Special Ops: Lioness – Season 1 Episode 7 “Wish the Fight Away” Recap & Review

Wish The Fight Away

Two significant things were bookended in the last episode of Special Ops. First, the wedding location was confirmed as Mallorca. And secondly, Cruz and Aaliyah shared a kiss.

As Episode 7 of Special Ops: Lioness begins, we find everyone on the phones at Langley. Byron, Kaitlyn, and Joe are all scampering to make arrangements to ensure that their plan to eliminate Amrohi is successful.

The urgency of the situation is such that Kaitlyn suggests to Byron not to go through the official and proper channels. The trio must leverage their personal resources to prepare a team in Mallorca.

Cruz and Aaliyah are driving into New York City to shop for the wedding. They go to Mindel’s where they confront each other about the kiss. Although at first it seemed like Cruz was pretending, it turns out that she was not. Aaliyah takes Cruz to a hotel room where they have sex. Cruz breaks down in tears afterwards, guilty at what she is about to do. She genuinely feels she is in love and texts Joe for a meeting.

Joe had earlier asked Kyle to tail Cruz until she could get someone else on her. Kyle lets Cruz into her room and Joe arrives shortly. The two women have a conversation alone where Joe tries to assuage Cruz’s fears of not being able to go through with the mission. She firmly establishes that Aaliyah’s fate has already been written. She cannot escape it.

Aaliyah sees a semblance of freedom in Cruz; something she craves in life. Joe’s stirring indictment seems to have an effect on Cruz. The homerun stretch is when Joe reminds her that Amrohi bankrolls almost all terrorist activities around the world.

Cruz heads back to the room where Aaliyah is nervously waiting for her. In a spanning moment, Cruz turns off the transmitter and says she cannot go to Mallorca with her. Aaliya reveals that her father will NOT be at the wedding. He will be in Riyadh as he cannot risk showing his face in public so casually. Upon hearing this, Cruz turns the transmitter back on.

Joe and Kyle, who were about to leave in a panic, stay back to listen to the audio. Cruz abruptly leaves the hotel shortly after and Joe asks her to meet at the base where Kaitlyn is waiting for them.

Both Joe and Kaitlyn rain on Cruz with questions and accusations. They are livid that Cruz risked the operation for her feelings. The marine begrudgingly accepts she is not trained to execute a covert mission like this and cannot keep her feelings aside. Upon hearing that Amrohi won’t be at the wedding, Kaitlyn suggests they stop the operation to save the program. But Joe isn’t willing to do that. True to her profile as a skilled handler, Joe tells Cruz to clear her mind and likens her situation to an ordinary battle where the chips are down.

Aaliyah had asked Cruz to accompany her to Riyadh but Cruz turned down the offer when Aaliyah made it clear that the wedding could not be cancelled. If she raises such a request, she will be killed by her father. Cruz will now travel to Barcelona and Kyle will accompany her. Joe and Kaitlyn disagree over the decision to continue with Cruz and the mission. But Joe concedes that she will do what Kaitlyn orders her to do.

Joe has more pressing issues at home as her daughter Kate is coming back home to begin her rehabilitation. She will be in a wheelchair for at least a week before shifting to crutches. Kate gets upset when Joe mentions that she won’t be home for the next week as she does not feel comfortable with Neal taking her to the bathroom and bathing her. Joe says that a nurse will look after her.

It seemed that Joe would walk away once again due to the indifference she usually gets from her daughter but Kate showed how the car accident has changed her perspective and brought them closer. She calls Joe back, asks about her mission, and says she wants Joe to come back safe and sound. Although a daughter is supposed to feel like this for her mother, Kate’s affection overwhelms Joe. Given everything they have been through, this is a big victory. Neal assures her everything will be alright at the house.

Kaitlyn bids farewell to Errol as she is also going to be present to oversee the mission. Errol reminds her that eliminating Amrohi will be key in stabilizing the region and ensuring lasting peace. It would also mend relations between the US and the people of these war-torn countries.

The episode ends with Joe showing Cruz footage from various bombings that Amrohi bankrolled to make her determination to eliminate him ironclad. 

The Episode Review

There was so much talking in this episode that finishing it felt like an eternity. Although Sheridan’s loyalty to character lines in his storytelling is admirable, the effort is disproportionate. And that has disturbed the balance of things. Overall, this episode continues Special Ops’ trajectory of gradual decline. The plot of the show is all over the place and every episode feels like a new intervention rather than a cohesive chain.

The wedding was supposed to be this big event the entire series built up to. But an innocuous security concern undid all that work. The sudden turn was not convincing at all, unlike Laysla de Oliveria and Stephanie Nur’s chemistry. That was arguably the only decent thing about this episode but it isn’t enough. 

You’d expect more from Sheridan but he has tied his hands with the choices the creatives have made to characterize the story. With all said and done, the finale does not have a lot of promise but should (hopefully) be more entertaining than the past few episodes.