Lioness Season 3 premieres on Paramount+ with weekly episode schedule and new plot twists

The third season of the CIA‑spy thriller Lioness debuted on Paramount+ on 2 August 2026. Eight episodes are released weekly on Sundays, with the finale slated for 20 September. Episode 1, titled “The Spider and the Fly,” opens with CIA operative Joe McNamara (Zoe Saldaña) ambushed and kidnapped outside her Virginia home, then flashes back six months to a covert operation in Ukraine targeting Aleksi Yurimov – described as “Putin’s hammer” and head of Russia’s Special Tasks Department. The season introduces a Ukrainian‑Russian double‑agent played by Elizaveta Neretin, who provides intel on Yurimov.

Creator and showrunner Taylor Sheridan wrote all eight episodes. The cast returns with Saldaña, Nicole Kidman as CIA supervisor Kaitlyn Meade, Michael Kelly as Byron Westfield, Morgan Freeman, and other regulars. Episode 2, “No Sorrow Like the Survivor,” aired on 9 August 2026 (3:01 a.m. ET) and teases FBI involvement, indicating the mission’s stakes are expanding. Promotional photos and a detailed release schedule have been issued, confirming new episodes will drop each Sunday at the same early‑morning hour.

Lioness is billed as the series’ most dangerous mission yet, blending high‑intensity trench warfare, drone combat and personal betrayals while exploring the balance between Joe’s duty and family life.