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Best Special Ops: Lioness Episodes, Ranked

All 16 episodes of Special Ops: Lioness scored and sorted — from the 8.2/10 high of S2E8 to the 7.4/10 of S1E2.

By Mira Vance · Editor & Lead Reviewer

Our rating: 7.81/10 average across 16 episode reviews (best 8.2, lowest 7.4).

Special Ops: Lioness lives in a narrow band — every episode lands between 7.4 and 8.2, so this is a show that rarely embarrasses itself and rarely stuns you either. The shape across 16 episodes is a slow climb. Season 1 takes a while to find its footing and Season 2 spends most of its run at a higher altitude.

The peak is the Season 2 finale, S2E8 “Joe Sends Josie Into Iran and Byron Forces Pablo to Choose” (8.2), where the Iran infiltration and the pressure on Pablo finally collide — the payoff the whole second season had been loading. Just behind it sit two near-equals: S2E5 “Joe Tracks the Children and Cruz Sends Josie Into Her Father’s House” (8.1), the cruelest emotional setup of the run, and S1E8 “Cruz Kills Amrohi in Mallorca and Quits Joe’s Mission” (8.1), the Mallorca kill that gave the first season its only real jolt.

The floor is S1E2 “Joe Breaks Cruz in Training as Aaliyah Calls from Atlanta” (7.4) — table-setting and boot-camp grind before the spycraft kicks in — with S1E1 and S1E5 (both 7.6) close behind in the slow-burn early stretch.

Season comparison is lopsided: S2 averages noticeably higher and front-loads its quality, while S1 is essentially a long runway to one excellent landing.

Season 1: 7.7Season 2: 7.9
678910S1E1: 7.6/10S1E2: 7.4/10S1E3: 7.7/10S1E4: 7.8/10S1E5: 7.6/10S1E6: 7.7/10S1E7: 7.8/10S1E8: 8.1/10S2E1: 7.7/10S2E2: 7.8/10S2E3: 7.6/10S2E4: 8.0/10S2E5: 8.1/10S2E6: 7.9/10S2E7: 8.0/10S2E8: 8.2/10
Every episode scored on tension, payoff, and rewatch value. Hover a point for the episode.
RankEpEpisodeScore
1S2E8Joe Sends Josie Into Iran and Byron Forces Pablo to Choose8.2
T-2S1E8Cruz Kills Amrohi in Mallorca and Quits Joe's Mission8.1
T-2S2E5Joe Tracks the Children and Cruz Sends Josie Into Her Father's House8.1
T-4S2E4Joe Recruits Cruz and Josie Finds Five Hundred Children8.0
T-4S2E7Byron Clears an Iran Strike and Joe Walks Back Into the Fight8.0
6S2E6Joe Gets Shot and Josie Blows the Carrillo Cover7.9
T-7S1E4Cruz Learns the Wedding Is in Dubai as Kate's Crash Pulls Joe Home7.8
T-7S1E7Cruz Falls for Aaliyah as Joe Sends the Team to Mallorca7.8
T-7S2E2Joe Builds a Carrillo Plan and Finds Josie After an Iraq Ambush7.8
T-10S1E3Cruz Survives Chesapeake as Joe Sends Her Team to Texas7.7
T-10S1E6Cruz Becomes Aaliyah's Friend as Joe Gets the Mission Taken from Her7.7
T-10S2E1Joe Rescues Congresswoman Hernandez and Gets Pulled Into a Cartel War7.7
T-13S1E1Joe Loses an Asset as Cruz Meets Aaliyah in Kuwait7.6
T-13S1E5Joe Leaves Kate for San Antonio as Cruz Saves the Raid and Aaliyah Calls7.6
T-13S2E3Joe Bugs the Carrillo House and Exposes Josie's Spanish Lie7.6
16S1E2Joe Breaks Cruz in Training as Aaliyah Calls from Atlanta7.4

Scores reflect our episode reviews. Tap any episode to read the full review, or browse the whole Special Ops: Lioness season recap from the top.