Although most spy shows focus on male protagonists, Paramount+’s original spin on the genre combined the thrills of Sicario and Jack Ryan for a truly unexpected espionage story. It’s not easy to come up with a fresh new take on the spy series, but the rewards can be immense. Prime Video’s Jack Ryan and Reacher are two of the streaming service’s biggest franchises, and the former is a traditional spy thriller based on author Tom Clancy’s bestselling novel series about the titular CIA operative, John Krasinski’s relatable everyman Jack Ryan.
The latter does a lot more to twist the definition of the spy series, although Reacher is also based on a bestselling book series. Adapted from author Lee Child’s novels of the same name, Prime Video’s Reacher sees Alan Ritchson’s hulking eponymous drifter travel from state to state, inadvertently uncovering criminal conspiracies, corrupt cops, and governmental abuses of power along the way. Reacher might be a military veteran instead of a member of a three-letter agency, but his method of investigating, infiltrating, and then kicking ass is some classic spy show behavior.
Similarly, Paramount+’s Special Ops: Lioness sees creator Taylor Sheridan offer a fresh spin on the spy thriller series setup that still offers all the thrills viewers have come to expect from the genre. Lioness stars Zoe Saldaña as Joe McNamara, a CIA officer running the titular program. The Lioness program enlists female CIA operatives and tasks them with getting emotionally intimate with the female acquaintances of terrorists and major criminals, and then use the intel they receive to thwart plots and plans.
Lioness Is Taylor Sheridan’s Answer To Prime Video’s Jack Ryan
McNamara tasks Laysla De Oliveira’s Cruz Manuelos with getting close to a terrorist financier, something she achieves by befriending his daughter, Stephanie Nur’s Aaliyah Amrohi. Like Netflix’s later German spy thriller The Asset, Lioness centers much of its drama on the relationship between this female operative and her unknowing mark, who grows to trust her more and more as the show progresses. Lioness also brings in some of the action, grit, and downbeat intensity of creator Taylor Sheridan’s breakout 2015 hit movie, Sicario.
A gripping thriller about the Mexican drug trade and the FBI’s role in it, Sicario saw director Dennis Villeneuve turn Sheridan’s screenplay into a huge critical and commercial success with an intense, unpredictable story. In the years that followed, Sheridan parlayed this success into reviving the small screen Western genre, first with Paramount+’s massive hit Yellowstone, then with its prequel spinoffs 1883 and 1923. By the time Sheridan started working on other Neo-Western shows such as Mayor of Kingstown and Tulsa King, the allure of the spy thriller genre had once more come calling for the writer/director.
Lioness Should Spawn Taylor Sheridan’s Next Big TV Franchise
With a stacked cast that includes Nicole Kidman as McNamara’s boss, Morgan Freeman as the Secretary of State, and Bruce McGill as a National Security Advisor, Lioness is among Sheridan’s starriest shows ever. Although season 1 received middling reviews, season 2’s reception was notably stronger, and Lioness comfortably outdid Netflix’s even starrier political thriller Zero Day with critics. The show was renewed for a third season in August 2025, but shows no signs of spawning any spinoffs soon.
This comes as something of a surprise when Prime’s Reacher has already spawned the spinoff show Neagley and the same streaming service’s Jack Ryan franchise gave rise to 2021’s Michael B Jordan spinoff Without Remorse and 2026’s movie spinoff, Jack Ryan: Ghost War, as well as a proposed Ding Chavez show that never came to fruition. If Paramount+ hopes to make the most of Taylor Sheridan’s unique blend of Sicario and Jack Ryan, then Lioness should become the writer/director’s next franchise.
- Release Date
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July 23, 2023
- Network
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Paramount+
- Showrunner
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Taylor Sheridan
- Directors
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John Hillcoat, Anthony Byrne, Paul Cameron, Stephen Kay, Taylor Sheridan
- Writers
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Taylor Sheridan, Jill Wagner
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Laysla De Oliveira
Cruz Manuelos