Lioness (American TV series)

Lioness, also marketed as Special Ops: Lioness, is an American spy thriller television series built by Taylor Sheridan that premiered on July 23, 2023, on Paramount+. The second season premiered on October 27, 2024. In October 2025, the series was renewed for a third season, which premiered on August 2, 2026.

Overview§

Lioness, also marketed as Special Ops: Lioness, is an American spy thriller television series built by Taylor Sheridan that premiered on July 23, 2023, on Paramount+. Subsequent seasons premiered on October 27, 2024 (season two) and August 2, 2026 (season three).

Premise§

A spy thriller that follows the leader of a CIA team that enlists female operatives, who are known as Lionesses, to go undercover in the war on terror.

Main§

Zoe Saldañan as Joe McNamara, a CIA senior case officer in charge of the Lioness program Laysla De Oliveira as Cruz Manuelos, a Force Recon Marine Sergeant and Lioness operative in season 1. Turned U.S. Army SFC, Delta Force operator and Josephina's handler in season 2. Later CIA/SAC contractor and QRF team member in season 3. Dave Annable as Dr. Neal McNamara, Joe's husband and a pediatric oncology surgeon Jill Wagner as "Bobby", a CIA/SAC contractor and team leader for the Lioness program's QRF LaMonica Garrett as "Tucker", a CIA/SAC contractor, QRF member and former U.S. Marine Scout Sniper James Jordan as "Two Cups", a CIA/SAC contractor, QRF member and former Green Beret Austin Hébert as "Randy", a CIA/SAC contractor, QRF member and former Delta Force operator Jonah Wharton as "Tex", a CIA/SAC contractor, QRF member and former Green Beret Stephanie Nur as Aaliyah Amrohi (season 1), the daughter of a suspected terrorist financier Hannah Love Lanier as Kate McNamara, the teenage daughter of Joe and Neal Nicole Kidman as Kaitlyn Meade, a CIA Clandestine Service supervisor and Joe's boss Morgan Freeman as Edwin Mullins, U.S. Secretary of State Thad Luckinbill as Kyle McManus (season 2–present; recurring season 1), a CIA senior case officer and Joe's colleague Michael Kelly as Byron Westfield (season 2–present); recurring season 1), the CIA's Deputy Director of Operations and Kaitlyn's boss Genesis Rodriguez as Captain Josephina Carrillo (season 2–present), an U.S. Army Black Hawk pilot recruited into the Lioness program due to her family connection to the Mexican cartel that kidnapped an American congresswoman. She later turned a CIA/SAC contractor and QRF team member in season 3.

Recurring§

Celestina Harris as Charlie McNamara, the younger daughter of Joe and Neal Martin Donovan as Errol Meade, Kaitlyn's husband, a high-ranking financial investor Richard Haddad as Asif (season 1), the head of Aaliyah's security team Bruce McGill as Monty Hollar (season 2; guest season 1), the National Security Advisor Jennifer Ehle as Evelyn Mason (season 2; guest season 1), the White House Chief of Staff Max Martini as Master Sergeant "Tracer" (season 2), an U.S. Army Delta Force operator on loan to the QRF and Bobby's ex Kirk Acevedo as Raymond Gutierrez (season 2), a DEA special agent Elizaveta Neretin as Oleksandra Balakin (season 3), an Ukrainian FISU agent and mole in the Russian SVR

Guest§

Sean Avery (season 1) as U.S. Army Delta Force operator in a bar Matt Gerald as Master Sergeant Cody J / "Goose", an U.S. Army Delta Force operator Ian Bohen as Grady (season 3), an U.S. Army Delta Force operator and K9 handler Ray Corasani as Ehsan Al Rashdi (season 1), Aaliyah's fiancé and a member of the Saudi royal family Sam Asghari as Kamal Al Rashdi (season 1), Ehsan's cousin Carla Mansour as Malika (season 1), one of Aaliyah's friends Adam Budron as Sami (season 1), one of Aaliyah's friends Michael Tow as Dr. Hammond (season 1), Neal's colleague Bassem Youssef as Asmar Ali Amrohi (season 1), Aaliyah's father, a terrorist financier Taylor Sheridan as Sergeant Leading Cody Spears (season 2–present), an U.S. Army Delta Force operator Greyson Queso Kennedy as Pete Westfield (season 2), son of Byron Westfield Patricia de Leon as Maria Carillo (season 2), Josephina's mother and Pablo's wife Robyn Lively as Senator Amanda Albright (season 2), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee Annabeth Gish as Denise Westfield (season 2), Byron's wife Dawn Olivieri as Amber Whalen (season 2–present), a CIA Clandestine Services officer

