The entertainment industry over the past two decades has been in the process of a profound shift, referred to as the ‘streaming wars.’ Since the start of the ‘streaming wars,’ studios have rushed to consolidate their content and form their own streaming platforms as a way to compete with the likes of Netflix, Amazon and Disney+. This has led streaming services without a backlog of content, such as Netflix, to allow more diverse projects to be made, ones that under normal circumstances might not have been developed. This presentation outlines this intensification of the ‘streaming wars,’ and question the type and function of television series that emerged during this period. This presentation argues that this period was defined in part by ‘genre’ television, i.e., series that cater to a select community of audiences. Many contemporary series use unorthodox genres, or feature genre-bending narratives, as a way to depict issues such as the racial tensions, white supremacy, and police violence that continue to drive Americans apart today. Examples of these series include Watchmen (HBO, 2019), Lovecraft Country (HBO, 2020), and The Underground Railroad (Amazon Prime Video, 2021) which blend the superhero, science-fiction horror, and magic realism genres, respectively, thereby exploring racial trauma outside of the way it is traditionally detailed. For example, Episode 1 of Watchmen begins with a depiction of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre, an event which until five years ago was effectively unknown to the public. The themes and narratives found in this type of television programming can contribute to identity formation and social perceptions. This presentation therefore question how this kind of television can contribute to identity formation and social perceptions, through the three series mentioned previously which aired at the height of the streaming wars.