The arc pits the Otto family, led by Jeremiah Otto and his son Troy, against Qaletaqa Walker and his group reclaiming ancestral lands, with explicit dialogue on historical grievances and generational racism. Episodes such as "The Unveiling," "Children of Wrath," and "Red Dirt" depict militia border patrols targeting Mexican refugees and Madison Clark's pragmatic alliance with the Ottos for survival, framing resource scarcity like water access as tied to colonial legacies and harm to marginalized groups.

These elements establish thematic centrality around xenophobia and reclamation rather than incidental background. Creator statements reinforce the intent, with showrunner Dave Erickson highlighting deliberate topicality on border issues and moral compromises when aligning with jingoistic figures. Diverse original characters such as Luciana and Walker are woven into these identity-tied storylines without any source material swaps, making their roles foundational to the neo-Western premise of scarcity and power struggles. The combination of plot structure, explicit dialogue, and stated creative choices produces a moderate woke score by embedding progressive framing of historical and contemporary grievances as core drivers.