In season 3, episode 3, Joe and her team interrogate their new ally

NEED TO KNOW

• Lioness season 3, episode 3, premiered Aug. 16 on Paramount+
• The episode sees Joe’s team interrogate their supposed Ukrainian ally
• Viewers also watch as Joe puts a plan in place to find out who betrayed her

Warning: Lioness season 3, episode 3 spoilers ahead!

Joe McNamara (Zoe Saldaña) and her team are searching for answers in Lioness.

In season 3, episode 3, Cruz Manuelos (Laysla De Oliveira) and Kyle McManus (Thad Luckinbill) take charge of interrogating Oleksandra Balakin (Elizaveta Neretin), the Ukrainian operative Joe believes leaked information that led to the attack on her home.

Meanwhile, Joe’s family is still reeling from the incident, which left two men dead on their front lawn. Fearing for her safety, her daughters beg her to quit her job, but Joe makes it clear that walking away isn’t an option.

“It doesn’t work like that. Evil doesn’t stop being evil when we surrender to it. It just gets more evil,” she tells them. “I’m a soldier, and the soldier’s job is to fight until the soldier is unable to fight or until the fight is over.”

Unsatisfied with the information Oleksandra provides during her interrogation, Joe eventually steps in herself. As she presses the operative for answers, Joe begins piecing together a plan to draw out the person who nearly got her killed.

So, what happened during Lioness season 3, episode 3? Here’s a breakdown of everything that unfolded.

Did Oleksandra betray Joe?

After Cruz and Kyle kidnap Oleksandra, two Army soldiers stationed in Ukraine are tasked with locating her mother and sister, who are then used as leverage during the interrogation.

When Kyle accuses Oleksandra of secretly being a Russian double agent, she vehemently denies it and lashes out, attacking him.

“They didn’t know who she is. They suspect who she is, and they sacrificed two lambs so that they could prove who she is. And now, they know because she told them,” Oleksandra says in her defense. “That is how Russia plays. Trust me. If they wanted to take her, she’d be gone.”

Joe later steps in for a second round of questioning, but Oleksandra sticks to her story. Instead, she proposes a plan: Let Russia know that the CIA has captured Aleksi Yurimov, the head of Russia’s Special Tasks Department (SSD), and she’ll help identify the Russian operatives and their co-conspirators working stateside when they inevitably contact her.

What happened on the highway with Joe’s daughters? 

While Randy (Austin Hébert) and Two Cups (James Jordan) are driving Joe’s daughters, Kate (Hannah Love Lanier) and Charlie McNamara (Celestina Harris), to school, they hit standstill traffic on the highway.

Their suspicions are raised when a semi pulls across the road a few cars ahead, blocking both lanes. “That’s how I’d do it,” Randy tells Two Cups, suggesting the traffic jam could be part of an ambush.

The pair immediately decide to take an alternate route, but another driver refuses to move out of their way, even after they flash their police lights and badge.

When the man gets out of his car, Two Cups rams the vehicle and drives up a hill toward the nearest off-ramp. In the backseat, Kate and Charlie are visibly shaken as Two Cups speeds away from the potential threat.

What intel did Oleksandra give Joe’s team?

After being vetted by Joe and Kyle, Oleksandra is brought before the rest of the team to share what she knows about Americans working with Russia.

She explains that Russia conducts espionage much like the U.S., recruiting assets who can provide information or influence.

Oleksandra then shares a file containing some of the Americans under Russian control, including a school district superintendent, reporters and low-level government officials.

However, Oleksandra doesn’t manage those assets herself. Her targets are far more powerful — including five U.S. senators Russia believes are in their pocket, but are actually serving Oleksandra’s agenda as a Ukrainian double agent.

Why did the White House issue a statement about apprehending a Russian spy? 

At the end of episode 3, Joe and Kyle meet with Deputy CIA Director Byron Westfield (Michael Kelly) and Joe’s boss, Kaitlyn Meade (Nicole Kidman), to pitch Oleksandra’s plan — with one major twist.

Rather than announcing that they have Yurimov in custody, Joe proposes having the White House release a statement saying that a Russian agent has been apprehended on U.S. soil. By withholding the agent’s name and photo, they hope to leave Russia scrambling to determine who has been captured.

Joe then suggests releasing Oleksandra and monitoring her every move.

“Every contact she has will reach out,” Joe explains, before Kyle adds, “Every SVR agent in the region will reach out too.”

From there, Joe’s team can investigate everyone who comes out of the woodwork, effectively using Russia’s own espionage tactics against them.

The episode ends with an ominous flash-forward: Joe is chained to a bed in Russian custody while footage of the White House press secretary announcing the capture of a Russian agent plays repeatedly on a TV mounted to the ceiling.

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