Lioness’ Zoe Salda?a Previews ‘Higher Intensity’ Season 2: ‘The Terrorism Is Closer to Home Than They Would Like’
The Lioness program will be scrutinized like never before when Season 2 of the Zoe Salda?a-led spy thriller unspools on Paramount+ this Sunday, beginning with the first two episodes.
Hailing from the prolific Taylor Sheridan (of TV’s Yellowstone franchise but also, of note, 2015’s Sicario) and inspired by an actual U.S. Military program, Lioness stars MCU vet and executive producer Salda?a as CIA station chief Joe McNamara. Setting Season 2 in motion is the kidnapping of a U.S. congresswoman, because of her stance on border issues. Because this crisis unfolds so close to the U.S. (as opposed to Season 1’s Middle-East-based drama), Joe “is going to be juggling a lot more and at a higher intensity,” Salda?a tells TVLine. “I loved being in her head about it and feeling her level of anxiety and desperation. It was thrilling.”
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In Season 1, “you were watching the Lioness program operate in their field, which is on international grounds,” Salda?a reminds. “This time, the level of terrorism is closer to home than they would like” — and not just because of the actual geographic proximity. As Joe unleashes a Lioness just across the southern border, “A lot more departments within the military and government,” including the DEA and a White House walking a tightrope during an election year, “need to be involved in order for these operations to be executed appropriately.”
Identifying and quickly grooming a new Lioness, all while trying to keep her QRF team from landing on the news — or, worse, triggering a war with China — “is a learning curve for Joe,” Salda?a previews. “She’s fighting back a lot, when it comes to the system, while also juggling this desire to step back and be more present in her life” with husband Neal (Dave Annable) and their increasingly perceptive daughters Kate and Charlie (Hannah Love Lanier and Celestina Harris).
“At the end of the day, Joe believes in what she does,” Salda?a attests. “She made an oath and she has every intention of fulfilling it every day, but it does come at a cost that she’s starting to question whether or not she can sustain.”
Much more so than Season 1, Lioness this time around goes deep on the knotty intricacies of managing a crisis that, if mishandled, could have explosive geopolitical ramifications. The training wheels for viewers are off, one could say, as are the gloves. But series creator Sheridan’s dialogue (he penned all episodes, and directed the first two) is almost improbably efficient and highly specific at the same time.
“He’s a naturally curious person for these worlds,” Salda?a explains. “He’s incredibly educated on it, and he knows a lot of people in service that have served and are currently still in action.”
Sheridan “wants to bring light to the way our government and each respective department execute their work, and how they interact with each other,” Salda?a says. “He wants to sort of ‘wake up’ the American public to how difficult and challenging it can be, how you can have transparency in ops but also absolute obscurity.”
Want scoop on Lioness Season 2, or for any other TV show ? Shoot an email to [email protected], and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line!
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