Special Ops: Lioness (2023) - Season 1

Score: 8 / 10
Category: TV Series
Platform: Streaming

One-line verdict

A brutal, emotionally heavy spy series powered by exceptional female performances, slightly let down by an abrupt and incomplete season ending.

What worked

This is not an easy series to watch.

Lioness is painful in the right way — it shows that no matter how strong, trained, or capable a woman is, vulnerability still exists at the core. That theme lands hard and consistently throughout the season.

I went into this series after seeing short clips and being impressed by Zoe Saldaña. She did not disappoint. In fact, she exceeded expectations. Her performance is controlled, intense, and quietly devastating.

The CIA setting works perfectly for a series like this. I’ve always enjoyed Agency-focused storytelling, especially when it involves the psychological cost of embedding operatives deep behind enemy lines. The multi-front storytelling suits the format well, with parallel pressures happening simultaneously, as they should in a series.

What surprised me most is the cast quality. This is movie-grade talent across the board, which makes it even more impressive that it works so well as television.

Performances that stood out

• Laysla De Oliveira is the standout. She projects strength so convincingly that every time she appeared on screen, I found myself thinking, this is one strong woman. At the same time, she never loses the emotional fragility underneath. That balance says a lot about her acting ability.
• Stephanie Nur also deserves mention. Her portrayal highlights the darkness beneath wealth and power in the Arabic world, and she plays it with restraint rather than caricature.

Where it fell short

Almost everything lands — except the ending.

Most storylines receive proper closure, but the main plot ends too abruptly. Retrospectively, I struggle to find anything else to criticise about the series, which makes the ending even more frustrating.

There are too many unanswered questions about the aftermath. I understand this is ultimately the story of the Lioness, and perhaps the creators felt those details weren’t essential. For me, they were.

The section below discusses season resolution.

Why this lands at an 8

This season does so much right that it deserves a strong score. The acting, tone, structure, and thematic weight are all solid. The emotional toll feels earned, not manipulative.

But closure matters.

Had the season given more resolution to the main storyline, this would have been a 9 / 10 without hesitation.

As it stands, it’s a strong 8 — powerful, uncomfortable, and memorable, just not fully complete.