Summary
Barring one illogical moment that does not take away from the effectiveness of the episode, Lioness Season 2 raises the stakes as the US Government decides to show Iran and China its hand.
I’ve wondered why Lioness Season 2 has been better than the first season for a while now. It’s honestly kept me up at night. But I finally got the answer in the first scene of Episode 7.
In Season 2, the characters are showing their vulnerabilities. The presentation of “duty for the country” is slowly seeping away, and the mask is slipping. The characters are revealing their ugly side and my word, it is ugly.
Table of Contents
Edwin Mullins Visits Byron To Discuss The Next Move
The opening of “The Devil Has Aces” proves my point entirely. Edwin Mullins visits Byron at his family home. Visiting a family home feels unprecedented in this line of work, especially when the purpose is to discuss intel and objectives. Edwin walks around the neighborhood like a friendly advocate, not a man who wields power and high-security clearance. He is masking the monster from within.
Edwin talks to Byron about the problem they have had since the suicide bomber killed intelligence agents on the US-Mexican border (Joe’s side mission to save the human-trafficked girl) and learned that an invasive DEA agent compromised their Lioness mission.
Based on the information received, Byron believes that Iranian counterintelligence is involved via the proxy of Chinese intelligence. He explains his theory in two parts. Either:
- Foreign agents want to destabilize the border to influence the election or;
- They have shifted their intelligence to focus on stateside.
Byron explains in detail how they have information from Jordanian intelligence (and Mossad) that two Chinese nuclear scientists are stationed in Hakkari, Turkey, with plans to transport them into Tehran.
Edwin turns the conversation into an intellectual one. He explains how they tried to stop George W. Bush from becoming President again before 9/11—the establishment no longer wanted him in office for a further four years after suspecting he fixed the election. However, after 9/11, the Americans turned to him as he emboldened the nation to unite. He ponders with Byron, wondering where the Americans are today, and concludes they have no leaders with enemies at the gate.
Edwin weaves the conversation back to their mission and tells Byron that they are not the only country with open borders and they should remind their adversaries of this fact.
Edwin does not give approval of Byron’s next mission (to remind the world they are not the only country with open borders) because he wants deniability. Hence, he visited his house—a personal place where high-level intel and intelligence plans are not meant to be discussed. He wanted it away from decision-makers. Again, as I iterated at the start of this recap, the mask has slipped, which is why Season 2 is far more effective.
Joe boards the plane for Iraq (Paramount)
There’s No Rest For Joe, And She Does Not Want Rest Either
In the last episode, Joe was close to death. In Season 2, Episode 7, she wakes up in the hospital distressed after recovery. She did not die, but she’s undoubtedly weaker than before.
Neal is at her bedside, telling her that the girls are strong and they’ll survive without her, but he will not survive if she dies doing this job. Joe is as stubborn as ever, telling Neal that it is her duty and that he should leave her OR get stronger because she cannot unswear her oath to the country.
For significant reasons, Joe and Neal’s marriage is on a knife-edge. Despite Neal’s emotional plea to Joe to navigate a less dangerous career, she responds to him in a statesperson-like way, reminding us of the “DO YOU LOVE YOUR COUNTRY!?” from Episode 2. It felt cold and unloving – she was not trying to understand her husband and his predicament. She’s making him feel selfish.
Byron also visits Joe, but it is way less personal. He wants details as to what she saw on the border. Joe explains that the suicide bomber was not there to attack her team but to protect an asset. Byron tells Joe to direct Cruz to the ground from a desk, and Joe is annoyed, feeling power is being taken off her, but Byron sees it differently. He reminds Joe that she is not expendable; her team members are.
The hospital visits starkly contrast and highlight that Neal represents the only good human left in this series. Everyone else is careerist, corrupted, or ideologically zoned in. It makes for fascinating television.
Gutierrez’s Polygraph Test
If anyone has been caught up in a storm, it’s DEA Agent Gutierrez – since being introduced in Episode 4, he’s had the most challenging time. You’d think the Lioness would have had it worse, but the storyline continues to put him through hell.
Kaitlyn visits the QRF safehouse to visit the maid from Pablo Carrillo’s mansion, ask her questions, and put her in protective custody. Meanwhile, Gutierrez is medicated against his will (medication that can apparently give him suicidal thoughts) while placed under a polygraph test.
Kyle cruelly questions his ethics, professionalism, and loyalty to his wife and family but passes each question truthfully. He admits to rejecting an offer from a criminal organization, and the only reason he did not report it is because he killed the person who provided the offer.
Afterward, Gutierrez goes on his usual rant about the American government and the mishandling of the multi-billion dollar narcotics business at the border. Kyle has to reluctantly tell Kaitlyn that Gutierrez is clean after putting him through torture.
Knowing they could have violated laws, Kaitlyn speaks to Gutierrez alone and casually explains that they had to carry out their actions due to suspicions. She encourages him to find common ground and smoothly enlists him to their side.
