I can't believe I slept on Taylor Sheridan's 'Lioness' and now it's dominating my watchlist!

I can't believe I slept on Taylor Sheridan's Lioness, and now it's dominating my watchlist. One episode turned into a weekend-long binge, and I finally understand what all the buzz was about.

Lioness, which premiered on Paramount+ in 2023 under the full title Special Ops: Lioness, is a pulse-pounding thriller rooted in military precision, emotional depth, and themes that feel as politically sharp as they are personally devastating. The show opens with intensity and doesn’t let up, unraveling a story that is as much about espionage as it is about identity, vulnerability, and the burden of institutional expectation.

Disclaimer: This article reflects the personal opinions of the author and is based on publicly available information, research, and individual interpretation as of the publication date. It is not affiliated with the creators of Lioness or the streaming platform mentioned.

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Taylor Sheridan brings gritty realism to female-led espionage

Created by Taylor Sheridan, already revered for his gripping narratives in Yellowstone, Mayor of Kingstown, and Sicario, Lioness may be his most ambitious project to date.

The plot follows Joe (Zoe Saldaña), a hardened CIA operative who runs a clandestine program designed to insert female agents into the social circles of terrorist figures. The strategy? Leverage female operatives to befriend daughters, wives, or sisters of high-value targets, gaining proximity and access in ways male agents cannot.

Cruz Manuelos (Laysla De Oliveira), a young, emotionally complex Marine, is recruited to carry out one of the program’s most dangerous missions. As her emotional boundaries blur, the line between performance and self begins to fracture.

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Inspired by real women who fought in silence

The brilliance of Lioness stems from how it uses gender not just as a narrative device but as a layered weapon. The series takes loose inspiration from the real-life Team Lioness program, implemented by the U.S. military in the early 2000s during the Iraq war.

This initiative deployed female Marines to conduct searches and intelligence gathering in spaces inaccessible to men. These women were effective not despite being overlooked, but because of it. In war zones, and in Sheridan’s world, the underestimated woman becomes the most effective operator.

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Zoe Saldaña redefines the action heroine

Zoe Saldaña’s portrayal of Joe is nothing short of magnetic. While she’s long been associated with powerful roles—Neytiri in Avatar, Gamora in Guardians of the Galaxy, and Uhura in Star Trek—Lioness gives her a new kind of battlefield: one where the emotional stakes rival the physical ones.

Joe is a mother, a tactician, and a survivor, and Saldaña brings all of this to the screen with a mastery that never feels performative. Her pain, her strength, her moral ambiguity, they’re all lived-in and palpable.

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Feminism in the shadows: Weaponizing what the world ignores

Lioness quietly but powerfully embodies feminist commentary. It doesn’t need to announce its stance; its story is the message. The idea that women can infiltrate spaces not because they are invisible, but because society chooses to overlook them, becomes a deeply unsettling and powerful truth.

Cruz’s arc, particularly her emotionally tangled bond with Aaliyah Amrohi (the daughter of a suspected terrorist financier), exemplifies this tension. Through Cruz’s eyes, the series explores themes of emotional manipulation, psychological endurance, and ethical ambiguity.

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A personal mission for Zoe Saldaña

What makes this even more significant is Zoe Saldaña’s own public advocacy for intersectional feminism. She has often criticized Hollywood’s tendency to center white feminism while excluding the narratives of women of color.

In her interviews, she’s emphasized the importance of showing multi-dimensional, racially diverse women in positions of leadership. As Joe, a woman of color at the helm of a black ops mission, Saldaña isn't just playing a role, she's extending her real-life activism into storytelling.

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Intersectional feminism in the plot and in practice

Intersectional feminism argues that gender issues cannot be separated from race, class, and identity, and Lioness presents this argument elegantly. Joe and Cruz operate within a world that marginalizes them for their gender and their layered identities. Their emotional armor isn’t optional; it’s essential.

Watching them carve out space in a system designed to exclude them is as gratifying as it is sobering. In one of the show’s quieter moments, Joe remarks on the loneliness of leadership, a line that lands heavier knowing how invisible that strength often is.

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A cinematic experience grounded in character

From a production standpoint, Lioness is stunning. Direction is sharp and precise, with action scenes that are both immediate and emotionally charged. The cinematography leans into naturalistic lighting and intimate framing, often putting us right in the moral trenches with the characters.

The supporting cast, Nicole Kidman as CIA handler Kaitlyn Meade, Morgan Freeman as the Secretary of State, and Michael Kelly as Westfield, add gravitas without eclipsing the show's emotional nucleus. The writing, too, is lean but expansive, allowing characters to breathe even in the most chaotic moments.

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Reception, ratings, and the slow-burn phenomenon

Critics have been mixed in their responses, some calling it predictable, while others have lauded it for its emotional nuance and compelling performances. But audiences? They’re tuning in steadily.

The show quickly found its footing on Paramount+, thanks to strong word-of-mouth, and has gained a loyal following particularly among women and fans of emotionally intelligent thrillers. Lioness has become a sleeper hit, one of those shows that sneaks up on you and refuses to let go.

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Not just TV, it's a mirror

What’s perhaps most subversive about Lioness is how it repositions female strength not as spectacle, but as survival. These women do not wield power in overt ways, they endure, they calculate, they adapt. Their victories are quiet, often invisible, but no less significant. In a landscape full of shows that flaunt violence and dominance, Lioness chooses restraint, empathy, and moral gray zones.

So yes, I slept on Lioness. But now that it’s taken over my watchlist, and my headspace, I can see it for what it is: not just another spy thriller, but a richly layered, emotionally intelligent portrait of the women we too often fail to notice. And in doing so, Lioness becomes something else entirely: a quiet revolution.