Lioness Season 3 Review: Taylor Sheridan's Crime Thriller Shifts Gears For An Intense Mystery

After Lioness season 2's intense finale, returning to the world of Joe McNamara (Zoe Saldaña) is both exciting and excruciating as the series returns for its latest installment, shifting gears in a way that feels both interesting and natural. Lioness season 3, which premieres on Paramount+ this Sunday, August 2, brings viewers back into the fold with Joe and the Lioness team, but takes some new swings that allow the series to feel fresher than it has before. The Taylor Sheridan series stars Saldaña as Joe, a senior CIA officer in charge of the Lioness program, among other familiar faces.

As she leads a tactical team while working alongside government higher-ups like Nicole Kidman's Kaitlyn Meade and Morgan Freeman's Edwin Mullins, Lioness typically also leans into Joe's home life, albeit more sparsely than it leans into the action. Married to a pediatric oncology surgeon, Neal (Dave Annable), and mother to two young daughters, Joe's work is specialized, secretive, and supremely dangerous. Even in allowing her to have a life outside of her work, Lioness has made the toll her intense work takes on her family abundantly clear. Lioness season 3's first episodes don't shy away from said toll, either.

After watching Lioness season 3's first two episodes, which were provided for advanced screening ahead of the season premiere, it's never been clearer what's at stake for Joe as she moves through dangerous situations. At the same time, Joe's team has never seemed less equipped for their next moves. With the series shifting gears in a way that feels like the right move, Lioness season 3 is stepping into a whole new era.

Lioness Season 3's First Episodes Change The Show's Game

Lioness season 2, which was a marked improvement upon the show's first, saw Joe and her team operating at a higher capacity than they had during the previous season. While the game of the show felt relatively similar to the first season, with Joe bringing Captain Josephina Carrillo (Genesis Rodriguez) into the fold of the Lioness team, the show's sophomore season saw the team moving together, rather than focusing on showing a newcomer like Cruz the ropes. Lioness season 3 shifts the story into an entirely different gear in its first episodes, moving Lioness away from the show's current formula.

While shifting the series away from a formula that's worked isn't always the safest bet, Lioness season 3 does so with a sense of ease that allows viewers to sit comfortably with its slightly different style. Though the core of Lioness is still the same, the way it approaches its story within the first few episodes feels fresh and new, which elevates the Sheridan series quickly. As things change for Joe, who's still at the center of the series, the stakes escalate, and fast. Breathing new life into Lioness, the choices made in developing the season's narrative feel right immediately.

Lioness Season 3's Timeline Allows For A More Layered Approach To The Story

Although revealing too much about what Lioness season 3's doing with its timeline would spoil the surprise of its first episodes, there are some interesting shifts in time that make for a much more layered approach. Typically, Lioness has presented a fairly straightforward timeline, making it clear that the story is an urgent, immediate one. Lioness season 3 takes risks, particularly in the way it's constructed, that make it feel like it's owning its identity as a political crime thriller in a layered way. While it's not guaranteed in the long-term, Lioness' big swing works well to start the season.

Lioness Season 3 Benefits From A Cast Of Tremendous Performers

With a tremendous cast bringing the world of Lioness to life season after season, it wasn't a surprise to see the ensemble do some incredible work in the season's initial episodes. Saldaña is, as per usual, incredible in the role of Joe, providing a layered performance that allows viewers to understand the complexities of her character without sharing them directly. One specific, harrowing scene in particular will probably be seared into my brain forever, and Saldaña carries it with an ease that proves just how deeply she's attuned to her character's complicated inner life, even in the worst of moments.

Along with Saldaña, Kidman brings a graceful energy to the hardened Kaitlyn, who will undoubtedly have her chance to shine later this season. In the brief moments viewers get to spend with Joe's family, Annabel does some incredible work, and the dynamics between his Neal and Saldaña's Joe are so fascinatingly complicated throughout the first two episodes that I'm incredibly intrigued about what comes next. Both De Oliveira and Jill Wagner, who serves as an EP on Lioness and plays the team leader Bobby, shine in the show's opening episodes, each bringing more of their characters' lives to the surface.

As Lioness season 3 continues, it will be interesting to see how the show manages to navigate the depth of its story this season, but with the cast working tirelessly to bring Sheridan's unique vision to life, it seems like the show's newest season could easily become its best yet.

Lioness season 3 premieres on Paramount+ Sunday, August 2, and will air new episodes weekly through September 20.