Discover why Taylor Sheridan's 'Lioness' has captivated audiences and left them longing for more

2023-09-10 04:40:04

We Don't Need Another Season of Taylor Sheridan's 'Lioness'

Editor's note: The below contains spoilers for the finale of Special Ops: Lioness.

Although the cowboy-turned-filmmaker Taylor Sheridan is best known for his neo-Western triumph Yellowstone and its greater expanded universe, which has made waves all across the country, it isn't the only television project he's undertaken in recent years. Following his other successes with Mayor of Kingstown and Tulsa King, Sheridan has transitioned from his usual crime dramas into something a little more thrilling. Starring Zoe Saldaña as CIA operative Joe McNamara, his latest Paramount+ series Special Ops: Lioness is one for the record books.

What Is 'Special Ops: Lioness' About?

Loosely inspired by the real Team Lioness (which looked vastly different from what the series portrays), Lioness centers primarily on CIA operative Joe McNamara (Saldaña) and her asset, a Marine named Cruz Manuelos (Laysla De Oliveira). At the beginning of the series, Cruz is brought on board the Lioness program to infiltrate the life of a suspected terrorist by befriending his adult daughter, Aaliyah Amrohi (Stephanie Nur) — only Cruz gets in way too deep, and after first becoming Aaliyah's best friend, the two form a romantic bond that endangers the entire operation.

How Does 'Special Ops: Lioness' Season 1 End?

The series ends with a real bang. After waiting all season for Aaliyah to encounter her father Amrohi (Bassem Youssef) aka the target, it finally occurs just in time for her arranged wedding date. Though things have gotten steamy between the undercover Cruz (who has unprofessionally fallen for her mark) and Aaliyah, the Marine goes into the fight ready to do her job. But, after being outed by Aaliyah's threatened fiancé Ehsan (Ray Corasani), Cruz is forced to kill him and Aaliyah's father in the most brutal way possible, escaping into the night in only a t-shirt and underwear.

Thankfully, Joe and the team arrive in time to extract her but having nuked the only meaningful relationship she ever had, Lioness ends its first season with Cruz quitting the program. Emphasizing that she's "out," she gets into a physical altercation with Joe that rattles them both. But though their mission is successful on paper, it turns out that the Secretary of State didn't want Aaliyah's father killed after all, potentially pushing back Middle-east negotiations decades in the process. "You should've taken him off the top of your kill list," says CIA Deputy Director Bryan Westfield (Kelly), not that it does any good. The deed has been done, and the consequences will be felt.

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'Special Ops: Lioness' Doesn't Need Another Season, But It'll Probably Get One

When Taylor Sheridan first wrote Lioness, he did so hoping to write the character of Joe around Saldaña, who would go on to executive produce the series as well. "The thought of me committing to a multi-seasonal show was just daunting," she told Vanity Fair earlier this year. "[But] it was Taylor Sheridan. Nicole Kidman was already attached to produce, and she was going to play a part in it as well. So obviously, that was a dream for me." Unsurprisingly, it seems that Sheridan and company are hoping to continue the Lioness story into another season, especially after some record streaming numbers. But that's kind of a shame.

Taylor Sheridan's Stories Are Usually Better When They're Standalone

There's no denying that the first season of Lioness was an exciting thrill ride. In many ways, it seems that Sheridan is looking to continue what he started with his Amazon movie Without Remorse, showing his chops as an action writer with enough espionage thrills to go around. Here, he shows that he can do so extremely well, which gives us hope for the future of his post-Yellowstone career. But while it's fun and maybe even refreshing to watch Sheridan play in a different sandbox (though we still prefer his Westerns), one thing has become clear among a plethora of Sheridan-produced Paramount shows: less is always more.

Any Continuation of 'Lioness' Should Follow 'Sicario's Example

If the way Lioness ends feels somewhat familiar, that isn't surprising. In many ways, it echoes one of Sheridan's best works, Sicario. Though he didn't helm the action thriller himself, his clear on-the-page direction shines through Emily Blunt's performance as FBI Special Agent Kate Macer. Though Sicario has nothing to do with Lioness on paper, there's a strong thematic connection that ties them together. On Lioness, Cruz is pulled into a world she doesn't fully understand only to be completely horrified by the results. This is exactly what Kate Macer goes through in Sicario, right until the ending where she's forced to pretend like it never happened at all.

As a result, Kate doesn't return for the sequel, which instead follows Benicio del Toro's Alejandro as he continues his personal mission to clean up the US-Mexico border. Maybe that's how Lioness should play out too. With their target dead, there's no reason for Aaliyah to return, and likewise, no reason for Cruz to rejoin the program. If anything, her strong stance against what they did in the finale and her unwillingness to cooperate further should be honored going forward, and while it would be sad to see a talent like Laysla De Oliveira go, it would give her character more agency and control over her own destiny, not unlike Blunt's character at the end of Sicario.

Additionally, Lioness is the type of show that, if continued, could resume operations with a new lead entirely. That's the beauty, or horror depending on how you look at it, of the Lioness program. Naturally, Joe would return, there were too many loose ends with her family for Sheridan to let her go so easily, but that doesn't mean that the impact from this first season can't be genuinely felt and dealt with. In fact, it would be a disservice to the story if it didn't.

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What Is Taylor Sheridan Up to Next After 'Special Ops: Lioness'?

Following Lioness, our favorite cowboy hat-wearing, ranching-filmmaker has plenty of other projects in the pipeline. Sheridan told The Hollywood Reporter back in June 2023 that he has several other Yellowstone prequel and spin-off ideas currently in development, with long-awaited projects such as 6666 (set on the historic Four Sixes Ranch, which Sheridan himself owns), the prequel 1944, and the upcoming Yellowstone sequel starring Matthew McConaughey still underway.

Additionally, his 1883 spin-off anthology series Lawmen – the first season of which follows David Oyelowo's Bass Reeves – is set to premiere on Paramount+ sometime this fall. Beyond that, a second season of both Tulsa King and 1923 have been announced, and the back half of the fifth and final season of Yellowstone still has yet to air on the Paramount Network. However, with the current WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes going on, it's unlikely that we'll see any of these projects materialize any time soon. We have yet to hear any word on Lioness' renewal.

Special Ops: Lioness can be streamed exclusively on Paramount+.

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