Moral Abiguity

It seems that the show is going out of its way to push the theme of moral ambiguity and challenging authority.

The protagonists are a privileged royal family that subjugates a good portion of its citizenry to little more than slaves, so the more you learn about them, the less heroic they become. At the same time, Maximus the antagonist pushes his reason for the coup as a revolution for freedom.

The Hawaiian police are portrayed as overly abusive as they repeatedly bludgeon and kick Blackbolt while he is down. The prison guards set up Blackbolt to be ambushed by the other prisoners.

Karnak is rescued by a kind-hearted woman with a sociopath partner in her illegal drug business.

The theme is so ham-fisted that it gets in the way of itself.