1st Season - Recap

As the premiere of the 3rd season of Lioness approaches, a beloved series that I will try to cover almost in real-time – since I will be on my summer vacation then – I decided to make a return to where it all began.

The first season is the reason I got hooked on the series.

When I pressed play on the first episode, I expected another military thriller full of CIA operations, secret missions, and explosions. What I found, however, was something very different. A story that uses espionage as a pretext to talk about trust, identity, and the price one pays when forced to constantly live a life that is not truly their own.

The story follows Cruz Manuelos, a young Marine recruited into the CIA's Lioness program. Her mission is to get close to Aaliyah Amrohi, the daughter of a powerful terrorism financier, in order to gain access to her father, Asmar Amrohi, who is a key target for the agency.

However, from the moment the two women truly begin to get close, the mission ceases to be just a mission. The lines between duty and human emotions begin to blur more and more.

Taylor Sheridan has a unique way of writing characters. He is not interested in creating superheroes or dividing the world into good and evil. In Lioness, everyone operates in gray areas and no one truly emerges unscathed.

Joe is perhaps the most interesting character in the series. She may run one of the CIA's most dangerous operations, but every time she returns home, she seems not to know how to be a mother or a wife. This constant conflict between her professional and personal life is much more powerful than any action scene.

The biggest surprise of the first season, however, is undoubtedly Cruz.

Her journey from a woman trying to escape her violent past to becoming the most important part of a mission is gradual and completely believable. And the more she connects with Aaliyah, the more you forget that this all started as a CIA operation.

That's where the series' greatest strength lies.

It doesn't just make you anxious about whether the mission will succeed. It makes you wonder if it's truly worth succeeding.

The direction avoids excessive sensationalism. The operations are intense, fast, and violent, without turning into a display of effects. At the same time, Andrew Lockington's music creates a permanent sense of tension, even in the calmest moments.

One element that many may not know is that the series' Lioness program is inspired by the real U.S. Marine Corps Lioness Program, in which female service members participated in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.The series, of course, does not recount real events, but uses this idea as a starting point to build its own story.

Of course, the first season did not avoid criticism. Although the audience embraced it, many reviewers argued that, compared to series like Homeland – another favorite series that I definitely need to add to Playview at some point – it does not delve deep enough into the political and ethical implications of the story. Others felt that it uses familiar military thriller tropes without bringing anything truly new to the genre.

My answer?

Honestly... I don't particularly care.

I never sat down to watch Lioness looking for the next series that would change the history of television. I sat down because I wanted a strong story, well-written characters, tension, and moments that would make me immediately click on the next episode. And it offers these generously.

Sometimes we forget why we watch series. Not every production needs to redefine its genre.

It's enough to make you lose yourself in its world for a few hours.

And Lioness achieves this perfectly.

If you never gave it a chance because you read two or three harsh reviews, ignore them. Put on the first episode, get to know Joe and Cruz, and let the series sweep you away.

How the first season concludes

The mission culminates at Aaliyah's wedding, where Cruz is called upon to complete what she has been preparing for months. The CIA's real target is also there: Asmar Amrohi.

Although the relationship between Cruz and Aaliyah has evolved into a genuine human connection, Cruz knows there is no turning back. The operation is successfully completed and Amrohi is neutralized, but the cost is immense.

Aaliyah realizes that the woman she loved and trusted the most was actually a secret agent who had infiltrated her life with a false identity.It is perhaps the most powerful scene of the entire season, because at that moment not only does the mission collapse, but also a bond that, no matter how much it started as part of a plan, had become absolutely real.

At the same time, Joe returns to her family, but it becomes clear that people like her never truly leave the job behind. Operations end. But the consequences remain.

And that's perhaps what I liked most about the finale.

It didn't try to impress only with action. It tried to show that in a world full of secret operations, in the end there are no real winners. There are only people who have to continue living with the choices they made.