In the season 3 premiere, Joe’s dangerous CIA work follows her home to the Virginia suburbs
Credit: Ryan Green/Paramount+
NEED TO KNOW
- Lioness season 3, episode 1, premiered Aug. 2 on Paramount+
- The premiere sees Joe and her team complete a dangerous mission in Ukraine
- Viewers also watch Joe defend herself on the homefront
Warning: Lioness season 3, episode 1 spoilers ahead!
Joe McNamara (Zoe Saldaña) has a red-hot target on her back in Lioness.
The season 3 premiere of the Paramount+ drama opens six months in the future with a chilling flash-forward. Joe calls her boss, Kaitlyn Meade (Nicole Kidman), as she backs out of the driveway of her home in Fairfax, Va. Moments later, two vehicles block her path, and she’s ambushed and abducted by a group of armed men.
The episode then jumps back in time to reveal how she ended up there. Joe is introduced to an operative with the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine (FISU) who is secretly working as a double agent inside Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR).
That meeting pulls Joe and her Lioness team — a highly classified covert unit that typically operates in the Middle East — into a dangerous mission in Ukraine, thrusting them into unfamiliar territory.
So, what happened during Lioness season 3, episode 1? Here’s a breakdown of everything that unfolded.
Who did Joe meet with at Georgetown University?
Credit: Lauren “Lo” Smith/Paramount+
A covert meeting on Georgetown University’s campus brings Joe face-to-face with a Ukrainian spy who has infiltrated Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR). The woman, who doesn’t offer her name, claims to know the whereabouts of Aleksi Yurimov — the head of Russia’s Special Tasks Department (SSD).
“He’s Putin’s hammer. If we kill him, Putin’s retaliation will be severe. But if you take him, it’s just the game,” she tells Joe. “You’d be taking Putin’s queen off the chessboard.”
Joe doesn’t commit to the operation, but she leaves with a flash drive and the spy’s phone number.
Why did Joe have to identify Aleksi Yurimov in Ukraine?
Kaitlyn ultimately sends Joe and the Lioness team to Ukraine to help capture Aleksi Yurimov. But when they arrive, they learn that only Joe will take part in the operation.
The unit’s commander, Amber Whalen (Dawn Olivieri), tells Joe that the military needs the CIA to positively identify Yurimov because it can’t securely access the intelligence needed to verify his identity in the field.
“We have a beacon, but we don’t know what he looks like,” team member Cody J (Matt Gerald) adds.
The Lioness team balks at letting their leader head into the field without them. The Army unit explains that Joe’s team isn’t trained for the realities of trench warfare or the constant threat of drone swarms. They continue to push back, and Joe is ultimately allowed to bring one additional team member: Cruz Manuelos (Laysla De Oliveira), a former Army soldier.
Who attacked Joe in her own home?
Credit: Emerson Miller/Paramount+
After successfully capturing Yurimov in Ukraine, Joe returns to Virginia. She arrives home long after her family has gone to bed and quietly checks in on her husband, Neal (Dave Annable), before heading downstairs to pour herself a drink.
A knock at the door interrupts her. Keeping the chain locked and her gun at the ready, Joe answers to find two men claiming to be state police. But when she refuses to step outside, one of the men suddenly drops his English accent, confirming her suspicions.
“You’re not the police, but you’re two minutes from meeting them,” Joe says before trying to slam the door shut. The man jams his foot in the doorway and forces his way inside, knocking Joe to the floor.
Her training quickly takes over. Joe shoots the first intruder inside the house, then chases the second outside and guns him down on the front lawn.
She immediately places a call — presumably to Kaitlyn — saying, “I need FBI to my house. I’m blown.”
The premiere ends without revealing who the attackers were or why they targeted Joe, only making it clear that the Lioness leader now has a target on her back.
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