Taylor Sheridan’s most overlooked show, Lioness, is returning to the small screen with a new season, and if you have yet to discover this underrated gem, then there isn’t a better time to do so. Lioness is where military grit meets style — not because it’s a female-led series, but because the show’s capable and intimidating agents go undercover, where everything from their personas to the camera shots is stylized. It initially begins as a fun romp into a CIA program, then, by Season 2, viewers are swept up in the complexity of the characters and clever plotting, making for 16 utterly bingeable episodes to prepare for the crew’s high-stakes mission in the upcoming season.
What Is ‘Lioness’ About?
At the forefront of Lioness is the deadpan and uncompromising Joe (Zoe Saldaña), the leader of an elite group of CIA agents who go undercover in places like Iran to befriend the wives and sisters of suspected terrorists to gain invaluable intel. The show opens with the chilling scenes of Joe’s current undercover agent being made due to an undisclosed tattoo, leading to Joe’s devastating decision to launch a strike at the compound so that her agent cannot be interrogated or tortured. But she does so with no hesitation and a haunting expression of resignation, speaking to the gravity of the task force we are about to follow throughout the series.
Despite that weight, Lioness becomes an enticing blend of determination and aesthetics when Joe has to replace her agent with the bureau’s most promising recruit, Cruz (Laysla De Oliveira). Her induction into the team plunges us into the world of high fashion and social graces, as Cruz’s mission is to get closer to a high-level target, Aaliyah (Stephanie Naur), the daughter of a terrorist financier. Among the dazzling world of deception are stylishly shot action sequences that appear in high-octane bursts, keeping viewers hooked through layers of physical and psychological warfare.
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Season 3 went into production in October.
‘Lioness’ Grounds Military Bravado in Human Emotions
Amid the show’s twisty and high-stakes espionage premise are three stellar performances that will immediately hook viewers. Naturally, the entire operation is charged with the emotional throes of lying to someone you’re becoming attached to, as Lioness wraps its wider counterterrorism implications and tropes in more human stories. Oliveira’s Cruz is at the center of the web of deception, where the character’s gutsy drive that propelled her to become a top recruit, even on the men’s scale, is balanced by the emotional nuances of sentimentality and guilt. On the other end of the spectrum is the intensely deadpan Kaitlyn (Nicole Kidman), who rules over the bureaucratic side of the operation and is formidable in her grace.
But at the center is Saldaña, who plays into Joe’s military archetype of an unfaltering, brutal leader while navigating the minefield of emotions from Cruz’s own personal journey as well as her home life. The issues with her marriage to Dr. Neal (Dave Annable) and the horrifically strained relationship with her daughters ground Joe’s character into something more intimate. Saldaña plays Joe with a pervasive exhaustion, one that threatens to crack her hardened exterior at almost every moment, ensuring the emotional toll of Joe’s military successes and tenacity is felt throughout the show.
Even as the visuals dazzle viewers with a mix of tantalizing style and action, the performances keep the show from getting away from us, anchoring the military panache in all-too-human stories. Lioness is as graceful and predatory as the title suggests, so with the upcoming season set to usher in a new wave of high-stakes threats, now is the time to immerse yourself in this deceptive and gritty world.
