‘Special Ops Lioness’ Season 2: Is It Renewed Or Canceled? What’s Next For Joe, Cruz And Aaliyah?
Special Ops: Lioness season 1 took us on an exhilarating ride where we saw the CIA undertaking a mission to kill a dangerous terrorist from the Middle East while simultaneously dealing with the internal politics that often became a roadblock on their way. Though till now, there has not been any official announcement if a second season will happen or not, let’s still speculate where the lives of the different characters will lead them and what role we can expect them to play in the next season.
From the very beginning of Special Ops: Lioness, it felt like if the CIA were able to kill Amrohi, who was at the top of the most wanted list of the US government, then everything would be fine, and things would come under control. By the end, we realized that it was not so because bureaucracy is seriously a mess, and even after Cruz killed Amrohi, we didn’t understand if it actually benefited the United Nations of America or if it spoiled their cause and made it difficult for them to deal with things in the near future. Byron got angry at the secretary of state, as he was frustrated that no clear directions were given to them. For the longest time, it felt like taking down Amrohi was something that everybody wanted, and now that they had a plan in process, they made it look like the CIA had acted on their own accord. Byron said in the face of Edwin Muller that if they didn’t want Amrohi to be killed and if his death was going to destabilize the region, then they should have communicated that when they started the lioness program. But obviously, even then, the government and the cabinet ministers pretended as if they didn’t have any sort of accountability, and it was Kaitlyn, Joe, and Byron who were solely responsible for the damage.
Any person who has risked their lives and made so much effort for the nation would expect that at least the government would recognize the sacrifice they made, even if they were not able to publicly commemorate it. But no, here the government was telling the covert operatives that they had unnecessarily risked their lives and made things worse. Byron knew that Cruz, Joe, and the entire team had put their lives at risk and killed Amrohi and Ehsaan, but instead of acknowledging their efforts, the state was questioning their strategies. We would get to know in Special Ops: Lioness Season 2 what impact this indecisiveness of the government has on the future of the country and if they ever accept their fault and do not point fingers at the agents who had literally risked their lives and sacrificed a lot for their country.
What’s next for Joe, Cruz & Aaliyah?
Joe went back to her home, but she was adversely impacted by the kind of aggression Cruz had shown her at the end of Special Ops: Lioness season 1. Joe had believed that whatever she was doing was for the benefit of their nation, but when she realized that her own government didn’t want her to conduct that covert operation, she didn’t know why she was doing it. Cruz also came back, and in all her fury, she told Joe that she had solved nothing by killing Amrohi. Cruz very rightly said that it was all a vicious cycle, and she had made things worse as now Amrohi’s grandchildren would hear stories about the CIA killing their family and would want to take revenge on them.
Moreover, Cruz didn’t feel that what she had done with Aaliyah was right. Obviously, Cruz knew that in such missions, people are used as bait, and there is collateral damage from both ends, but still, somewhere, she felt that she had really stretched the limits. She had played with the trust of another human being who had no sort of involvement in this entire facade and, moreover, who had loved Cruz with all her heart. Cruz told Joe that she wanted to leave the CIA, but very frankly speaking, we don’t believe that after all this, she would be able to do that. This world of human intelligence and covert operations was such that once a person got sucked into it, there was no way out. If somehow Cruz does manage to leave everything and walk off, then she would have to face the biggest identity crisis that she has faced in her entire life. No matter how toxic the work culture was, this lifestyle was addictive, and it gave a sense of purpose, especially to people like Cruz.
Cruz never liked Joe, and probably in Special Ops: Lioness season 2, we will see that change when she realizes that whatever she did was not because of any personal vendetta. We agree that Joe had gone a bit overboard with Cruz, and in Special Ops: Lioness season 2, we expect her to come forward, shed off that impassive exterior, have a genuine conversation with Cruz and probably apologize to her for making her go through hell, especially during that training that happened on the ship where Cruz was tortured beyond belief. We understand that a covert operative has to be tough and ready to survive in any kind of circumstance, but still, Jow couldn’t expect Cruz to take that training exercise and all that she had to endure in good spirits.
One more thought that crossed our minds was what would have been going through Aaliyah’s mind when she realized that her life for the past couple of months was a complete lie. She had opened up and fallen for this girl, and it turned out that she was a CIA operative who was just pretending to like her. Now we know that Cruz actually liked Aaliyah, but can a person, in that circumstance, ever believe that the agent who had killed her father and husband had genuine feelings towards her? We don’t think so. The entire incident has the potential to bring about a change in Aaliyah’s sensibilities. She won’t be the same person ever again after such a big betrayal. We do feel for Aaliyah, but we also understand the dilemma that Cruz was in.
Apart from these issues, we believe Joe would have a very crucial decision to make. We, personally, do not think that she would be able to leave her field job, no matter how much she craved spending time with her family. Kate needed her mother, and it would be interesting to see if Joe sacrificed everything for her and took a desk job inside the organization. We will have to wait and watch how things pan out for the characters and if they are able to start afresh in life or if they are never able to come out of that vicious loop that they are a part of.
