Special Ops: Lioness review: A solid Sheridan effort featuring two resilient female characters

Taylor Sheridan has become a cash cow for Paramount+ by creating and writing for such streaming series as Yellowstone, Mayor of Kingstown, 1883, Tulsa King, 1923. Sheridan’s series are bold, brash, and magnetic. Except, here’s one thing he’s never been given credit for writing smart, strong, engaging, and three-dimensional female characters. From Cara, Beth, and Monica Dutton to the silver screen’s Jane Banner and Kate Macer, these women are complex and flawed and subvert entertainment stereotypes that go beyond a loyal wife listening politely to her crumbling husband while she leans against a door frame. That’s what we have in Special Ops: Lioness, which features two female characters who are fierce, empowered, and resilient.

Reportedly based on a real-life CIA program, the story follows a young woman, Cruz Manuelos (Locke & Key’s Laysla De Oliveira), who escapes an emotionally and physically abusive boyfriend by enlisting in the Marines. Determined, focused, and with plenty of temerity pouring out of her, Cruz breaks a handful of untouchable Recruit Training records and gets nearly a perfect score on her physical training on the men’s scale. Even though her intelligence tests also placed her in the top percentile, someone who can do twenty-two pull-ups, over one hundred push-ups, and run a mile in eight minutes would be wasted in PsyOps. Cruz is recommended for the Lioness program, an ultra-secret Special Activities unit in the CIA.

Creator Taylor Sheridan’s Special Ops: Lioness is well-written and has two strong, three-dimensional characters

The Lioness Program initially began with the mission of integrating female Marines into combat units, which involved conducting searches of Iraqi women and children who attempted to smuggle money or weapons through security checkpoints in Iraq. They even provided training to local community women on proper search techniques.

The program has since evolved into a spy game, and the selection process is conducted meticulously. First, Cruz must pass the eye test with her potential new trainer and team leader, Joe (Zoe Saldaña), which includes a thorough strip search to check for tattoos. After watching the pilot, you’ll understand why, as something like that can be life-threatening. Cruz’s mission will entail getting close to female targets associated with dangerous individuals, with the aim of gathering valuable information.

Sheridan wrote all eight episodes. Only one was made available to critics, and the series gets off to an intense start, with Saldaña’s Joe displaying how she hides the gray area of some truly cutthroat decision-making. Saldaña plays Joe with a well-rounded emotional range, showing empathy, regret, and stoic intensity. While her decisions are ruthless—even a lie by omission—that doesn’t mean this CIA operative lacks humanity. The opening scene is riveting, even powerful, which may cause some disdain for the character, but it shows enough vulnerability to be likable.

From that point, the series turns its focus to De Oliveira’s Cruz, who escapes her situation with an emotionally and physically abusive boyfriend by enlisting. I believe every second of De Oliveira’s performance, in which Cruz is tenacious, won’t back down from anyone, and staunchly refuses to be a victim. De Oliveira’s performance is startlingly effective, being hardened by her upbringing but vulnerable enough to show the effects.

While we know that Special Ops: Lioness is going to be a show with action and star power, featuring not only Saldaña but also Nicole Kidman (only in a brief scene in the pilot) and the strangely absent Morgan Freeman, Sheridan continuously takes the time to highlight characters who deal with the intersectionality of at-risk groups. Particularly when it comes to the abuse and murder of Indigenous women, as seen in Wind River and the character of Teonna Rainwater in 1923, which shed light on the atrocities of the “Indian Schools” during the turn of the century.

While the series may come across as conservative by emphasizing the “Always Faithful” mantra, Sheridan incorporates themes that are not obvious at first glance but are present nonetheless. For example, as a Latina, Cruz’s background implies limited access to adequate healthcare, job training, and funds for further education.

Additionally, during the establishment of the Lioness program, Latino and Hispanic communities expressed concerns about the government’s focus on targeting these groups for military recruitment and even prevented recruitment in public schools. When combined with an early sacrifice in the series, the subtext here speaks to disadvantaged communities, the dangerous situations in which these groups find themselves in order to improve their lives, and questions why one life is valued more than another.

Is Special Ops: Lioness good?

However, while I want to trust that Sheridan’s brilliant writing will elevate this Paramount+ series above your average spy thriller, it will be impossible to know until the season unfolds. There have been too many examples of networks putting all their efforts into the first two episodes only to see the quality of the storytelling fall sharply.

Yet, with a strong cast and two terrific lead performances by Saldaña and De Oliveira, Sheridan’s show, for now, lacks a plot for viewers to latch onto and could even be considered a character study at this point. This approach also limits the amount of exposition viewers have to sit through in a pilot, which is refreshing and a trademark of Sheridan’s.

For now, Special Ops: Lioness is solid and good enough to recommend as entertainment, especially for those who enjoy the genre. Given Sheridan’s well-regarded reputation and the presence of an all-star cast, the series has the potential to become something truly special.

I have faith he’ll get us there.

Verdict: Creator Taylor Sheridan’s Special Ops: Lioness is well-written and has two strong, three-dimensional characters who are fierce, empowered, and resilient. 3.5/5 stars

What did you think of Special Ops: Lioness? Is Taylor Sheridan’s latest series good or bad? Let us know in the comments below!