Zoë Saldaña, Nicole Kidman, Morgan Freeman, Michael Kelly, and Dave Annable return for season 2 of Yellowstone and Tulsa King creator Taylor Sheridan’s Special Ops: Lioness, back on M-Net from Monday 24 March at 20:00.
In season one, viewers were introduced to the Lioness Unit, led by Joe McNamara (Zoë Saldaña). The undercover unit is dedicated to befriending the wives, girlfriends, or daughters of high-value terrorist targets and working to turn them for the CIA. When an operation goes wrong and the unit loses a key operative, a chance encounter lands Force Recon Marine Cruz Manuelos (Laysla de Oliveira) a place as a Lioness.
Spoiler alert for those who want to follow the first season in preparation for the premiere of the second. In the finale, Joe’s daughter, Kate (Hannah Love Lanier), was in the process of recovering from a car accident. Meanwhile, Cruz (de Oliveira) had fallen in love with her target, Aaliyah (Stephanie Nur), and was forced to kill Aaliyah’s fiancé, Ehsan Al Rashdi (Ray Corasani), and her powerful father, Asmar (Bassem Youssef). Cruz completed the mission but suggested that Asmar’s death was pointless.
The fight continues in season 2 with Joe now forced to continue to fight the first season’s fires, while bargaining with Kaitlyn (Nicole Kidman) and Byron (Michael Kelly) about sending in a new operative she isn’t sure she can yet trust. A US congresswoman is abducted on US soil, leading Secretary of State Mullins (Freeman) to activate the Lioness for assistance. Kaitlyn also comes under fire when someone breaks into her home – with fatal consequences. With pressure mounting from all sides, Joe is forced to confront the profound personal sacrifices she has made as the leader of the Lioness program.
Decider gave the second season a firm "Stream It" rating, saying: “There’s still plenty of shooting and other action in the second season of Lioness, but at least now Sheridan understands that his stellar cast can do a whole lot more than grimace and hold a gun.” Collider praised the second season’s meatier storylines: “The tension between duty to country and duty to family makes Lioness such a gripping series to watch … but Lioness is such a compelling drama because we understand why Joe must continue to put herself in the line of fire, even as we wish more than anything that she would stop.”
Special Ops: Lioness season 2 starts on Monday 24 March at 20:00 on M-Net channel. Join the conversation on Facebook X, Instagram, and TikTok using #SpecialOpsLioness and #MNet101.