Lioness Season 2 Episode 2 recap: A new Lioness has a dangerous past

If almost getting killed on a trip to Mexico wasn’t enough, Joe has even bigger problems waiting in store in Lioness Season 2 Episode 2.

It’s already all systems go in Lioness Season 2. We’re only one episode in and Joe (Zoe Saldaña) has already faced down a congresswoman kidnapping that nearly endangered her own life.

The new TV show isn’t set to stop there either. It’s got a two-episode premiere to kick the Taylor Sheridan creation off, and Episode 2 goes some way to explaining why this is important.

Consider the ante upped this time – a new Lioness is being brought into the fold against Joe’s wishes. But the choice could bring more danger than success… here’s a full rundown of Lioness Season 2 Episode 2. Warning: spoilers ahead!

Lioness Season 2 Episode 2: Fort Liberty wants fresh meat

Paramount

We pick up the action in Lioness Season 2 Episode 2 with Joe and Kaitlyn on a trip to meet their superiors at Fort Liberty. In a boardroom meeting, they charge into plans to bring a new Lioness into the team – they’ve got a shortlist, but are in the process of deciding. This sends Joe into an absolute rage, claiming it should only be her who decides the team.

Kaitlyn catches up with Joe after she storms out of the boardroom, confirming she has a new mission that “everybody will have eyes on.” Joe asks for three months to complete it, but she’s given three weeks. Heading home to say goodbye to her loved ones once again, she’s briefly alarmed when her youngest daughter, who is giving away drawings on the side of the road, is led into a van by two strangers.

Joe goes to confront them, only for the situation to be seemingly harmless. Back at home, her oldest daughter Kate confronts Joe about the news report we saw in Episode 1, with Joe reluctantly confirming she rescued the congresswoman. When Kate asks why Joe does the job she does, Joe recounts a story about her grandad at Pearl Harbour before answering “So you don’t have to learn Chinese or Russian.”

Husband Neal admits this is the most concerned he’s been about Joe’s work. She’s staying in the US this time, which only tells him that something more serious is afoot. She tries to comfort him before leaving, sharing a tender moment in the shower.

Los Tigres targets get closer than ever

Paramount

Back at Bliss, the full mission is revealed. Higher-ups are trying to figure out how to take down Mexican drug cartel Los Tigres, who we met in Episode 1. It’s led by a man called Alvaro, whose brother Pablo works as a lawyer in the States. Pablo’s daughter Josephina just so happens to be a US military woman… so who better to recruit to the Lioness team and take them down from the inside?

Annoyingly for Joe and the team, Josephina is stationed in Iraq, with Joe tasked to go there and onboard her, no matter the cost. The plan can only work if Josephina agrees to a public cover, which would see her be discharged from the military altogether.

If anybody were to internally research it, there can be no holes, but it would ruin the exemplary career Josephina has built up.

This is all to get to the real target, a Chinese agent “pulling the strings” of Los Tigres. Kaitlyn, Edward, and other leaders reconvene to address the dangers of the plan, with Edward ultimately signing off on it as the right thing to do.

Joe and Josephina’s first meet is explosive

Paramount

However, it’s not easy-going on the ground. Joe arrives in Iraq to an immediate ambush from local soldiers, ending with one US soldier dead and plenty of injuries. When they finally arrive at FOB Sykes – which is where Josephina is based – she and Joe are at immediate loggerheads. Josephina scolds Joe for not communicating “amateur” behavior to those on base, while Joe reveals her true identity.

She lays into them as the “most senior person at any base she’s on,” needed a much more robust escort, and the entire team should be scared of her being there.

Josephina guesses something bigger is afoot, being pulled into an office to be questioned on her background. She claims never to have met Alvaro, only faintly aware of the ties her dad has to the cartel. When she finds out Joe leads the Lioness team, she’s not happy.

Josephina is happiest on the field, claiming she isn’t trained enough to be a Lioness. However, they don’t want her for lack of training – it’s all about her connections, alongside the fact she can fly a helicopter. When she refuses, Joe starts a painful back-and-forth over whether Josephina “loves her country.”

Holding out for as long as she can, Josephina is worn down into outwardly professing her love for the US, therefore agreeing to become a Lioness. In the final scene, we see Joe asking Josephina to prove she has no tattoos – which is what got Joe into hot water back in Season 1 Episode 1.

The first two episodes of Lioness Season 2 are available to stream now, airing on a weekly basis after. You can also check out everything on the Costner-Sheridan feud, the best Yellowstone episodes of all time, the timeline of Yellowstone spinoffs, and more TV shows streaming this month.