by Johnny Loftus for Decider
“I think I’m in fucking love with her.” OK, it’s maybe not the most positive conversation Cruz is having with Joe – her boss – in Kyle’s hotel room in New York City, while Aaliyah – her mark – waits for her in the bedroom of a luxury suite upstairs in Special Ops: Lioness Episode 7 (“Wish The Fight Away”). But let’s back up a second. After their kiss in the Hamptons, Aaliyah invited Zara/Cruz on a lux NYC shopping trip – you know, stuff for her wedding – which led to a private room for trying things on, and for enjoying champagne, and the next thing we knew they were back at the hotel suite. And things got pretty hot and heavy. Which is exactly what Kyle heard over comms, since he was on surveillance duty for the Lioness op. Joe heard about this latest development in the situation room at Langley, where she and Meade and Westield were planning the team’s deployment to Spain. With Aaliyah’s wedding in Majorca imminent, Joe flew to New York City to talk a little reality into her Marine.
“I know that you have been abused,” Joe tells Cruz when they meet in the CIA’s hotel room. “And ignored. You have no family. You have no friends. And then you gave yourself to the Marines. And then me. And you have a purpose. And it is noble. But it can’t make you feel loved.”
It’s a great speech. But it’s a solid take from Joe, stone cold. (Zoe Saldana and Laysla De Oliveira are great in the scene, too, as their characters try to keep this undercover’s weird ship sailing straight.) Cruz still wonders about the strike against Aaliyah’s dad, and how it’s affected by her and the mark sleeping together. But of course, it’s not affected. As Joe explains, Aaliyah was always going to be collateral damage to the CIA’s hit on her dad. That they had sex does not change things.
Read the rest of the recap, HERE.