When it was announced in 2022 that Zoe Saldaña and Nicole Kidman would be starring in a new Taylor Sheridan series, there was palpable buzz. After all, Yellowstone's one of the biggest shows on television, and who didn't love Tim McGraw and Faith Hill's turn in 1883? As it turns out, that buzz was well-placed because for Special Ops: Lioness, the show that resulted is a multi-layered, female-forward bout of extreme badassery. There are explosions and all-out boxing matches, ache-inducing feats of physical strength, and lots and lots of espionage and intrigue—and that's just in the series premiere.
"Sacrificial Soldiers" sets up Special Ops: Lioness with a big bang, but there's also a good amount of table-setting for what's to come. Here's what you need to know about what happened in the show's premiere, as well as some thoughts we have about what's to come.
Warning: Spoilers ahead for Special Ops: Lioness season 1, episode 1.
Welcome to Syria
Lynsey Addario/Paramount+
When the show opens, it's in Kobane, Syria. A woman is on the run after, we quickly learn, being discovered as a secret operative by some sort of terrorist organization. She calls her handler Joe (Saldaña) for an extraction, which Joe is fully gung-ho to do until her CIA base is ambushed by some bad actors. A wild firefight ensues, ultimately ending in Joe calling in an air strike that brutally mows down all the attackers. She and her team roll out to retrieve the plant, who's called Joe again, but as they arrive at the location, Joe hears her charge has been captured. It was going to be hard to get into the compound, regardless, but now that the operation was compromised, Joe decides to go ahead and call in a drone strike. The entire building is destroyed, American operative and all, and the CIA team slinks sadly back to base.
Four years earlier, in Oklahoma
When we meet Cruz (Laysla De Oliveira), it's in what's arguably the basement of her life. She's flipping burgers for minimum wage, shacking up with an abusive asshole of a boyfriend and his criminal pals, and everyone she loves is either dead or in prison. After her boyfriend gives her a shiner for having a mere opinion, she tries to sneak away, only to have him try and grab her. She hits him with a pan and bolts out. As he chases her through town, she's yelling for help. She ducks into the first open door she finds, only to discover it's a Marine recruiting office. The officer in charge there scares her boyfriend off and helps her out, but when she goes back to work later, she realizes the boyfriend is outside waiting for her shift to end. She calls the cops, who take her to a crowded, depressing women's shelter, where she spends the night. First thing the next morning, she's back at the recruitment office taking a test to enlist, and next thing we know, she's in basic training, where she's seemingly the best female soldier to have ever existed. Good for her for getting away from that hellish situation. Here's hoping she never, ever has to go back.
Please welcome Nicole Kidman
We get our first look at Nicole Kidman's character, Kaitlyn Meade, in Saldaña's next scene. She's back at CIA HQ in Virginia talking through her disastrous operation, with Michael Kelly's Donald Westfield (presumably some sort of higher-up) giving her the business for not checking her former plant for tattoos. (Her target spotted one of a cross on her ribs and gave her up.) He tells her that can't happen again, that she needs a new operative, and storms out, leaving Kidman (who's also Executive Producing the series) to sit with Joe for a brief chat. It's unclear what her character's role is—maybe some sort of Lioness supervisor?—but it should be interesting to find out.
Joe goes home
William Gray/Paramount+
While back in Virginia, Joe decides to pop in to see her husband and kids at home. Her husband Neil (Dave Annable, aka Yellowstone's Lee Dutton), who is very attractive, is making grits for their two cute kids, only one of which seems actually happy to see their mom. It's clear that Joe's relationship with her family is strained at best and that she's not necessarily suited for domestic life. She's seen some shit in her time and so, understandably, it can be hard to just slide back into talk of soccer games and whatever's in theaters. She does get a little fresh with her husband later, though, after we learn they seemingly have a vaguely open relationship due to time and distance.
Cruz gets recruited
Lynsey Addario/Paramount+
We all knew it was coming, but after showing off her general badassery in front of Joe and a bunch of Marines, Cruz is tapped by Joe to enter the Lioness program. The program, it seems, is designed to locate the wives, daughters, and girlfriends of high-value targets. An operative is placed close to them and tasked with gaining their trust, and once the target unknowingly divulges a little information, the CIA swoops in and takes out the previously unfindable target.
Joe and Cruz jet off to some camp in Kuwait (?) where they're after the daughter of a guy who runs an Iranian-backed militia in Iraq. They'll find her shopping the next day, but first, Cruz has to meet the rest of the Lioness crew, including Bobby (Hallmark star Jill Wagner), Two Cups (Yellowstone and Mayor of Kingstown alum James Jordan), Tex (Jonah Wharton), and Randy (Jonah Wharton). She outdrinks them all, Marine style, and wakes up the next day with a horrible hangover. She's thrown into her mission but somehow manages to earn her target's trust, going along with her to get a makeover at Estee Lauder after a brief dalliance with jewelry at Louis Vuitton. It seems a little sudden to just pal up with someone you randomly met in a store, especially if your dad is some sort of warlord, but whatever. We'll go with it.
Questions and predictions
Wow, was there a lot going on in the premiere of Lioness. Luckily Paramount+ dropped two episodes at the same time, so we don't really have to wait to get sucked into the universe even more, but after this episode, we're dying to know:
- Is Cruz believable as a rich heiress? She's smart and hard-working, but some things you just can't really teach, especially when you're thrown right into the deep end of things. We're interested to see how well she can endear herself to her target... and when the target actually gives up the goods.
- How did Joe get her gig? Joe is clearly great at her job, but it's also the kind of assignment you only get after previous years of service. Was Joe once a mole on the outside? How many women are even in this program? And what is Nicole Kidman's role in this whole thing?
- Prediction: Things don't go exactly to plan. Special Ops: Lioness is a TV show, after all, so we know there's drama in store. While it would be great to see Cruz dig right in, ferret out some info, and land the bad guy, we have a sneaking suspicion that there'll be a few bumps and hurdles along the way. Would it even be a Taylor Sheridan show otherwise?
New episodes of Special Ops: Lioness premiere Sundays on Paramount+.
