Critic’s Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
4.5
One thing about Lioness is that it never slows down.
In fact, Lioness Season 3 Episode 3 will probably go down as the series’ most intense and most shocking hour.
It had an intensity that never let up for the entire hour, and I’m still trying to make sense of where the series can go next.
(Emerson Miller/Paramount+)
It’s hard to believe that Joe’s meeting with Oleksandra back on Lioness Season 3 Episode 1 could be the reason she’s kidnapped in the six-months-later timeline.
There had to be more to Oleksandra since Kyle kidnapped her on Lioness Season 3 Episode 2, and I appreciated that she didn’t immediately spill all the goods to the team.
She was aware of the severity of the situation. I mean, her mother and sister were seemingly minutes from death, and that didn’t break her.
I did not expect Oleksandra to also be able to read the entire team and understand the part they played in Lioness. She’s analytical, and her ability to observe is clearly what helps her get results.
(Emerson Miller/Paramount+)
The way she explained how the world works and how other countries are aware of the Lioness program was a twist I didn’t see coming.
The biggest shocker with this storyline is how it pushed Joe and Kyle to reach out to their superiors to make the news public about having the Russian spy on U.S. soil.
Lioness Is Keeping Joe’s Fate Up for Debate
The fact that there are so many layers to what Oleksandra said highlights why this has been kept under wraps for so long.
There’s so much that could go wrong with exposing the senators and everyone in between who do not have the United States of America’s best interests at heart, and I think it could explain why Joe was ultimately taken.
(Lauren “Lo” Smith/Paramount+)
Right now, we’re assuming it’s Russian spies who have taken her, but knowing that she played a part in all of the news about the “disease” within the U.S. government makes it obvious that this could be an order from someone on her home soil.
This is peeling back a massive conspiracy, so there has to be blowback that puts the fate of the Lioness program in jeopardy.
Now that we have a sense of why Joe was kidnapped, it’s time to get to the part of the mission where her teammates hunt down everyone associated with her kidnapping.
This job is mentally taxing, and they’re acting like machines to get through this task. If anyone can bring Joe home, it’s her former team. They know who she is and that she would never turn her back on her country.
(Emerson Miller/Paramount+)
Since they’ve also been under her rule for so long, they know how she’ll act in whatever situation she’s in, which honestly must be comforting to her.
One thing I never expected so soon was Joe opening up to her daughters about the true extent of her career and what it entails.
I never in a million years imagined that she’d be spilling EVERYTHING, from her murdering people to people trying to murder her.
The beating heart of her impassioned speech clearly stemmed from her sense of responsibility for putting her family in harm’s way.
(Lauren “Lo” Smith/Paramount+)
I’ve never for one minute wondered whether what Joe has been fighting for for so long is wrong. She’s devoted to saving her country and crafting a future in which her children can grow up without looking over their shoulders.
The acting from Zoe Saldaña during that scene was, once again, on another level. If this does turn out to be her final season at the wheel of Lioness, she’s turning in an awards-worthy performance.
Joe’s daughters’ lives have changed overnight, and there was no simple way for them to hear this news.
I appreciate that Joe didn’t try to sugarcoat it. They had to understand the severity of the situation, and after their trip to school with Joe’s team, they both now understand very well that danger lurks around every corner.
(Emerson Miller/Paramount+.)
Neal is more of an enigma. He’s obviously been expecting Joe’s work to follow her home, but now that he’s in this situation, it’s like he can’t make sense of what happened or what comes next.
He’s no better in the six-months-later timeline. He’s spiraling because he’s being told information on a need-to-know basis, and he believes that there’s a chance his wife will not return home.
Can Neal Find a Way to Move On?
Neal is going to be pushed to the limit on Lioness Season 3 as the lingering questions about what happened to his wife come to the surface, and he’ll have to grapple with the fact that any outcome here has the potential to change everything for his daughters.
I’d be lying if I said the dual timelines are not confusing, but so much is happening right now that I can’t look away.
(Emerson Miller/Paramount+.)
There was definitely less of the future timeline than we had in the first few episodes, and I think that worked.
I think just having a future scene for the end tag and as a teaser for the next episode is probably the best way to go.
How to Get Away With Murder excelled at that kind of storytelling for six seasons, and Lioness seems to be taking the less-is-more approach to the future timeline.
What are your thoughts on Oleksandra and how she’ll fit into the team in the future?
(Ryan Green/Paramount+)
Do you think Joe and Kyle made a mistake by taking this to the top and revealing the news about the spy?
Let’s keep the conversation going — it’s the only way the good stuff survives.
Say something in the comments, share if you’re moved to, and keep reading. Independent voices need readers like you.
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On Lioness Season 3 Episode 3, Joe’s life crashes down and she’s forced into an unimaginable situation. Read our review.
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