Photo: Ryan Green/Paramount+

Good news, people! Joe is still with us. And Then some. Just when it seemed like our girl was staring at a permanent sunset, she’s alive and literally kicking the crap out of the hospital staff in a blind rage. It turns out the shrapnel in her side was a piece of her cell phone that severed an artery, which could get her out very quickly if she doesn’t take it easy for at least the next week. “I’m just saying that the devil shows aces,” the doctor tells her. “Think about it before you play your hand.” I love when Sheridan injects a bit of cowboy lyricism through a minor character who will never be seen again. Either way, Joe’s reaction to this omen is about as cautious as you’d expect, and it doesn’t bode well for the rest of the Lioness crew, who find themselves in a sinister international game of speed poker and no other choice but to play the cards they have. I’m dealing with the devil’s aces.

The penultimate episode of the season begins with a heated monologue from Mullins, who shows up at Byron’s house to give a brief overview of the current situation. A little too obvious for the crowd, but it definitely helps in the final inning of the season. As things stand, they believe the border suicide bomber was a proxy on behalf of Chinese intelligence and served two purposes: (1) to further destabilize the border to influence the election, and (2) to sharpen US focus -Secret service to the USA in order to conceal the two Chinese nuclear scientists stationed in Turkey who are soon to be transported to Tehran.

Mullins clears the runway for his monologue with the age-old question: “Where were you on 9/11?” He then continues with a cross-section of the spitting of straight facts and spewing of garbage that anyone who sees this show has come to expect would, regardless of political leanings. According to Mullins, George W. Bush (never named in the series, but essentially referred to as “the 43rd president who stole the election”) responded to America’s post-9/11 call to emerge as a true leader, regardless of “what have you.” did you think about what he did after that? That disclaimer does a lot of unholy work there, but the point is: “We needed a leader, and a leader has risen.” We trusted that he would rise.” What undermined that trust? Mullins contends that the difference between people who came together after 9/11 and people who were driven even further apart after COVID was strong leadership. That may be true to a point, although 9/11 also presented a tangible enemy against which America could cling to its most xenophobic imperial impulses for the next two decades and more. In any case, Mullins is quite embarrassed when he says that no one in the political game is innocent of the loss of trust in American institutions in recent years. “Not a single president, not a single member of Congress, not the press, not anyone.” But Pandora’s Box is wide open, and America, for all its excesses, corruption, and institutional bullshit, has left itself no choice but to try to close it.

This means that all systems go for the Lioness crew – systems is the dubious word here. Because the systems are about as wonky as everything else surrounding this operation. Back at the safe house, Kyle and the gang question Gutierrez on the lie detector, while the maid, his informant at the Carrillo house, has a much calmer conversation with Kaitlyn. The maid confirms to Kaitlyn what Kyle discovers in the other room: our special agent Gutierrez is a “boy scout” – he does his work in complete secrecy to avoid anything getting into Los Tigres through one of the many moles in every corner of the US government. Gutierrez also killed another DEA agent who made him an offer to turn himself in, which is also confirmed by official records. So now they’re stuck with a DEA agent who they’ve already brought to “Guantánamo” and who hasn’t touched his desk or home in over 24 hours. Kyle and Kaitlyn discuss in hushed tones their options for “getting rid of” the guy (which will make your chances of survival under the CIA’s eyes shrink very quickly once this discussion is over). But an ironclad conversation between Kaitlyn and Gutierrez keeps the guy alive and back on her side for now. This isn’t Kaitlyn’s first time at the rodeo – the “rodeo” is a gentle touch that’s no less quick to take control of the room – and Gutierrez seems to have limited reservations about her offer to complete the mission to accept.

With Pablo Carrillo firmly in custody and on his way to San Jose, Cruz and Josie arrive at the new safe house at Fort Liberty before the rest of the crew and have just enough time to answer the question: “Do these two want to fuck?” Not that they could actually finish this episode, but the door has officially been opened on that front. Man, you’d think Cruz could have kept it in the bag for another Lioness operation, considering the severity and personal damage that came with the previous operation’s romantic entanglements. On the other hand, spies tend to take advantage of moments of physical and emotional connection where they can make them, often with other spies who also know how to compartmentalize their emotions to fit the chaos of the job. “It would be nice to feel something other than shame and fear,” says Josie. “Just forget it for a moment.” This soldier is already showing great aptitude for the spy lifestyle.

Meanwhile, the role of the lone gunman who lands between the storms for quiet moments has never been more popular for Joe. Her marriage is strong and her family life is happy, and she had just found a replacement field representative in Cruz. But the suicide attack at the border only strengthens her resolve to take on the devil’s aces as quickly as possible. “I’m looking for a way to make peace with walking away,” she tells Neal in the hospital, having just been told that her ruptured artery will be fatal if it ruptures again. “But I have to find it (…) and you can’t guilt me, you can’t persuade me and you can’t love me to do it.” The last part is certainly what hurts Neal the most, his Wife just said he won’t survive if she dies at work. When it comes to her professional and personal priorities, Byron later makes them even clearer when they discuss the next phase of the mission: “to show Iran and China that we are not the only nation with an open border,” as instructed by Mullins. And they will do that by intercepting the two Chinese nuclear scientists at an Iranian air base. The Empire will strike back.

Didn’t you know? The deck has been reshuffled to reflect our lioness’ abilities. Their best covert option for illuminating the targets in Iran is to send a helicopter nearby, and Joe has clearance to run the operation from the field. Byron isn’t sure whether he should let Joe go to Iran even when she promises not to leave the base, but he’s just convinced enough when she explains her real reason for being there: “I can’t go running away from a loss.”

The sunk costs of these special operations. It’s enough to give you a sinking feeling in your stomach when the Lioness crew boards the plane bound for Iran. “This is going to be spicy,” Joe says, stoking her comrades’ bloodlust before making a devastating final call to Neal. The final leg of this mission couldn’t be further from where they started, and the chances of finding salvation in it are almost nil, even if they “win.” This doesn’t bode well for the future of Joe’s family or for a spy who seeks order as a solution to all this chaos.