Sister Beatrice has a significant subplot revealing her queer (lesbian) identity, with a backstory of familial rejection and a historical parallel to a persecuted gay nun, influencing her character arc and repression as a motivation for joining the order, though it remains subtle and subtextual without explicit romance. The quadriplegic protagonist gaining empowerment adds disability representation, and the all-female (mostly) warrior nuns emphasize progressive gender roles with themes of female strength and challenging church corruption.

These elements influence casting, character backstories, and subplots but are not the foundational premise, which centers on supernatural action, demons, and the halo artifact adapted from the comic with expansions like a new young lead and diverse squad replacing the original older white nun focus. No overt lectures, systemic oppression narratives, or creator-stated activist intent; reception praises rep positively from progressive angles with minimal backlash labeling it 'woke' specifically for Season 1.