Development§

The 2019 merger of CBS and Viacom led to the creation of the Paramount+ brand, launched in 2021; in September 2020, in the unveiling of the initial plans for the Paramount+ programming slate, Lioness was announced as one of the service's new productions with Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan serving as the creator of the series and would serve as executive producer via his Bosque Ranch Productions banner alongside Yellowstone co-producer & global entertainment company 101 Studios. The series was renewed for a second season in May 2024, and a third season on October 1, 2025. In August 2025, after Paramount Global's merger with Skydance Media to form Paramount Skydance, MTV Entertainment Studios was folded into Paramount Television Studios before production of the third season. Sheridan penned all 16 episodes of the series' first two seasons.

Casting§

In February 2022, Zoe Saldaña was cast to star in the series, and joined as an executive producer alongside Nicole Kidman. Laysla De Oliveira joined the cast the after month. In June, Sheridan took over as showrunner of the series from Thomas Brady after the conclusion of the show's writers' room. Casting continued in September, with the additions of Dave Annable, LaMonica Garrett, James Jordan, Austin Hébert, Jonah Wharton and Hannah Love Lanier. In January 2023, Kidman and Michael Kelly joined the cast alongside Morgan Freeman. On May 9, 2024, it was reported that returning cast members for season two include Zoe Saldaña, Laysla De Oliveira, Michael Kelly, and Nicole Kidman, with Morgan Freeman being promoted to a series regular role. Upon the renewal becoming official on that same date, De Oliveira expressed her excitement around returning to her role as Cruz on her Instagram account. On May 17, 2024, it was announced that Thad Luckinbill was promoted as a series regular for the second season. Few days later, Genesis Rodriguez joined the cast in an undisclosed capacity for the second season. On September 13, 2024, Max Martini, Kirk Acevedo, and Patricia de Leon were cast in recurring roles for the second season. It was later noted that Sheridan played a role named Cody—the KT tape-wrapped Delta Force Operator who assured an iffy Joe. It was announced that frequent Sheridan collaborator Ian Bohen had joined the cast as a Delta Force operator in a series regular role in October 2025. On January 29, 2026, Elizaveta Neretin joined the cast in a recurring capacity for the third season.

Filming§

Filming started in Delaware in September 2022 and continued in Mallorca in January 2023. Although the title card remained unchanged, in May 2023, it was announced that the series title was changed from Lioness to Special Ops: Lioness. The title reverted to the original title when the series was renewed for its second season. Andrew Lockington composed the soundtrack for the series, having previously worked with Taylor Sheridan in Mayor of Kingstown. Lakeshore Records has released the series' soundtrack. Production for the second season officially started, relocating from the gritty streets of Baltimore, Maryland, to the expansive landscapes of Texas in May 2024. Sheridan was reported to be directing the third episode of the new season. On August 29, 2024, Kelly announced that filming of the second season had been wrapped. The production of the third season commenced in October 2025. Location filming in Fort Worth started in October 2025. Filming wrapped on March 25, 2026.

Inspiration§

The series is very loosely based on the premise of Team Lioness, where in Iraq in 2003, the decision was made to send female soldiers out with patrols, aiming to stop insurgents from using women to smuggle material because male US soldiers found it difficult to search Muslim women. These teams found themselves in direct combat situations, in violation of the Combat Exclusion Policy (changed only a decade later), which hindered the soldiers from getting veteran benefits after service.

Release§

Paramount+ unveiled a first-look trailer for the show on June 8, 2023. The eight-part series premiered on July 23, 2023 on Paramount+ with two one-hour episodes, and subsequent episodes released weekly thereafter. The red carpet premiere for the series, initially slated for July 18, 2023 at the Directors Guild of America Theatre in Los Angeles, was canceled due to the impact of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike in the United States. This marked one of the first events to be canceled in response to the strike. The second season was released with a two-episode premiere on October 27, 2024. The third season was released on August 2, 2026.

