Special Ops Lioness - Behind The Story: Sacrificial Soldiers (S1, E1) - Special Ops: Lioness stars Zoe Saldaña, Laysla De Oliveira, Michael Kelly, James Jordan, LaMonica Garrett, Jonah Wharton, and Stephanie Nur dive deep into the series premiere and explain what it means for Cruz to become a Lioness and join the Quick Reaction Force unit.
Stream all-new episodes of Special Ops: Lioness on Sundays, exclusively on Paramount+.
Stream all-new episodes of Special Ops: Lioness on Sundays, exclusively on Paramount+.
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00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 It's my plant.
00:05 What happened?
00:06 I'm blown.
00:07 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:11 I think it's always the worst-- it makes me emotional.
00:14 It's always the worst moments of Joe's life,
00:17 having to choose country over life.
00:22 Never mind, I know what to do.
00:25 Having to sacrifice that one lamb,
00:27 and it's a young woman with her whole life ahead of her.
00:30 [SCREAMING]
00:33 But that's what she does.
00:34 She's been trained to assess high-risk scenarios
00:38 under a very, very limited amount of time--
00:41 seconds sometimes.
00:42 And she has to make the right call.
00:44 She was compromised.
00:46 A tattoo?
00:48 Yes, sir.
00:49 Fuck's sake, Joe.
00:51 There are mistakes that Joe made that she should not have made,
00:55 and I probably lied her a little bit too hard,
00:58 knowing that she knows.
00:59 Check the next one for tattoos.
01:01 But reminding her that that's how serious this is,
01:03 and that that person might not be dead
01:05 if she had not made the mistake.
01:07 What next?
01:08 Go to BRAC?
01:10 Make another one?
01:12 She reluctantly has to take in Cruz and Manuelos
01:15 and train her.
01:16 It's just reluctance after reluctance,
01:18 because she knows that she's basically
01:21 training these women to send them out to die.
01:27 I think in the beginning of the show,
01:28 Cruz is somebody who is deeply lost.
01:31 She's deeply hurt.
01:32 And she's just in this awful, depressing place.
01:39 Dumb fucking bitch working for $7 an hour?
01:42 She has a really terrible night at her place.
01:45 What the fuck's wrong with you?
01:46 Oh, you've taken her side now?
01:47 What the fuck is wrong with you?
01:49 She's had enough, so she wakes up the next day,
01:51 and she finally, for the first time,
01:53 makes a decision for herself.
01:54 What the fuck is wrong with you?
01:56 [SCREAMING]
02:00 And she runs for her fucking life.
02:03 And as she's doing it, this Marine comes in,
02:05 and he saves her.
02:06 And she realizes, like, yeah, that's what I want to do.
02:10 Thanks.
02:12 You came to the right place.
02:14 You wanted your chance, so here it is.
02:17 When?
02:18 Classified.
02:19 Where?
02:19 Classified.
02:20 I'm not done vetting you yet.
02:22 I was vetting before they let me in the program.
02:24 Not my program.
02:25 I think Cruz is a little cocky.
02:26 She's like, yeah.
02:27 Cruz is a hothead.
02:28 She goes in first and asks questions later.
02:31 Come on, someone like Joe sees that a million times.
02:34 You got any tattoos?
02:35 No, ma'am.
02:36 Prove it.
02:38 You'll do.
02:40 Get packed.
02:42 We leave zero, 600.
02:46 You know Mary?
02:47 Hey, we don't do that.
02:50 I'm not your friend, and you aren't mine.
02:52 She's trying not to name her cattle.
02:53 I know it sounds like a very inhumane thing to say,
02:56 but that saying has been there for a reason.
02:58 She doesn't want to get attached because she
03:00 can't guarantee her safety.
03:02 I'd like to know the person responsible with saving me
03:05 if my cover is blown.
03:06 If your cover is blown, there is no saving you.
03:08 That's what this job has taught me.
03:09 You have to save yourself.
03:11 Then we come get you.
03:13 What she wants Cruz to do is to train that muscle.
03:16 Think first, think fast, act later, because I'm not
03:19 going to be there every time.
03:21 It may take me longer to get to you,
03:23 but Cruz has her own journey.
03:25 She has to win her own fights, but Joe's not going to lose her.