Interestingly, it seems Kaitlyn used Gutierrez’s willingness to want good in this world and his idealistic mindset to avoid any trouble from what has happened since they put him under custody. With that, she has gained an asset who wants to work with them to find answers.
Joe Receives New Intel And A New Mission
Neal had a recovery plan for Joe, but his wife did not think about resting, causing friction in the family home.
Joe joins a highly classified meeting with the military heads to review the latest intel with Kaitlyn and Byron by her side (they are still silently fuming that she decided to partake in her own mission on the border, but how can you stay mad at someone who nearly died?).
They are given two targets/subjects as part of the intel:
- Daiu Suen (Cantonese) – Undergrad at MIT with a PhD in Nuclear Engineering from Tsinghua University, Beijing.
- Jun Hie Xiong (American) is an undergrad at MIT with a PhD from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.
Both were transported to Diyarbakir Air Base, known for transshipment to Iran for assets and equipment and typically transported to the Isfahan Nuclear facility.
Once the intel is delivered, Byron asks for options to strike, leaving Joe confused, as she’s not following the objective. Byron reminds Joe that she stated that the suicide bomber along the border was mostly likely Iranian and that many individuals looked Chinese. Bryon explains that the mission is to show Iran and China that America is not the only nation with an open border, repeating the same dialogue that Edwin Mullins communicated at the start of the episode.
So, they create a strategy for the mission, which will involve starting in Iraq and rendezvousing in Iran. Joe offers her Lioness, Josie, to help the mission as she is a pilot. Byron insists that the targets have to be eliminated in Iran (not Iraq) so they can send a message about how far they can reach.
Joe wants to be involved on the ground, stating she does not want to leave her role with a loss. Byron insists she must observe and advise ONLY and to stay at the base.
Honestly, the ending of this scene lacked logic. After Joe broke policies and boundaries at the border, which led to the casualties of many agents, why would Byron then trust her back on the ground when she has shown she cannot be trusted at this point? It is a scarce moment where illogical storytelling lets the series down. This only happened for dramatic purposes.
Cruz and Josie Finally Start Their Romance, Or Whatever You Want To Call It
It’s not a secret that Cruz has fancied Josie since she set her eyes on her. She has not been able to keep her eyes from wandering since. In Episode 7, Cruz focuses on Josie while they open up about their recent failed mission.
Sensing the tension building and Cruz checking her out, Josie makes a move on Cruz, suggesting they can be each other’s “cure,” meaning they can forget the chaos around them with each other. Josie needs a distraction after what happened with her father, and Cruz needs something, too. Unfortunately, as they were about to get intimate, they were interrupted by the rest of the QRF team, who returned to the safe house.
However, the following day, in bed, Cruz caresses Josie’s face as they wake up together, which eventually leads to some passionate kissing and intimacy. Cruz’s phone rings as things are about to escalate between the two. The entire QRF team has been alerted that they are going to Iraq. The mission is not over for Cruz and Josie. Once again, their wanted distraction is delayed, presumably for another day.
It isn’t easy to process this relationship. Cruz has barely kept her attraction a secret. It cannot be healthy. It should only end in tears and toxicity.
Cruz and Josie kiss in Lioness Season 2, Episode 7 after rising sexual tension (Paramount)
Joe’s Mask Slips At The End Of “The Devil Has Aces” With Her Relationship With Neal At Boiling Point
The QRF team arrives at Fort Bliss and is greeted by Joe, who is boarding them on a plane. Joe tells Josie she will be a pilot on their next mission.
Before boarding the plane, Joe rings Neal, but her husband is triggered when he hears a jet engineer in the background and realizes she will not stay behind a desk, remaining safe and rested. He’s furious.
Joe tells Neal to explain to the girls that she believes in what she does and does it for them, but Neal refuses to pass on that message. Tensions rise in the conversation, so Joe tells Neal that he can say whatever he wants to the girls as long as he gives them a kiss from her. But Neal refuses to do that either, and he explodes, telling her she can kiss them when she decides to fulfill her duties and priorities as a mother. He then smashes his phone on the floor. He’s finally broken. After holding it in for so long, he cannot keep a good temperament for his wife’s dangerous life.
When Joe boards the plane, the camera angle makes her look like a villain, and it must be intentional. She’s also wearing sunglasses, so her emotions are not obvious. While I can understand Joe’s reasons for wanting to continue her role on the ground, it’s difficult to process. She is, by definition, willingly putting herself at risk unnecessarily. Her bosses have offered her to direct the mission from a desk, and she refused. She is not thinking of the consequences that she’s only just recovered from a fatal injury that nearly killed her. I do not believe, at this stage, she cares about the consequences in the event she dies and the pain it would cause her daughters and husband, Neal.
When Joe nearly died, it was an opportunity for her to influence from afar while Cruz took the mantle. Instead, she did the worst thing, almost becoming the show’s villain – a mother who does not care for her duties as a wife and a mother, which is her health.
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