Gone Is the Illusion of Order
- Episode aired Sep 3, 2023
- TV-MA
- 57m
IMDb RATING
8.4/10
1.8K
YOUR RATING
Unforeseen circumstances leaves the mission in jeopardy. A suspicious Eshan confronts Cruz before his wedding day. Joe and the team prepare for the worst.Unforeseen circumstances leaves the mission in jeopardy. A suspicious Eshan confronts Cruz before his wedding day. Joe and the team prepare for the worst.Unforeseen circumstances leaves the mission in jeopardy. A suspicious Eshan confronts Cruz before his wedding day. Joe and the team prepare for the worst.
Zoe Saldana
- Joe
- (as Zoe Saldaña)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaTwo Cups says "we can't all be Aqua Woman", and they immediately flash to Nicole Kidman. She played Aquaman's mother, Atlanna, in the movie by the same name, and she, as an Atlantean, is in fact, an "aqua woman".
- GoofsThe Airbus landing in Palma de Mallorca is shown not using any wing flaps or slats, which is a nonstandard procedure and must have been CGI.
- SoundtracksLioness Main Titles
performed by Andrew Lockington
Featured review
Season 1 (7/10 stars): Can't Sustain The Momentum From A Tremendous Pilot
To put it simply, "Special Ops: Lioness" has one of the best pilot (first) episodes I've seen in quite some time. I was utterly entranced and amazed that show creator Taylor Sheridan (of Yellowstone & Co. Fame) might have another hit right out of the gate. Unfortunately, "Lioness" could not sustain such momentum and lost a bit of steam with every concurrent installment.
For a very basic overview, "Lioness" tells a fictional story about the real-life Lioness program, in which female soldiers are recruited to get close to high-priority targets to gather intel and set up sting operations. In this case, Joe (Zoe Saldana) recruits Cruz (Laysla De Oliveira) to make friends of Aaliyah (Stephanie Nur)--whose father is a high-profile terrorist. But with the situation constantly changing as Cruz is undercover, will the Marine be strong enough to complete the mission or be compromised along the way?
Truth be told, when the focus is on Cruz and the undercover mission, "Lioness" is pretty compelling from beginning to end. Cruz's friendship with Aaliyah is fascinating and full of twists/turns--enough so to keep viewers invested right up to the endgame.
There is also some emotional material involving Joe's family back home--notably a husband (Dave Annable) & a daughter (Hannah Love Lanier) who struggle mightily without the entire family intact. All are solid enough actors to be truly emotionally compelling.
Where the air leaks out of the "Lioness" balloon, however, are some of the odd choices Sheridan & Co. Make. These include...
-Casting Nicole Kidman & Morgan Freeman--then barely utilizing them.
-Having the rest of the Marine Lioness unit go on side missions that only muddy the waters and take the focus off the compelling espionage material.
-Getting a bit heavy-handed or on-the-nose (politically/socially) in the finale after having such a good balance for most of the proceedings before that point.
Basically, the experience I had with "Lioness" was the initial "wow--this could be a special series" slowly turning into "this is a missed opportunity". I'd potentially return for a second go-round--but on a shorter leash, as the basic structure now has more to prove that it can sustain more than a lot of somewhat-bland 6-or-7 star episodes all the way through.
For a very basic overview, "Lioness" tells a fictional story about the real-life Lioness program, in which female soldiers are recruited to get close to high-priority targets to gather intel and set up sting operations. In this case, Joe (Zoe Saldana) recruits Cruz (Laysla De Oliveira) to make friends of Aaliyah (Stephanie Nur)--whose father is a high-profile terrorist. But with the situation constantly changing as Cruz is undercover, will the Marine be strong enough to complete the mission or be compromised along the way?
Truth be told, when the focus is on Cruz and the undercover mission, "Lioness" is pretty compelling from beginning to end. Cruz's friendship with Aaliyah is fascinating and full of twists/turns--enough so to keep viewers invested right up to the endgame.
There is also some emotional material involving Joe's family back home--notably a husband (Dave Annable) & a daughter (Hannah Love Lanier) who struggle mightily without the entire family intact. All are solid enough actors to be truly emotionally compelling.
Where the air leaks out of the "Lioness" balloon, however, are some of the odd choices Sheridan & Co. Make. These include...
-Casting Nicole Kidman & Morgan Freeman--then barely utilizing them.
-Having the rest of the Marine Lioness unit go on side missions that only muddy the waters and take the focus off the compelling espionage material.
-Getting a bit heavy-handed or on-the-nose (politically/socially) in the finale after having such a good balance for most of the proceedings before that point.
Basically, the experience I had with "Lioness" was the initial "wow--this could be a special series" slowly turning into "this is a missed opportunity". I'd potentially return for a second go-round--but on a shorter leash, as the basic structure now has more to prove that it can sustain more than a lot of somewhat-bland 6-or-7 star episodes all the way through.
Details
- Runtime57 minutes
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content