Special Ops: Lioness (Season 1) Episodes 1 & 2: “Special Ops: Lioness” is reminiscent of the early films that were ubiquitous in Hollywood during and after the Iraq War. American military glory on foreign soil of the Middle East was the common recurring theme in those. This setup feels like dated by a decade in 2023. However, prolific screenwriter (and director) Taylor Sheridan (“Hell or High Water”) and director John Hillcoat (“The Road”) manage to keep us cautiously intrigued without going overboard with patriotism. At least, not yet in the first two episodes that are streaming on Paramount+. Sheridan and Hillcoat know how to keep us emotionally invested. And with a solid cast led by Zoe Saldana, it seems we would be interested, at the very least, in the upcoming episodes.
Special Ops: Lioness (Season 1) Episodes 1 & 2 Recap:
Joe’s Sacrifice
“Lioness” starts with the formidable Joe (Zoe Saldana), leading her team at the war front. Joe is in Syria, working for a covert CIA operation called ‘Lioness.’ This titular operation is focused on planting operatives and having them infiltrate the inner circle of ISIS leaders. The plant is to be a battle-worn and trusted field agent, capable of defending herself, as she would try to befriend the female members of ISIS leaders’ families. It is a neat-suicide mission as the agent will be fated for the worst kind of death at the hands of ISIS if their cover gets blown.
And we see that in the beginning. Joe’s field agent, Isabel, tries to thwart the pack of ISIS soldiers, but her cover gets blown. Joe becomes a witness to all this as she is on a SAT phone with Isabel. She has her team rush to the location to rescue her, but when she hears that Isabel is captured, she chooses to sacrifice her as she knows that her team would not be able to reach and rescue her in time. In a desperate attempt to save her from barbaric torture, Joe has a missile dropped on the location, killing Isabel and her tormentors.
Recruitment of Cruz
We jump to America, with Cruz Manuelos (Laysla De Oliviera) working at a burger joint to support her abusive and deadbeat boyfriend and his friends. One day, after a violent attack from her boyfriend, she smashes his face with a frying pan and then bolts. The boyfriend chases her. He manages to catch her when she stumbles into an office. That office turns out to be the recruitment office of the US Marines. The boyfriend has to retreat. And like that, Cruz feels the pull of the US Marines.
She enrolls and quickly establishes herself as one of the top students. Her dedication and toughness impress her superiors. One of them makes a call to Joe for her new field agent, her new ‘Lioness.’ Joe has been asked to ensure that no past mistake gets repeated. Isabel’s cover got blown because she had a hidden tattoo. Joe has Cruz strip naked to ensure that she has no tattoos.
Training of Cruz
Joe, somewhat satisfied, recruits Cruz as her new ‘asset’ who would befriend a new target. Aaliyah Amrohi. The daughter of one of the most influential ISIS leaders, Asmar Ali Amrohi. For that, Joe and her team take Cruz to the preferred rendezvous location – a posh mall in Kuwait. Cruz, under an alias, is to strike up a conversation with Aaliyah. It does not take much time for Cruz to break through. Although nervous, she blends in well. Aaliyah and Cruz exchange phone numbers after a casual but important small talk over jewelry.
However, this breakthrough comes with a price for Cruz. As Joe becomes confident of the potential of Cruz as an asset, she decides to put Cruz through one final test – the most grueling of all.
Special Ops: Lioness (Season 1) Episodes 2 “The Beating” Ending, Explained:
Why Did Joe Brutally Torture Cruz?
The test Joe puts Cruz through includes tremendous torture. On her approval, a tactical team captures Cruz and takes her to an abandoned site. Cruz is brutally beaten and then subjected to various forms of torture. She is sprayed with a water canon and then left naked in a cold environment. Then she has to go through long hours of sound torture. All this happens under the supervision of Joe.
After Cruz finds that all this has been a test, she asks Joe why. She has already proved that she can take it through a variety of other tests. But Joe has her reasons. She wants to ensure Cruz can take the brutality for a specified amount of time. The durability of Cruz would determine how much time Joe and her team would have in case the worst happens and Cruz gets captured.
Was Cruz able to be a friend of Aaliyah?
Cruz does not take the torture test too lightly. Her teammates, who were not aware that Joe sanctioned the torture, go to the bar to confront the tactical team who are responsible for Cruz’s beating. A bar fight ensues and Cruz almost kills the man who was her primary tormentor. At that time, she gets a call from her target, Aaliyah.
Aaliyah wants to meet Cruz as she is coming to the USA. She invites Cruz to a party, which she accepts. It does seem that Aaliyah has started to like Cruz. A friendship seems to be only a pool party away.
Are Joe and Neil heading for a divorce?
Apart from the mission, the first two episodes also do a good job of exploring the problems of Joe’s life. Her husband, Neil (Dave Annable), and children seem to have accepted her frequent disappearance. It seems the children are not exactly aware of their mom’s job’s nature, which is understandably classified. Neil does understand and seems to be supportive. But, it also appears that the eldest daughter has resentment towards Joe. Their relationship is quite frosty.
Neil, on the other hand, has struggle of his own. He is an oncologist and the nature of his job, which includes breaking the news of cancer to a child’s parents, takes a devastating toll on his mental health. He gets punched by the dad after he informs him that his daughter cannot make it beyond six months.
Neil’s angle shows Sheridan’s writing at its best. It is going to be one of the more intriguing sub-plots of the series. The most poignant conversations happen between Neil and Joe when Neil says that many of his friends wonder how he persists when half of his patients’ pool is always doomed. It is because Neil knows that he can help the other half survive.
The nature of their work ensures that ‘together moments’ are quite rare between the two of them. No wonder the eldest daughter, Kate, thinks they are heading for divorce. However, currently, it seems the two of them understand each other like no one else on Earth. And it does not seem likely, with their level of acceptance, that their relationship would be damaged beyond repair, despite the condescending and problematic teenage tendencies of Kate.
