Summary
- Lioness is a gritty and thrilling series that delves into covert operations and the moral complexities of espionage.
- The show follows senior CIA case officer Joe McNamara leading a program with female assets to gather intel and eliminate targets.
- Each episode is intense and highlights the sacrifices and challenges faced by the characters in high-risk operations.
Lioness is another feather in the hat of Taylor Sheridan and the vast collection of brilliant stories he's developed over the past few years, which also includes Yellowstone and Mayor of Kingstown. Lioness is a gritty and thrilling experience that places a magnifying glass on covert operations and black bag government actions and paints them with a broad brush. Joe McNamara is a senior CIA case officer in charge of a special program that finds, trains, and places female assets in the field to obtain intel and eliminate targets.
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The series crosses moral lines and explores the cost of being on the wrong side of right, telling a story that both glorifies and condemns the acts of war and the spies who infiltrate foreign countries. Lioness has currently run for two seasons, with a third already announced and Zoe Saldaña returning as the main character. Here are some of the best episodes of Lioness so far, until the third season is released.
8 The Beating
Lioness Season 1, Episode 2
- IMDb Score: 7.6
Lioness episode one set a high bar, and episode two does a magnificent job of following through. Joe's home life is explored further. Her brain surgeon husband suffers from being number two in his wife's life, and her daughter lashes out for the same reason. The boss of the boss, Katlynn Meade, is also revealed, and the plot begins to thicken.
However, the highlight of the episode is Cruz Manuelos' visceral abduction. Taken to an unknown location, Cruz is put through extensive torture unknowingly by Joe, who needs to see how far she can go before she breaks. This moment in the first season is admirably hard to watch, but it adds more weight to the story as the mission is win or die, driving home the stakes of the espionage and spy side of the series.
7 Sacrificial Soldiers
Lioness Season 1, Episode 1
- IMDb Score: 7.7
The season premiere of Lioness sets the tone for the entire series and engages viewers with a thrilling and gritty opening that turns the stomachs of many who watch it. Senior case officer Joe McNamara is introduced as a forceful and unrelenting leader who must deal with losing an asset and finding a new one in the same breath.
The brutal sequence of the first Lioness to appear in the series sets a precedent for the second, Cruz Manuelos, played by Laysla De Oliveira. The series's gritty realism arrives in full force and makes it easy to start binge-watching the entire show.
6 Shatter The Moon
Lioness Season 2, Episode 5
- IMDb Score: 8.0
Lioness does an incredible job of exposing the raw wounds that Joe and her squad suffer from doing their job, and these wounds do not always appear on the surface. Finally touching down on American soil, the squad reels from the discovery of the cartel's dirty little secret of human trafficking.
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Each squad member, from Joe to Bobby, struggles with a combination of emotions stemming from abandoning a warehouse full of underage human trafficking victims. Unfortunately, the mission must go along with their everyday lives, which piles on even more misfortune as Joe's personal life starts interfering with her decision-making skills.
5 I Love My Country
Lioness Season 2, Episode 2
- IMDb Score: 8.1
The fight for patriotism never stops, and the United States Government never sleeps. Coming off the success of her previous mission, Joe is tasked with yet another order from on high, as she needs a new operative to send into hell and is given half the time she needs to find her.
Multiple third parties are introduced and expand the world of Lioness, which slowly turns into a conspiracy theory board with all the strings entangling Joe in a never-ending war. This episode also introduces the next Lioness in spectacular fashion, after Joe and her Squad are nearly killed by an intense ambush and are saved by Josie "Josiephina" Carillo, who hits it off with Joe upon their first meeting.
4 The Compass Points Home
Lioness Season 2, Episode 8
- IMDb Score: 8.2
The finale of Lioness season 2 ends with a cold win for Joe and her squad after a grueling gunfight erupts, leaving them drained of will and resources. The episode starts as the walls begin to crumble around Josie as she rips her family apart.
Joe's home life must be put on hold, and she must step back into the fray after a risky, life-threatening injury that landed her hanging between life and death, making her a risk in the field. In the final moments of the mission, all hell breaks loose on the wrong side of enemy lines, and the entire squad takes bullets and casualties.
3 2381
Lioness Season 2, Episode 6
- IMDb Score: 8.4
The stakes have never been higher as Joe and her squad take on the cartels and lawlessness of Mexico. After discovering that what was supposed to be a drug house is actually a warehouse filled with trafficked victims, Joe makes a decision not to let sleeping dogs lie and leads her team on a catastrophic mission.
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Complete Mission Failure results in a massive explosion and jeopardizes Joe's primary task, which puts her at odds with Katlynn and the rest of her superiors. This episode pushes the boundaries even further when Joe's life hangs in the balance after collapsing and needing immediate surgery. From start to finish, this episode of Lioness keeps viewers on the edge of their seats, making it one of the best in the entire show.
2 Beware The Old Soldier
Lioness Season 2, Episode 1
- IMDb Score: 8.4
The season two premiere of Lioness kicks off calmly; Joe seems to be going with the flow in her professional and personal life. However, it doesn't take long for the other shoe to drop as the world is ever-changing.
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What begins as a checks and balances mission devolves into bullets and blood in the blink of an eye when Joe and her team begin an operation after a Congresswoman is abducted, and an appropriate response is needed. This episode does a fantastic job of displaying the calm before a storm and how a paint-by-numbers op can get turned on its head with no warning.
1 Gone Is The Illusion Of Order
Lioness Season 1, Episode 8
- IMDb Score: 8.4
The finale of Lioness season one was a perfect explosion of the long fuse made up of all the episodes that preceded it. Cruz, finally on site with her target after the winding emotional roller coaster she had to endure after manipulating Aliyah for months. Tensions run high as Joe loses her control over the situation and must trust her operative to do what needs to be done.
The way Lioness handles the moment when Cruz takes out her target is meaningful; it doesn't treat the act like a name on a list, but presents it as a truly heinous act that is for the greater good. Even the entire second season couldn't live up to this moment, and it stands out as one of Taylor Sheridan's best episodes throughout all his shows.
- Release Date
- July 23, 2023
- Network
- Paramount+
- Showrunner
- Taylor Sheridan
- Directors
- John Hillcoat, Anthony Byrne, Paul Cameron, Stephen Kay, Taylor Sheridan
- Writers
- Taylor Sheridan, Jill Wagner
Cast
-
Zoe SaldanaJoe McNamara -
Laysla De OliveiraCruz Manuelos -
Dave AnnableNeal McNamara -
Jill WagnerBobby
- Seasons
- 2
