Before The Old Soldier – As the episode opens, a group of cartel members storm a house and kill a man and child. Congresswoman Hernandez (Czarina Mireles) tries to flee but is caught and placed into a vehicle. Surprised to see Joe (Zoe Saldana) preparing breakfast, Kate (Hannah Love Lanier) teases her and suggests leaving it for Neal (Dave Annable). Charlie (Celestina Harris) and Neal respond in the same manner. Neal flirts with Joe and takes them out for breakfast. At the restaurant, Joe’s attention is drawn to a news report about the attack on the Hernandez family. Hernandez is pushing legislation that would allow the U.S. president to deploy soldiers at the Texas, California, and New Mexico borders to fight against illegal immigration.

Pecos, Texas – Kyle Sanford (Thad Luckinbill) arrives at the crime scene but doesn’t have the correct credentials to access the property. After speaking to Kyle’s senior agent, Jason Kennedy, a state trooper (Justin Titus) allows him to pass. Agent Alan Marshall (Paul Diaz) informs Kyle that they tracked Hernandez’s tracker and phone to a house in Ojinaga, Mexico. Kyle claims the CIA has no jurisdiction in Mexico but agrees to see what he can do. Outside, he alerts someone of the Hernandez’s location. Elsewhere, Kaitlyn Meade (Nicole Kidman) assures Errol (Martin Donovan) that someone is behind the abduction. He suggests checking out Mexican exports, especially oil. Later, Bryon Westfield (Michael Kelly) informs Kaitlyn that Kyle is at the crime scene and the Congresswoman has a tracker. She says Hernandez is being held hostage just outside the border. He warns that the cartel will move further south after dark and suggests utilizing the DEVGRU that was previously sent to Ukraine. Westfield, Edwin Mullins (Morgan Freeman), Hollar (Bruce Mcgill), Mason (Jennifer Ehle), and other CIA officials discuss their options. Kaitlyn tells them that the CIA cannot operate in Mexico. Hollar insists no crime syndicate would take such risks without government involvement which would require pressure from an external source. Mason demands it aired on network TV. Mullins questions if Russians have the leverage to force the cartel to abduct Hernandez. Westfield insists China is responsible and warns of how it would be a political disaster for the U.S. president. He reminds them that China is Mexico’s main trade partner and the extraction could render their opposition to a move into Taiwan. Westfield says China could invade Taiwan with little to no consequences. Hollar orders Joe to have her QRF team and a lioness prepared for the extraction within three weeks. Mason requests evidence linking the leader of the Los Tigres cartel to the Mexican government. Joe tells her that Lionesses are not trained to gather intel. Mullins sarcastically asks Joe to confiscate the cartel leader’s laptop and computer after he is killed. Joe assures him that they can do it.

After the meeting, an angry Joe scolds Westfield for volunteering her to execute an extraction that isn’t remotely possible. He says the QRF team, Lioness, and TFO can work together to take out the target and gather intel. She warns him of a potential gunfight between TFO and the Mexican military. He tells her that TFO is his responsibility. Neal is decorating a Christmas tree when Joe calls to inform him that she will be away for a few days. Hearing the tone of her voice, he suggests the mission is a bad one. She asks him to kiss Kate and Charlie for her. Trying to be upbeat, he calls them over to help decorate the tree. At the airport, Joe boards a plane.

Del Rio, Texas – Tex (Austin Hebert), Kyle, Cody Spears (Taylor Sheridan), and the other members of the QRF team prepare for their impending mission. Upon arrival, Joe looks through a bundle of clothes on a table. Cody urges her to wear a skirt until they get across the border. After assuring him that it will never happen, she questions if he is too old for the mission. He quotes, “Before the old soldier.” She introduces him to Tracer (Max Martini) and Dean (Brandon Muirbrook). A short time later, Joe, wearing a skirt, and her team depart for the border. Upon arrival, Joe and Cody pretend to be dating. Speaking in Spanish, a Mexican border agent (Oliver Avila) asks how they are doing. They claim to not understand him. He clears them to pass. Joe and her team immediately retrieve their guns. Cody asks for a mag bag.

