses on his identity as a gay man. This includes his grief over losing his husband, Robert, and his search for their daughter. This adds a noticeable LGBTQ+ theme. Other themes like cloning and clone prejudice work as traditional sci-fi elements rather than modern social commentary.

The series uses classic sci-fi tropes. It has greedy corporate leaders and rich villains like William Trust and Evelyn Maddox. However, this acts as standard corporate greed drama. It is not a modern critique of capitalism, patriarchy, Western institutions, or traditional social norms.

Some online viewers complained about the show's diverse casting and female leadership. They accused the series of pushing a woke agenda. However, these complaints were minor and limited to small online groups. Most bad reviews focused on the cheap special effects, cheesy dialogue, and soap-opera drama rather than politics.

The main showrunners, Dean Devlin and Jonathan Glassner, have low woke scores and prefer traditional storytelling. A few episodic directors and writers, like Orsi Nagypál and India Sage Wilson, have a history of focusing on LGBTQ+ themes and racial representation. However, the overall creative team keeps the show focused on basic survival.