Summary
Episode 3 of Season 2 is a slower chapter, but Joe’s internal battle with Josie makes for a great conclusion.
It really felt like Lioness Season 2, Episode 3 was going to be an average chapter until the end when Joe gets her claws on Josie. And just because it is average does not make it any less intriguing. “Along Came a Spider” shows more of the intricacies of politics, especially with the upcoming US elections and the Secretary of State worrying about optics.
Season 2, Episode 3 opens at Pablo Carrillo’s mansion. The CIA has the place monitored; using a fake fire team, they pretend that there’s a dangerous gas leak to encourage the housemaid to leave so they can wiretap the house. This is done successfully, but Joe is not happy. She tells Kaitlyn that she does not trust Josie because she’s a second-generation Mexican who has never been to Mexico, which is odd and suspicious. Joe’s intuition is flared up in season 2, which is probably why she was so brutal towards Josie in Episode 2.
Josie Has To Get Used To Having No Privacy
When you are recruited as a Lioness, your life is flipped upside down, and Josie has her first taste of her new life in “Along Came a Spider.”
On the news, it is reported that Captain Josefina Carrillo (Josie) has been court-martialed due to a “friendly-fire incident.” Of course, this is not true – it’s a smokescreen; Josie will be disgraced and discharged from her service, giving her a reason to return to her Mexican family.
Josie is sent to Kyle’s QRF team, and she is immediately uncomfortable with the facilities, feeling she has no privacy. The camera’s direction hones in on her experiences of being in a close, shared space with these covert agents. It does give you the impression that it is uncomfortable.
The Politics Is So Ugly
We already know that, from the outside looking in, the USA is extremely divisive when it comes to political allegiances. Social media has heightened this situation, with family members and close friends falling out over the two-party system.
Kaitlyn and Byron meet US Secretary of State Edwin Mullins, and it appears that he and key government officials are getting cold feet over the Lioness plan to fish out the Chinese agent due to the upcoming elections and pushback from a couple of Democrat senators.
They also do not believe that the news about Josie Carrillo was big enough to provide enough coverage and are concerned about how the Chinese will see it.
Of course, when it involves the border, the US Senate is never bipartisan, and Season 2, Episode 3 proves that. Kaitlyn and her husband, Errol Meade, enjoy fancy fine dining and sell their plan to those who will uphold it.
Josie starts her Lioness training (Credit – Paramount+)
Josie’s Lioness Training Leads To Another Revelation
Josie is a helicopter pilot, so Lioness’s training is brutal for her. They train her at the shooting range and put her through a specific test mission. You can tell Josie is uncomfortable with this training, but to be fair, she is trying her best. Josie is resilient, trying to master potentially dangerous missions in the future. Even Kyle compliments her, telling Joe she’s picking up the training well despite being a helicopter pilot.
Joe, who is under pressure to deliver a Lioness for the operation, puts Josie through a simulator, where she is put through a simulated dangerous scenario. Josie fails, and Joe mocks her for acting like a cop in a hostage situation. She tells her to show mercy and that they are designed to be a kill team. She feels like Josie needs another month of training.
Joe has not given Josie a moment’s rest since meeting her.
As we established earlier in the episode, Joe does not trust Josie, and she makes it known following the VR training. Kyle and the team add to the pressure.
Joe reminds Josie that she is returning to her parents’ home in Dallas. Josie says she is not close to her family. But Joe is not buying it; she thinks Josie has some idea that her family deals with the Mexican cartel. Both Kyle and Joe put pressure on Josie, shouting at her and insisting they want the truth, and that’s when Josie breaks—she speaks back to them in Spanish.
An angry Joe accuses Josie of being a mole. A sobbing Josie explains that she wants to stay away from what her family does and that she joined the Lioness programme because she loves her country.
But Joe asks an important question: does Josie love her country enough to destroy her family?
Joe gives Josie her phone and asks her to prove her loyalty to her country. Josie rings her father, trembling. We assume she’s about to betray her family and prove she is a Lioness.
If you thought Episode 2 was intense with the question, “DO YOU LOVE YOUR COUNTRY?” The ending of Episode 3 ramps this up to a similar level. But we have to ask ourselves: Would Joe destroy her family for her country? I always feel like Joe is projecting, so we have to keep an eye on her character development. This is another brilliant episode of Lioness.
Intel
Here are some other notable moments from Lioness Season 2, Episode 3:
- Kate finds her mother, Joe, having sex with her father, Neal. She finds it traumatizing. Joe tells her that she’s lucky that she has parents who still have sex after twenty years of being together.
- Neal argues with his children about debates and ideology—that they have the right to disagree with each other. Joe says there are nations that do not have this right.
Read More: Lioness Season 2, Episode 4 Recap
