TV Show review
Review basis: 1 season, 11 episodes · through March 4, 2026
January 21, 2026 · TV-MA · Returning Series
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
The Beauty is an FX sci-fi body horror series about FBI agents who investigate supermodels dying in gruesome explosions after catching a sexually transmitted virus. The virus transforms ordinary people into physically perfect versions of themselves but kills them after about two years. The show centers on a greedy biotech billionaire trying to sell the virus as a product and includes a trans scientist character whose transformation with the virus affirms her desired female body.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for The Beauty.
Woke representation / casting
The series features a prominent trans character arc in which the virus grants the desired female body, played by Rev Yolanda pre-transformation and Lux Pascal post. It also includes Black actor Jeremy Pope and Latino actor Anthony Ramos in major roles within a multi-racial ensemble.
Woke political dialogue
Dialogue references Ozempic culture, incels, beauty pressures, and corporate greed. A trans character expresses worry about whether the virus will recognize her true self. No extended activist lectures appear.
Identity-driven story themes
The central premise involves a virus that delivers physical perfection matching personal desires, including gender affirmation for the trans scientist. It also explores incel desperation and societal beauty ideals through body horror.
Western institutional / cultural critique
A tech billionaire villain called the Corporation pushes the deadly product for profit, with lines framing capitalism as the source of societal rot. The show satirizes the fashion and celebrity industries and quick-fix drugs but avoids explicit patriarchy or whiteness framing.
Production
Woke character or canon changes
The series adapts a comic that already included a prominent trans storyline. Some characters are recast after transformation, including one noted absurd race-shift explanation. These are not ideological rewrites of legacy material.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
There is almost no prominent right-leaning criticism accusing the show of pushing DEI, identity politics, or activist messaging. Complaints center on messy storytelling and campy style.
Creator track record context
Ryan Murphy's long history of identity-driven and queer-centric projects dominates the context. Co-creator Matthew Hodgson has a lower public profile. Actor Jeremy Pope has visible public focus on queer identity.