Critical response§

For the first season, the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 56% approval rating and an average rating of 6.1/10, based on 36 reviews. As of Apr 2025, the show has an overall Rotten Tomatoes rating of 73%. The website's critics consensus reads, "Zoe Saldaña provides the energy of a Lioness, but these Special Ops are largely derivative and unconvincing." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 56 out of 100 based on 19 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Despite praising the performances of Laysla De Oliveira and Zoe Saldaña, Anita Singh of The Daily Telegraph criticized "the one thing that lets the show down is Nicole Kidman as a CIA boss, whose frozen face these days is a total distraction". Tania Hussain of Collider praised the performance of the cast but criticized the show as "flawed story" and found Taylor Sheridan was struggling to write around women. Another writer from Collider, Michael John Petty, said the series "might work best as an one-and-done story," though later noted in his Season 2 review that the show that "Sheridan and company have managed to extend the narrative as organically as possible, offering hope for the future of this series." Angie Han of The Hollywood Reporter criticized the script as "seems to be constructed with the assumption that most of the audience will only be half-watching while scrolling Facebook on their phones anyway" but couldn't deny the fact that "there is one aspect of Special Ops: Lioness that shines through clear as day no matter how much or how little of your focus you've directed toward it, and that is its reverence for the U.S. Marine Corps". Jim Hemphill of IndieWire praised the cinematography work of Paul Cameron as it "breaks all the cinematography rules" and "in Cameron's hands, even a standard dialogue scene between two actors has extra dynamism and energy that come simply from looking for unorthodox angles or alternating focal lengths in a manner that might seem counterintuitive". Reviewer Mike Hale, writing for The New York Times, wrote that the show "turned out to be a moody, suspenseful, textured genre piece with characters you cared around," and that "Sheridan found a form, the action thriller, that suits him better than the western soap operas and contemporary crime dramas that he has made up to now." Initially, when only screening the first episode, Hale wrote the show "looks like an awful lot of other counterterrorism thrillers, with a visceral punch to its action and a ticky-tacky, backlot feel." Also based on the first episode, Variety criticized it as "cliché" and "shameless military propaganda". On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season has a 90% approval rating based on 10 critic reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10. On Rotten Tomatoes, the third season has a 82% approval rating based on 11 critic reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 76 out of 100 based on 5 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Audience viewership§

The first season achieved a milestone by becoming the streamer's most-watched worldwide series premiere on launch day at the time, drawing nearly 6 million total viewers in its first week across Paramount+ globally and during a linear preview on the Paramount Network. This record was later surpassed by Lawmen: Bass Reeves, another series made by Taylor Sheridan for Paramount+. Special Ops: Lioness emerged as one of the most-watched global series premieres on Paramount+ in 2023. The second season garnered three million views within its first seven days. It placed #4 Paramount+ originals with the biggest domestic household premieres. It was reported a total of 12.4 million viewers globally across all platforms until the week of November 10 and an increase of average households from 4.8 million to 5.4 million. The second season reached 8.3 million domestic households, a 10% increase compared to its season 1 of 7.6 million, and secured #3 in the most-watched global series premieres on Paramount+ in 2024. According to Nielsen's latest data, measuring only U.S. views on TV sets, the second season was placed #8 and #5 position in the original series chart during the week of October 28–November 3 and November 4–10, respectively. It placed #6 and #7 for November 11–17 and November 18–24, respectively. It maintained its #6 position for the week of November 25 – December 1. During December 2–8 and December 9–15, the series continued its strong hold by placing #4 and #6 in the original series chart, especially the first time securing the #7 position overall chart for the week of December 2–8. During the week of December 16–22 and December 23–29, the series ranked at No. 10 and #9, respectively. It went up to No. 6 during the week of December 30 – January 5. According to Luminate Film & TV Streaming Viewership, the second and first season ranked as the no. 4 and no. 8 most-watched streaming original series in the U.S. for the week of November 29 – December 5.