Started January 6, 2023 · Canceled · Based on 2 seasons, 12 episodes through January 2, 2025 · TV-14
The Rig follows the crew of the Kinloch Bravo, a Scottish oil platform in the North Sea. A strange fog, tremors, and a loss of contact leave the workers trapped as people die and an ancient life form wakes below the seabed. Rig manager Magnus tries to hold the crew together while scientist Rose, radio officer Fulmer, medic Cat, and the other workers face fear, company secrets, and the threat of a new mass extinction. Season two moves the survivors to the Arctic Stac, where they uncover Pictor's plan to poison the Ancestor and mine the ocean floor, giving the show a tense supernatural tone with a clear environmental warning.
The cast shows a mixed modern work crew, with women in technical and medical roles and several black and South Asian characters in important jobs. Cat is married to Kacey and carries their child, while Harish has had past relationships with Easter and Cameron. Rose becomes a central leader and works with the crew against the company. These identity details stay in side stories inside a survival plot that mainly focuses on nature, corporate secrecy, and human teamwork.
Community feedback
Was our 43% Woke rating accurate?
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for The Rig.
Woke representation / casting
The show gives major technical or care jobs to Rose, a female company scientist, and Cat, a female medic, while several black and South Asian workers hold important crew roles. Rose also leads the rescue mission in season two. Interviews praise Rose as a woman scientist succeeding in a male work setting. The pattern is noticeable, but the modern setting and original characters keep it from being a strong mismatch.
34%
Woke political dialogue
Characters repeatedly discuss oil drilling, climate damage, deep-sea mining, pollution, and corporate cover-ups. Alwyn warns that the earth will strike back, and season two links Pictor's Arctic mining plan to the disaster. The show presents the Ancestor as a warning that human industry has harmed nature. The message recurs across both seasons, but the dialogue stays inside a science-fiction survival story and avoids party politics or identity slogans.
34%
Identity-driven story themes
Cat's marriage to Kacey and their child affect the danger and family stakes in both seasons. The show also reveals that Harish has had relationships with Easter and Cameron. Rose becomes a strong leader in a male-heavy work setting, and the story treats that change as positive. These elements recur, but they remain side stories inside a plot about the Ancestor, survival, and the environment.
34%
Western institutional / cultural critique
Pictor hides deaths, the tsunami, and its plan to poison the Ancestor. The company then seeks control of Arctic mining and shipping rights while protecting its profits. Rose, Cat, Hutton, and the crew resist company orders and work to expose the cover-up. The show makes corporate power and resource extraction a recurring enemy, but it does not attack family, religion, or ordinary Western life.
40%
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. The Rig is an original series, so it has no established character, canon, or real historical event that the show changes.
0%
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
One small X account said the show was ruined by “DEI” and received almost no attention. One forum post called the show “very woke” because of women on oil rigs and its climate focus. Mainstream coverage mostly discussed acting, effects, pacing, realism, and the environmental message. No major boycott, review-bombing campaign, or large right-leaning media attack appeared.
15%
Creator track record context
David Macpherson has a low stored score and no strong public record of identity activism. Meg Salter, John Strickland, Jason Connery, and Suzanne Reid also have low stored scores and little public activist profile. Alex Holmes has a mild equality signal from Maiden, a documentary about women overcoming gender barriers. Derek Wax has some socially focused and lesbian drama credits, so the wider team adds mild context rather than a strong signal.
15%
Production
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