Special Ops: Lioness (miniserie) (2023)

I am a huge fan of Taylor Sheridan, the man who wrote "Sicario", wrote and directed "Wind River" and created the series "Mayor of Kingstown", "Tulsa King", and "Yellowstone" plus its two spinoffs, "1889" and "1923". So I had high expectations for "Lioness" and was not disappointed at all. But I am really surprised to see that some critics disagree with my top rating. For me this is simply the best action series of the year, delivering the expected excitement and offering a gallery of living, breathing people who get completely under your skin in the span of only eight episodes.

"Lioness" is based on an existing CIA training program for female agents. The main character (Zoe Saldana) is the program's operational leader who, after losing her best agent in Iran, puts a promising female marine, Cruz (Laysla De Oliveira), through an excruciating training hell to prepare her for the assassination of a Middle Eastern oil billionaire with a lifelong history of funding terrorist scum. It's to take place at the wedding of the man's daughter, and Cruz's task is to infiltrate the family through the daughter. Despite problems at home, everything initially goes according to plan until something unexpected happens...

That's all I'm going to say, except that this is Sheridan at his best, and that the tension is high all the way to the last episode, which is pure agony. In addition to the two main characters already mentioned (both of whom give fantastic performances), the cast also includes Nicole Kidman, Michael Kelly, Bruce McGill and Morgan Freeman.