In an unknown location, a frightened Hernandez is forcibly removed from an abandoned building. A short time later, she is in the back of an SUV bearing a Texas license plate and driving at a high rate of speed down a dirt road. Elsewhere, Joe and her team are parked off the road when a truck approaches. Kyle alerts the others. Cody orders Joe to only act if the men become unpredictable. Kyle tells them that their radiator gave out. A punk (Josue Canales) draws his gun. Emerging from the vehicle, Joe changes her accent and asks what is going on. Kyle tells the men that they are on vacation. Joe laughs at the guns. Cody slips out of the vehicle and open fire on the punks (Aaron Uribe, Jose Vasquez). They move the vehicle and deceased men off the road before changing clothes. Randy (Austin Hebert) alerts them that Hernandez is on the move. Kyle teases Joe about being a good pretend-drunk. She curses him. In full gear, they continue toward their target. Cody orders them to place Hernandez on the floorboard in case the extraction goes awry. The target vehicle can be seen quickly approaching. Joe informs him that the windows are bulletproof. They come under fire. Cody lays down on the pedal and strikes the vehicle in the side, spinning it off the road. When their vehicle comes to a stop, Joe and the QRF team emerge and open fire on the target vehicle. The shooting continues until all the cartel members are dead. Cody clears the scene. Joe races over to help Hernandez out of the vehicle and removes the sack covering her head. She and Kyle assist Hernandez to their vehicle. Cody makes a U-turn and speeds away from the scene.

Joe removes Hernandez’s restraints and tells her to get on the floorboard. Kyle alerts Eagle’s Nest that they are en route to the exfil location. Hernandez demands to know what happened to her family. Joe reluctantly says they were killed. Hernandez breaks down sobbing. With the police blocking Benito Juarez, they take an alternative route with an enemy vehicle in tow. Knocking out the rear window, Joe and Tracer open fire on the enemy vehicle until it veers off the road. A blue vehicle pulls up beside them. Cody shoots the passenger and driver. The driver strikes a van on the shoulder. Eight enemy vehicles join the pursuit. Cody brings the vehicle to a halt in the middle of the road. Joe and the QRF team open fire on the enemy. A shootout ensues. Taking out their enemies, Joe and the QRF team speed away from the scene. They come under pursuit once again. They don their face masks and put on their seatbelts before Cody drives the vehicle over an eight-foot embankment into the river below. A helicopter flying overhead open fire on the enemy. Joe and her team emerge from the vehicle, submerged in water. Cody takes Hernandez while Kyle and Tracer help a deceased Dean to the riverbank where rescue boats are waiting. At home, Neal is watching live CTNN footage of the rescue when Kate approaches and asks what he is watching. He distracts Charlie by offering her ice cream. Kate turns on the TV and watches the rescue.

Hernandez asks Joe to forget the legalities when she finds the people responsible. Joe assures her that her agency doesn’t do courtrooms. She tells Cody that she is sorry about Dean. He promises to come to her aid any time a deal goes wrong. Irate, she punches Kyle for sending them in without a plan. When she takes another swing, he hits her. She falls to her knees in pain. He says the plan was executed and succeeded. She argues that it cost them a man, Dean. He assures her that it is the price they pay. She warns him against taking matters into his own hands in the future because they are a team. He suggests she call her family. Joe chats with Neal, Kate, and Charlie and promises to come on soon. The episode ends.

 

Lioness Review

Season two opens with an unimpressive side story. Another Taylor Sheridan script with plot holes, corny dialogue, and implausible scenes. The execution fails to deliver anything close to a competent espionage series. It doesn’t help that the camerawork is subpar to the point of nauseating and unbearable. The night and indoor scenes are too dark to make out what is going on.

Sheridan injecting himself deeper into the story does nothing but add another dull character. It would have been more effective to invest more time into research. Some tidbits aren’t factual. The U.S. is Mexico’s main trade partner, not China. There are many more where this one came from.

The acting is good, everything else is bad. Season two is very politically motivated. When people want to know more about politics, they turn to Fox News, CNN, and Daily Mail, not a poorly researched TV show.

The episode deserves a 4.5 out of 10. Get more Lioness recaps here. Find out how to support our independent work at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. See what others are saying here.