Lioness Season 3 Starts With Joe's Kidnapping
The third season of Lioness start strong with all kind of action, they really came in knocking the door down, make you believe that nothing bad is going to happen, in that moment you witness a beautiful family having breakfast and getting ready to start the day but you realized that it is Joe home and this series is Lioness so you know that very soon things will change drastically, its like the silence before the storm. After that nice moment, Joe's car gets pushed and crash from the side and she gets kidnaped, there is nothing for free on this series. Well to understand why Joe was kidnaped the series take us 6 months back in time and this flash backs might be confusing a few times making you feel like you are in the present. Six month ago there was this double agent that work for Ukraine and Russia intelligence who gets in contact with Kyle and told him that she has a big fish and that it can help hit Russia badly. Joe and all her team agreed to meet her, but as usual Joe is the one on that task, while the rest of her team remain undercover. When Joe finally met the agent, she confess that she has the location of Aleksi Yurimov and if he is removed from the equation that will affect Russia deeply, Joe feel that it isn't a good call and only ask her for a contact number but at the end they went to find Yurimov anyways because orders are orders, Joes is in charge of the Lioness program but there still more people above her. It seems that Yurimov still matters to the United States and would be a great catch, the enemy of my enemy is my friend until its not. Joe and her team travelled to Ukraine and met with a Delta team that has time fighting in Ukraine, Joe and her team realized that they are not taking seriously as a special force, the Delta only want them for a specific task, thats Joe recognized Yurimov when the time comes and thats that but there is certain ego problems in camp but its understandable, this Delta forces might be there for months, short story they got Yurimov and it was a badass action sequence, got shooting, drones, bombs, dogs, rip off faces just as I remember Season 1 open. When the mission ends, Joe and her team feels that something is off, something and someone is hidding from them but for now they are just accepting that everything is over by now. It is a good start for the series, Joe is kidnapped and the series is giving no clue to understand who really is behind even though that probably is people that work for Yurimov, I bet Joe rescue is going to take a few episodes and its not what it seems.
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13111078/
- Platform: Paramount+
Joe and Cruz Enter a Fight Built for Delta
Yurimov kidnap overall was easy, but the real problem is Joe's team now in Ukraine trying to work with a Delta squad for a fight they are not trained for. The argument over who actually will cover Joe seems like something stupid for the Delta's but for Joe and her team is important they know how they work, Bobby and the rest of the team wants to protect her because that is in essential their job but Cody just stated that they are not trained for that kind of fight, the fighting on the ground is trench warfare with drones and heavy weapons and for that reason they all are going to stay and the one who gets close to Joe is Cruz because her training actually fits the situation. After that moment between both squads, Joe just accept that this is not their operation and can only follow order, in fact when this happen it feels right, because let us see that they are not a team of superhero that can do everything, they are a team with limitations but capable of carrying out the task assigned to them. Without doubt Joe is important for this mission she is the only one that can recognized the target that's why is also important keep her alive and it is demonstrated when the two teams are fighting and one man of the Delta team is killed, Joe right away decided to take the weapon and start shooting but Cody stopped her and said to her that her shooting isn't important in that moment, she must stay alive because is the only one who can guide them to Yurimov. Joe is a tactical agent, the leader of her team, always in the middle of the action but she doesn't always know when to step back, so putting her next to people who are better prepared for this fight gives the episode a real limit on her without making her look weak.
The Ukraine Operation Goes Full Lioness
The Ukraine operation is impressive as I mention specially on the action department, not that is revolutionary but its strong action, but what matters more is how Joe reacts to the cost of it. That moment when the dogs show up and get release with hundreds of drones cover them up while they run like crazy to their target. How they setup the landscape was cool too with the mission starting in the morning when the heavy fog help them move more easily in the field. Both team worked together to get to Yurimov, Cody and his group move through that fight with a speed and force that Joe and Cruz clearly are not used to. This scene made you think that this shit happens in real life, you know, how many people gets into a mission and probably die just for one person. Finally they all reach the target, Cody with his group, Joe and Cruz reach Yurimov and she identifies him, the other people in the room get killed, his tracker gets pulled and the group has to get out while drones are still hunting them. With the recent Ukraine war that for the most part is drones dropping bombs, I wonder how do they controll all of them individually, not sure if that can even be done. Overall the mission work but the episode show that Joe and Cruz do not act like people who just pulled off a clean extraction, this whole mission has touched a fiber in both and it is strange after all the things that they has gone through. I think that is important to mention that we are talking about people that sees dead in every mission, for the Delta team thats normal but with Joe is different, she doesn't feel indifference to what is happening, she accept the practical reason behind a mission but it doesn't means that she accept the ways to get it done. The mission ended with Yurimov arrested and at the same time with many people dead and that's is something that bothers Joe.
Capturing Yurimov Comes With a Cost
Apparently Joe feeling continue after Yurimov was arrested, for her the mission didn't end with Yurimov because even though they succeed it came with a high cost. Both teams returned to the bunker but do not have much reason to celebrate, some men died and also one of the dogs gets badly hurt during the operation, for me this feeling unhappiness was good to be shown because it reflects that even though they succeed in the mission it came with a high cost. Well they wrap up everything and get back home. Since here the episode shows Joe getting back to her home with her family, to her normal life, the mission is over and she must continue even though she got some feelings and thoughts about what went down. On the other side the people that stayed behind, the ones affected by Yurimov captured are not thinking in that way. They are going to try to reach to the ones who captured Yurimov, but the question is who is going to send that people? I think as usually this wont be easy to guess and the show should not give that answer yet but probably wait like 4 to 5 episodes, all this will go down because every action has a consequence and Joe knew the foreign operative wanted American help only to move the risk off her own side and she took that deal because Yurimov was still worth something to the United States. Joe decided to take that risk and that decision will place her in a very dangerous situation. That danger follows her straight to where Neal and the kids live and that changes what winning even means, just like Lord Corlys said in HOTD "If this be victory, I pray I never win another."
Joe's Work Finally Reaches Her Family
At the end things get really really complicated for Joe because her work has invaded her family life, she is at home, no guards, and two men show up claiming to be state police and get her to come outside of her house, Joe is not stupid she knows that something is off, she catches the lie after one of them slips up and when they force to open the door she kill both men. Joe did what she has to do to defend herself and her family but didn't count that Neal sees what she just did and Joe knows immediately that her cover has been blown, they located her although they got now clue yet who send this two guys and can only speculate. Its a drastic contrast how the episode starts with Joe getting kidnapped and how the episode ends with Joe shooting two guys, for those who are not flashback lovers its a confusing start and end of an episode. For Joe deal with explosions apparently seems more easy than trying to keep her normal life without complications, now her work has invaded her family life and she won't be able to keep hiding who she really is anymore. All this started 6 months ago so I guess its enough time to relax and probably even lower the guard and thats exactly what the person who send this two guys was probably waiting for. Things get very unsure since the moment they knock her door, because we don't know how she is been living after they picked up Yurimov, like what exactly lead them to track her down, how did they got to her, how much risk is her family exposed? how her family feels about her real job?, there's so many questions but the main one is who kidnapped her?. This episode was fire, I have been watching this series since episode one but back then not many people knew about it so I decided not to cover it and only mention it a few times, now that Zoe has become a way bigger star, along with all the action this series pack, I guess that has attracked more eye balls to Lioness.
Rating: 80/100
Originally posted through scrobble.life/tv.