Special Operation: Lioness (Special Ops: Lioness in original version) spy thriller created Taylor Sheridan (Tulsa King, 1923, yellowstone). Available in offer Paramount+ from July 23, 2023 with the first 2 episodes of 8 episodes in total every Sunday. After the events of September 11, 2001, American intelligence has been carrying out military projects in the Middle East. codename Lioness: Undercover women who must meet other women in order to take down ISIS members. The story centers on the work – and life – of women who risk their safety for the sake of their homeland, America with an ambiguous face.
This is a very entertaining product that mixes high gradient elements of action, war, espionage and tension. Zoe Saldana plays the role of Joe, the protagonist. Other main female characters are Nicole Kidman (Caitlin Mead) e Leisla de Oliveira (Cruz Manuelos).
The series is produced by Bosque Ranch Productions, Flower films, 101 Studios AND MTV entertainment studios.
Special Operation: Lionessscenario
USA and the Middle East. Joe (Zoe Saldana, Avatars) is a strong and sometimes ruthless woman. He’s the head of the CIA’s counterterrorism task force. It is about protecting women who have infiltrated the circle of ISIS leaders and then suppressing them. The mission is risky and what has been established does not work. Meeting with Cruz Manuelos (Leisla de Oliveira, Lock and key) is full of tension: the Marine seems to be perfect for this job. With a turbulent past, a very high IQ, and a fit fit for the role, she is repeatedly put to the test by Joe to find her “breaking point”. To be able to intervene at the right moment if something goes wrong.
At CIA Headquarters Caitlin Meade (Nicole Kidman) coordinates operations, suggesting that Joe combine life and work and devote himself to his family. Her husband NeilDave Annable, brothers sisters) patient and kind person. His daughters miss him. Balancing dangerously between home and missions, Joe holds on while Cruz bonds with the target’s daughter.
Women at the center of the story
In what appears to be a partnership with Paramount+, Taylor Sheridan creates a new product with vibrant colors. From the first episodes, we can conclude that he does not intend to make discounts or even supply the viewer with a glossy series. From a successful creator yellowstone, 1883, 1923, Tulsa King AND Mayor of Kingstowna new creature appears with frankly “male” features, in which the end always justifies the means.
Female portraits begin from this perspective, operating in extremely dangerous environments with a higher purpose. In the background is American greatness and its military environment, capable of generating vast resources, capable of managing operations to the limit of human capabilities.
The first two episodes focus on the events of Joe and Cruise. Two women with different experiences and abilities. Conscription in the army in any case becomes an outflow, especially in the suburbs, where the maritime employment service can literally save lives. It’s an undercurrent special operation: output, but get something in return. In a society based on interests and mutual exchange, women fight more and more decisively. All the more so if one considers the multiplicity of their underlying conditions. It is no coincidence that intersectional feminism speaks of this.
In an interview with Hollywood Reporter, Zoe Saldana comments on his character thus:
Joe is an outspoken person. Purely. There is nothing dirty about what he does. If he gets out of hand, it’s because he wants to do the right thing and save people. He is incredibly responsible. It should have been very clear, because one can remain unperturbed just to appear mysterious and incomprehensible, or because one knows the reason for one’s reticence. You must control your emotions and be five steps ahead. This is something that kept popping up as I explored the world of espionage. These people go through hard training to stay ahead of the curve and always be five steps ahead. Because at any moment they have to make very risky decisions that can save many lives or sacrifice others, and they must be able to do this with great responsibility.
We must become “lionesses”, become men in contexts created for men. Trying to change something for yourself and for everyone else.
The risk of tripping over the stereotype
Special Operation: Lioness it’s an unabashed show of identity. This refers to a clear real, ideological and cinematic universe in which good and bad guys are located on different sides, without mixing. War propaganda, love of country, and the use of violence for righteousness/redemption are elements of these circles, but which Sheridan wants to take as a narrative approach. The risk lies in eliminating nuance and in favor of a polarized point of view, even in the viewer.
Women’s Empowerment Stories Can Seem Big address, in reality, not even remotely equal. However, strength, resilience and determination are justified here if traced back to masculine archetypes that explain them well and reveal them to the public.
Considerations for dark side for a “colossal” product like this, they serve to see it in its entirety without losing sight of the riskier aspects inherent in its concept. But if clichés exist to overcome, we must first see them.
Special Operation: Lioness,Other topics covered
The knowledge of good and evil, the fight against terrorism, economic and cultural inequality – these are just some of the epicenters of the narrative that unfold in the series. Sheridan choose explore. Military life is the starting point and keynote which collects and synthesizes them all. On an individual level, then on a community level, and again for all humanity, the image presented by the series is dramatic and misanthropic. On the international chessboard, in the internal war between West and East, human brutality and intellectual exaltation at the same time.
If, as is usually repeated in the series, “any means are allowed in war,” the viewer is left to observe – and capture – the boundary point between fiction and reality. To enjoy a product, you must first of all entertain. The internalization of the didactic intention only in which of these topics leads to a new and more expanded awareness.
I’m Diletta and here you can find my other articles