Special Ops: Lioness, is an American spy thriller television series. The show is created by Taylor Sheridan. The first season of the show hit screens on 23 July 2023 on the Paramount+ network. The series was again renewed for a second season, on 27 October 2024.
The series of Special Ops: Lioness is inspired by a real-life team known as the Task Force Lioness. The group comprises female US Marines who serve in combat units in Iraq and Afghanistan. Special Ops: Lioness tells the story of a female Marine Raider who is recruited by the CIA to befriend the daughter of a high-profile terrorist to assassinate him and prevent a 9/11-style attack.
The main motive behind the creation of Task Force Lioness is to improve the Marine Corps' access to women involved in potential terrorist activities. But Sheridan’s show varies much further, exploring the difficulties of forging a human relationship with someone perceived to be the enemy.
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How does Special Ops: Lioness depict the female forces in the show?
Zoe Saldaña plays Joe, who is Cruz's handler, while Oscar winners Nicole Kidman and Morgan Freeman have supporting roles in Special Ops: Lioness. Joe, the Head of Operations, recruits and trains women like Marine Cruz Manuelos (Laysla De Oliveira) to infiltrate global terrorist groups like ISIS and eliminate important targets.
They work in areas where their presence as women is often overlooked. This challenge becomes an advantage, as local dress codes make them harder to identify. Their job as special forces requires great bravery and cleverness. The Lioness operatives face the risk of torture and execution if caught before Joe’s Quick Response Team (QRT) can rescue them.
The Lionesses need to remain mentally strong. They aim to manipulate other women through friendship, only to betray that trust when they carry out their missions, leaving their “friends” to face the dangerous aftermath.
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Details on the real Lioness program used as inspiration in Special Ops: Lioness
The show's Lioness program took its inspiration from the real Marine Corps Lioness Task Force. The operations depicted in the series have been largely inspired by the Female Engagement Teams first deployed in Afghanistan.
The Lioness program sends women serving in the Marine Corps to Iraq and Afghan checkpoints to conduct female searches and detain women engaged in terrorist activities. This is because male Marines cannot interact with female civilians when cultural and religious correctness has made them sensitive to unnecessary offense. In a war with no clear front line, the terrorists have found more opportunities to use women in attacks.
The Lionesses search women in a given area, often removing their protective headgear and goggles to reveal their faces. Sometimes they use headscarves to build trust with the women they are searching for.
During their missions, the Lionesses search nearly 100 women a day and have found men dressed as women, weapons, and photographs of US military sites. Spotting thousands of dollars and propaganda materials is not very uncommon in certain areas.
The force helps distribute basic school and hygiene supplies including medicines to the local population, along with stopping bombings and providing security.
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Special Ops: Lioness is available for fans to stream on Prime Video.
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