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Taylor Sheridan’s Lioness is back and blowing up Rotten Tomatoes.
The latest installment of the hit Paramount+ series comes after a near-two-year wait, picking up sometime after the explosive events of the season 2 finale, in which Zoe Saldaña’s Joe and her team were ambushed and nearly killed. Lioness season 3 finds Joe, Nicole Kidman’s Kaitlyn and Michel Kelly’s Westfield investigating new threats tied to Russia, China and Ukraine, albeit now in the United States, while the former also continues struggling to better balance her work life with her family.
Now, with a few days remaining until the show’s August 2 return, the first reviews have begun rolling out for Lioness season 3 and secured it a debut Rotten Tomatoes score. With 6 reviews calculated at the time of writing, Sheridan’s spy action-thriller has set a major record for the series on the review aggregate, landing a perfect 100% approval rating from critics, the highest yet for the show.
While an influx of new reviews in the coming days could very well see the rare perfect score be taken away, it’s certainly a very encouraging start for Lioness season 3, and a showcase of its continuing redemption with critics. As with some of Sheridan’s other series, critics were far more mixed in its debut season, netting it a 56% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while season 2 saw a major shift in positivity with its 90% rating.
The rave score also follows Sheridan’s trend of increasingly positive scores from critics on the review aggregate with subsequent seasons as he and his creative teams really find their rhythms in their respective shows. Mayor of Kingstown similarly went from an underwhelming 31% score in season 1 to a perfect 100% score in season 4 this past October, while Yellowstone kicked off with a 58% rating and quickly bounced back for the rest of the series with scores ranging from 79–100%.
ScreenRant‘s own Cher Thompson was glowing in her Lioness season 3 review, awarding the latest chapter of Sheridan’s spy thriller a near-perfect 9/10 score. In addition to praising the performances of its star-studded cast, particularly Saldaña, Kidman, Laysla De Oliveira and Jill Wagner, Thompson particularly highlighted the show’s change in story formula as amplifying the stakes for the season:
Typically, Lioness has presented a fairly straightforward timeline, making it clear that the story is an urgent, immediate one. Lioness season 3 takes risks, particularly in the way it’s constructed, that make it feel like it’s owning its identity as a political crime thriller in a layered way. While it’s not guaranteed in the long-term, Lioness’ big swing works well to start the season.
Such a glowing reception is sure to come in handy for enticing audiences to tune in for Lioness season 3, which would be even more encouraging for the show’s future. De Oliveira and Wagner recently told ScreenRant that the new season would end on a cliffhanger and seemingly confirmed Lioness season 4 plans were already underway, and given the show has often dominated Paramount+’s charts, even between seasons, Sheridan may get a quicker renewal order from the streamer than before.
Lioness season 3 premieres on Paramount+ on August 2, with new episodes airing every Sunday.
- Release Date
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July 23, 2023
- Network
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Paramount+
- Showrunner
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Taylor Sheridan
- Directors
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John Hillcoat, Anthony Byrne, Paul Cameron, Stephen Kay, Taylor Sheridan
- Writers
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Taylor Sheridan, Jill Wagner
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Laysla De Oliveira
Cruz Manuelos
