Pisaries Creator

I will start this review of Lioness stating these types of shows about government entanglement in undercover CIA operations tend to be a hit or miss among viewers. Everyone has their critique and while this show about CIA spies is decent enough, the only critique I have is how the creator, Taylor Sheridan, included certain romantic scenes in the show. I felt these scenes were not necessary to move the story forward. I understand the need to cultivate a CIA target to get the information needed, but I’m not sure if romantic feelings would happen if it wasn’t part of the undercover play. This took me out of the show especially for a newly trained agent. I wish Sheridan had written Lioness more like Sicario and Wind River but other than this beef, I will be watching the third season of Lioness if it is renewed.

The main cast is Zoe Saldaña as Joe McNamara, Dave Annable as Neal McNamara, Jill Wagner as Bobby, LaMonica Garrett as Tucker, James Jordan as Two Cups, Austin Hébert as Randy, Jonah Wharton as Tex, Hannah Love Lanier as Kate McNamara, Nicole Kidman as Kaitlyn Meade, Thad Luckinbill as Kyle McManus, Michael Kelly as Byron Westfield, It remains to be seen if Laysla De Oliveira as Cruz Manuelos comes back in the next season as well as Genesis Rodriguez as Josephina Carrillo. Stephanie Nur as Aaliyah Amrohi definitely won’t be coming back but was an integral character in season two.

The first season involves finding the next Lioness for their upcoming mission to kill Asmar Ali Amrohi. Joe trains and prepares her by testing her commitment to the cause by running her through SERE. Once Cruz finds herself gaining trust in Asmar’s daughter Aaliyah, she continues to prove herself to Joe and her new teammates. She maintains her cover enough to attend Aaliyah’s wedding to Ehsan Al Rashdi in Mallorca, Spain where the final episode has two ways of ending: in success or in failure.

The second season involves locating two Chinese nuclear scientists working to help Iran with their nuclear weapons program. It becomes clear the U.S. has something to prove and reassert their strength to the rest of the world especially Iran, Mexico, and Turkey. Joe and her QRF team find themselves in unstable circumstances where they are all tested including Cruz and Josephina, the new Lioness. While this battle is happening in Iran, Josephina was no match against her father, Pablo, but Bryon and Kaitlyn have one more trick up their sleeves. There’s more focus on the repercussions if their mission fails for the whole team besides being physically away from family and friends in the final episodes.

The first season was more linear from point A to B where the second season was a little more twisted. I preferred season one overall and the story line of Cruz, but to see how badass Joe could be and how she interacts with politicians, season two was better.

I rate Lioness FOUR FINGERS at 90%