Those About to Die sticks to its core as a Roman historical drama of succession, chariot races, and gladiatorial combat, but adds modern social themes through select character arcs that keep the overall messaging balanced at a moderate 5/10.
Those About to Die centers on traditional Roman historical drama—Flavian dynasty succession struggles, chariot racing factions, gladiatorial combat, and the construction of the Colosseum—drawn from Daniel P.
Mannix's book, with no foundational premise built around identity politics or systemic critiques. However, the season prominently features original characters Cala (Sara Martins), a Black Numidian trader, and her children Kwame (Moe Hashim), Aura (Kyshan Wilson), and Jula (Alicia Edogamhe), whose abduction into slavery and arena fights form a major recurring subplot that reviewers explicitly link to added layers of "racial politics" and imperialism.
Aura's arc includes becoming a female gladiator. Domitian (Jojo Macari) is depicted as openly homosexual with an explicit male slave lover Hermes (Alessandro Bedetti), including scenes of their toxic relationship, voyeuristic demands, betrayal, and brutal execution, elevating queerness as a highlighted trait of the scheming villain beyond sparse historical hints.
Methodology: Each score synthesizes audience discourse, critic and aggregator reception, and press coverage — weighed against the work itself, not any single source.
See how this title scores across all 5 woke subcategories with detailed explanations.
Unlock with ProFrom $3/month · 3-day trial for $1
Every Friday: the week's most ideologically-loaded releases, scored — with the breakdown the headlines skip. Free, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.
We've run a full content analysis on Those About to Die - Season 1 and scored it 5/10 on the woke scale. Read our detailed breakdown above to see exactly what we found.
Our analysis checks for themes like identity politics, race-swapping, gender ideology, environmental activism, anti-religious messaging, and other progressive agenda elements. The score breakdown above shows which specific categories were flagged and how heavily they factor into Those About to Die - Season 1's overall score.
Wokeometer focuses on ideological content rather than traditional ratings (violence, language, etc.). Those About to Die - Season 1 is rated TV-MA. For a full picture, combine our woke analysis with the age ratingto decide if it's right for your family.
We evaluate media across multiple ideological categories on a 0–10 scale. Scores of 0–3 mean story-first, 4–6 have moderate elements, and 7–10 flag heavily agenda-driven content. Learn more about our methodology →
Similar titles you might enjoy
No reviews yet
Be the first to share what you thought of Those About to Die - Season 1.
