Common denominator of referenced shows Taylor Sheridan he is the creator, the screenwriter, and sometimes even the director – a harsh environment, almost always hostile or at least dangerous, a world that forces the characters to make painful choices that can temper their personality to the most extreme consequences. Within this “universe” made up of figures of light and shade and boundary situations, the author offers options that expand the vision, while remaining in certain coordinates, primarily conceptual. If there was an absolutely charming first female version with 1883prequel and spin-off success yellowstoneNow Special operation: Lioness introduces herself to offer a new version of the female figure, closer to the “cursed” heroes that Sheridan gave us, for example, with his debut film. Secrets of the Wind River or with series Mayor of Kingstown (it should be noted that both projects see the main character Jeremy RennerAnd this is probably not accidental …).
Special Operation: Lioness and the strength of his character
At the heart of the story Special Operation: Lioness there are two women: Jo (Zoe Saldana) is a secret agent who leads a cell of super-trained military men on very risky missions. The latest addition to his team was Cruz (Laysla DeOliveira), a Marine with a haunting past who must go undercover to take down a seemingly unreachable terrorist. The initially rocky relationship between the two women will have to work to ensure the survival of both in the first place. Ever since the immersive pilot directed by John Hillcoat (a cult Road With Viggo Mortensenadapted from Cormac McCarthy) suggests precisely that Sheridan intends to overturn the rules and patterns of this type of action series: the roles of Joe and Cruise are in fact usually entrusted to male actors who are physically handsome and ready to fight to the death. Instead, the anti-heroines of the Lionesses are women who expose their fragility, at first physical, and at some points even human. And that makes the truth of their becoming warriors, ruthless trainers, iron mothers even more powerful.
The sheer force with which Joe and Cruz develop episode by episode is one of the best sheridan has achieved as a screenwriter, also because in Lioness he has the guts not to put everything on show and action, but also allow himself time to slow down the story to show the two main characters from every angle. Especially the subplot, dealing with Jo’s troubles with her surgeon husband and rebellious teenage daughter, is accurate insight and filled with emotional intensity in many scenes. From this point of view, the proof Zoe Saldana, always nervous and sharp, manages to show all the fragility, but above all the complexity of the female character, who must wear armor in order to save not only human lives, but also her own mental stability. Keep then in supporting roles Nicole Kidman unusual, but always effective and Morgan Freeman which appears in the last episodes of the series is a plus, which of course does not harm the production, but vice versa.
Taylor Sheridan’s Hardest Show
Special Operation: Lioness reveals itself to be probably the most complex show Taylor Sheridan has done for Paramount+ so far: the main characters are thinner figures who don’t want to, or perhaps just can’t, divide their world into right and wrong. The weight of Joe and Cruise’s action has a dramatic depth that the viewer takes in, even if they don’t necessarily share it, and that makes the series stand out at different levels of reading. If some moments of the first episodes were not too focused on the genre and were reflected in action moments that were too self-serving – we are talking about a product that should satisfy the needs of the general public – Lioness it would be a really impressive series for the active power and depth of the characters. When it comes to diving into the black heart of frontier America — and those boundaries, even when fixed in the past, say the same about our present — Taylor Sheridan seems like the ninth true peer in the modern Hollywood entertainment industry.