Well, Joe made it to the hospital in time for her daughter Kate’s leg surgery, which went as well as can be expected, given that they had to insert a rod into her femur. And with Kate in a recovery room as we open the action on Special Ops: Lioness Episode 5 (“Truth Is The Shrewdest Lie”), mother and daughter have an honest conversation about what led them there. “I don’t hate you,” Kate says. “I just miss you.” And Joe says that all of the moments of Kate and their family’s life together that she missed were all in service of a job she chose, a job that gives her the opportunity to help other families have those same moments. She thought doing this work would set an example for her daughters. She thought it would help them see that a woman can do virtually anything she sets her mind to. But while she regrets how much time she’s spent away, Joe doesn’t apologize for that to Kate or her husband Neil. And even if she wished to, Kaitlyn Meade is at the hospital, too, and she gives Joe just two hours to spend with the family before it’s back to work time. Spy Shit waits for no one.
Joe’s brief appearance at the hospital also added some context to her relationship with Neil. He continues to function largely as a solo parent, and seems resigned to it, even if it’s clear he dislikes sharing his wife with the needs of the United States government. The two sides of Joe’s life, the professional and personal – her fam fam and her work fam – remain at odds with one another, and it seems like it’s getting worse, which even Meade acknowledges. As they head from Kate’s bedside back to Langley for an ass-chewing from Deputy Director Westfield, Kaitlyn suggests a station chief position for Joe. Somewhere somewhat stable, and she could bring her husband and kids. “We have to think of something,” Meade says. “Because my marriage shouldn’t be your goal, Joe.”
“I lend you my team and you fucking hang me.” Joe has no patience for Kyle’s arrogance. It was his botched operation in Texas that put her in hot water with the CIA brass, and Westfield warns her that her team assets are not to be loaned out on the fly for sketchy ops conceived on the back of a cocktail napkin. (Michael Kelly remains locked in High Asshole mode for these scenes – his character has never been seen anywhere but in a CIA conference room, but Kelly owns the space completely.) But Kyle is lucky. The intel that inspired his unsanctioned romp turned out to be so solid that a mission to neutralize the threat (and clean up his mess) has been authorized, and it’s already in motion as Joe joins her team in San Antonio. Cruz is also there. This isn’t anything to do with the undercover. But kicking down doors and taking out whoever’s inside is something this Marine has lots of experience with. And Joe, Cruz, Kyle, Bobby, Two Cups, Tucker, and the rest of the QRF team load up and don their night vision goggles.
Kyle’s intel proved that the cartels are facilitating entry of ISIS fighters into America via Mexico. But at the house the team is about to hit, they’re also building suicide bombs. The decision is made for Joe’s team to breach, neutralize the threat, and isolate the explosive devices for bomb squad disposal. And in the moment, it goes off without a hitch. The hitch comes later, when authorities’ detonation of unstable explosive devices in the middle of a San Antonio residential neighborhood makes CNN. “They’re coming in through Mexico using the cartels,” Kaitlyn tells her husband Errol, “and we can’t stop them, and now the whole world knows.” Bombs and bad optics – it’s a bad day for the CIA.
It’s been three days since the Hamptons, Cruz’s attack, and her separation from Aalyiah and her rich kid party crew. Joe and Meade agree – reinserting Cruz into the mix as Zara is dicey, but necessary. She can tell Aaliyah the truth, just without names and wrapped entirely in lies. This is Spy Shit. And in the world of Special Ops: Lioness at least, it’s often extemporaneous. But as good as she is kicking down doors, Cruz is also great at locking back into character. When Aaliyah calls from the Hamptons, Cruz becomes Zara, the shy college student who’s enamored of her new friend. No, she didn’t want to come back to the Hamptons, Zara demurred. She didn’t like Aaliyah’s friends. Well, they’re gone now, Aaliyah said. “Come back up. I’m all alone.”
With Cruz and the team monitoring the ever-evolving Aaliyah situation, Joe returns to the hospital, where Kate is still recovering. Her body rejected the pregnancy, and part of Joe’s heart-to-heart with her daughter was some frank discussion about how that makes Kate feel. “You’re going to be an adult soon enough,” Joe says. “And what you’re dealing with right now, these are adult problems. My advice to you: be a girl. For as long as you can. Don’t rush to be a woman.” Which is solid advice, right there. But these moments with her daughter, while important and powerful, will continue to be fleeting. In the lobby, Neil watches cable coverage of the blast in Texas, and he knows it’s connected to his wife’s latest “business trip.” His face is grim as Joe’s work phone rings and she prepares to depart again. The understanding they have with one another, the tradeoffs they’ve made between profession and parenting – it’s faltering in real time. The undercover op is almost certain to lead Joe back to the Middle East and into more danger, the duration of which is unknown. (“Call you when I can,” Joe leaves it with Neil, and that just sounds so empty.) She and her team are the best in their business. They’ll come home. But when that finally happens, her real work will begin again. Work fam’s got this. But fam fam is hurting right now.
Johnny Loftus is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift. Follow him on Twitter: @glennganges
