This is not one of those series you put on in the background while scrolling through your phone.... You actually need to pay attention because before you know it, somebody is undercover, somebody is lying, somebody is getting shot, and someone in an expensive office is making decisions that are going to get people killed.
Lioness is basically a military spy thriller built around the idea of using women to get close to people who would normally be impossible for American intelligence to reach and honestly, the concept hooked me...
The first season follows Cruz Manuelos, a young Marine who gets recruited into the Lioness program and thrown into a dangerous undercover mission.. She has to get close to the daughter of a suspected terrorist while pretending to be someone she isn't.
Sounds simple?... No, It really isn't because the deeper Cruz gets into the mission, the more you realise that being a Lioness isn't just about carrying a gun or knowing how to fight... It's about manipulation, Trust, Fear and knowing that at some point, you may have to sacrifice someone you've grown attached to just because that's what the mission requires and THAT is what I liked about the show.
The action is good, but the psychological side is what makes Lioness interesting....
Zoe Saldaña as Joe is probably my favourite part of the entire series.. She plays Joe like someone who has seen too much and doesn't have time for nonsense.. She's tough, She's intelligent, She's tired and you can feel the weight she's carrying but what I really liked is that the show doesn't make her some emotionless superhero.. Joe has a family, she has people she cares about, and she has to constantly deal with the fact that her job can destroy the very life she's trying to protect...That made her character feel human to me..
Then there's Cruz..
Cruz's journey was probably the part that surprised me the most..
She starts out looking like someone who has no idea what she's gotten herself into. But slowly, you see her changing. The training, the fear, the pressure and the emotional manipulation start affecting her and honestly, there were moments when I was watching her and thinking..
“Girl... are you sure you want this job?” ... Because this isn't your normal 9-to-5..
Nicole Kidman also plays an important role as Caitlyn Meade, one of the people sitting higher up in the chain of command. And that's another thing the series does well...
You don't just see the people pulling triggers, You see the people making decisions..
Sometimes the people giving the orders are sitting comfortably in an office while someone else is fighting for their life somewhere thousands of miles away and that's where Lioness becomes more than just an action series...
It shows the ugly side of intelligence work.
People become assets, Relationships become tools and sometimes doing the “right thing” for your country means doing something that feels completely wrong as a human being...
Of course, the series isn't perfect..
One of my biggest problems is that it can be VERY talkative...
There are moments where I'm sitting there thinking, “Okay, I understand. Can we please get back to the shooting?”..
There are also political conversations, military explanations and long scenes that sometimes slow everything down and some of the dialogue can feel too serious or dramatic but once the action starts?.. it's fire!!.
This show knows how to deliver, The gunfights feel brutal, The missions feel dangerous... People don't just get shot and magically walk away five minutes later.
These characters aren't just fighting enemies... They're fighting themselves, They're dealing with guilt, trauma, fear, family problems and the consequences of the things they've done... That's what kept me invested and as the series continues, the world of Lioness becomes bigger and more complicated.... The current third season raises the stakes even further, with Joe and her team facing another dangerous mission and much more personal consequences...
That said, For me, Lioness is one of those series where the characters are actually more interesting than the missions...
Rating: 80/100