03:29 Whatever it was that she oversaw that caused Isabel's demise,
03:36 she's not going to let it happen to Cruz.
03:38 So if anything, if only Cruz knew how much Joe truly
03:41 cares for her and is actually looking after her well-being.
03:45 Our little sparrow.
03:47 One and only.
03:48 Hey, if you're here to purify the water,
03:50 it's right around the corner.
03:51 Thank you very much.
03:52 Thank you for your service.
03:54 Who is this other Linus?
03:55 We lost one not too long ago.
03:57 We're taking another one on.
03:59 Is she up to the challenge?
04:00 Can she keep up?
04:02 So I'm a little hesitant to get close to her,
04:04 but she earns my respect and loyalty not long after that.
04:07 This is our QRF team leader, Bobby.
04:10 This is two cups.
04:11 That over there is Tex.
04:14 Randy, and that's Tucker.
04:16 I know she's a Marine, and that's what Tucker and Cruz
04:20 share on this show.
04:21 They're the only Marines out the crew.
04:23 So I know she's got to be a badass.
04:25 So your name's Cruz, huh?
04:26 What's that from?
04:27 Not a nickname.
04:28 She's tough as hell.
04:30 She thinks on her feet, and if she has to,
04:34 she'll kill you in a second.
04:36 Welcome to CIA.
04:37 Welcome to the team.
04:38 There's a shift in Joe, but there's
04:40 also a shift in her team.
04:42 It's an unspoken word.
04:43 Joe looks at her team, and they're
04:45 going to die to get Cruz out.
04:47 [MUSIC - THE KING, "I'M SORRY"]
04:48 Mom!
04:49 [LAUGHS]
04:51 Oh!
04:52 [MUSIC - THE KING, "I'M SORRY"]
04:54 No phone call.
04:55 Thought I'd surprise you.
04:56 I think the family dynamic is sort of shaken
04:58 up when she comes home.
05:00 Any spouse that's been gone for six months
05:02 and coming back into a situation throws the routine off.
05:06 And obviously, I think Neil's used to it
05:09 and knows how to deal with it.
05:10 I hate it when she's here.
05:12 Hey, don't say that.
05:13 Finish your meal.
05:14 The teenager, Kate, has a little bit of a tougher time
05:17 readjusting when she's home, because I
05:19 think she's in a nice routine with her dad.
05:21 And now mom's home, and what is that going to bring?
05:25 Taylor said something really powerful.
05:28 He said, this is also a love story.
05:30 And he goes, I want the hope of those two people
05:33 that met in college.
05:35 She had already chosen her path, and so did he.
05:39 And in reality, in their own respective ways,
05:42 they are people of service.
05:44 They know that their duties come first
05:45 over their own personal lives.
05:47 They've accepted this.
05:50 You seeing anyone?
05:53 No.
05:53 The only way they can make it work
05:56 is by being completely honest where they're at.
05:59 So if that means that they have to open up their marriage
06:02 in order for them to save their marriage, they will do that.
06:07 What are you doing in Kuwait?
06:08 My cousin.
06:09 Uncle.
06:09 Uncle Buck.
06:10 She gets thrown into the mission right away,
06:12 and I think there's some nerves there.
06:14 I don't know what I'm doing.
06:15 I don't know anything about her.
06:17 But she's a badass.
06:18 She doesn't back down, so she's ready to complete the mission.
06:22 Sorry.
06:23 Asifa.
06:25 American?
06:27 Yeah.
06:28 We meet Alia, and it's not quite evident at first
06:32 where she stands, but I think she's quite forward.
06:35 Here to find a husband.
06:38 What?
06:39 With that face, it won't take long.
06:40 There's a little interaction that happens,
06:43 and she really takes Cruz under her wing.
06:46 Yalla, this will be fun.
06:47 Yeah.
06:48 I think she recognizes a certain lost soul in Cruz
06:53 and can relate to that, although it's not maybe brought
06:55 to the consciousness of her awareness.
06:57 But she definitely sees a naivety and an innocence
07:01 in Cruz that Alia feels like she can sort of navigate
07:05 and show her the world for the first time.
07:07 And in turn, she gets to see the world with new eyes.
07:10 She's in.
07:14 (dramatic music)
07:17 (dramatic music)