WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:03.960
<v Speaker 1>Gooday everyone, and welcome back to Geegin Camo. I'm your host, Craig.

2
00:00:04.719 --> 00:00:08.480
<v Speaker 1>Lioness is finally back for season three, and Taylor Sheridan

3
00:00:08.519 --> 00:00:11.880
<v Speaker 1>has wasted absolutely no time in putting Joe McNamara and

4
00:00:11.880 --> 00:00:16.000
<v Speaker 1>her entire family directly in the firing line. The premiere title,

5
00:00:16.039 --> 00:00:17.839
<v Speaker 1>The Spider and the Fly gives us one of the

6
00:00:17.879 --> 00:00:22.719
<v Speaker 1>show's most ambitious combat sequences so far. It introduces a

7
00:00:22.719 --> 00:00:27.800
<v Speaker 1>potentially enormous Russian intelligence conspiracy and ends with the war

8
00:00:28.519 --> 00:00:31.160
<v Speaker 1>following Joe all the way back to her front door.

9
00:00:31.480 --> 00:00:34.439
<v Speaker 1>But the most important moment might actually be the scene

10
00:00:34.479 --> 00:00:37.159
<v Speaker 1>shown right at the beginning, because the episode opens by

11
00:00:37.200 --> 00:00:41.000
<v Speaker 1>revealing where Joe will be six months later, and it's

12
00:00:41.039 --> 00:00:43.840
<v Speaker 1>not good. Before we go any further, here is your warning.

13
00:00:43.880 --> 00:00:49.399
<v Speaker 1>This video contains full spoilers for Lioness Season three episode one.

14
00:00:50.079 --> 00:00:55.079
<v Speaker 1>I'll be recapping scene. I'll be recapping the episode seen

15
00:00:55.200 --> 00:00:58.280
<v Speaker 1>by scene, including the ending, and then I'll go through

16
00:00:58.320 --> 00:01:03.240
<v Speaker 1>my main theories about Joe's kidnapping, the mysterious Ukrainian informant,

17
00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:07.560
<v Speaker 1>and what Alexi Yuimov may actually know. So with the

18
00:01:07.560 --> 00:01:10.920
<v Speaker 1>warning out of the way, let's get into it. The

19
00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:14.920
<v Speaker 1>opening flash forward The episode begins with a surprising normal

20
00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:19.079
<v Speaker 1>mourning in the McNamara household. Joe is exercising in the

21
00:01:19.120 --> 00:01:22.439
<v Speaker 1>garage while news reports play in the background, reminding us

22
00:01:22.480 --> 00:01:27.680
<v Speaker 1>that the wider world remains unstable. There are wars, political tensions,

23
00:01:27.680 --> 00:01:32.120
<v Speaker 1>and disasters unfolding everywhere, but inside Joe's home, things briefly

24
00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:35.239
<v Speaker 1>appear peaceful. Joe has breakfast with Neil and their daughters,

25
00:01:35.239 --> 00:01:37.640
<v Speaker 1>and perhaps for the first time in the series, she

26
00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:41.359
<v Speaker 1>seems to have found something resembling a sustained routine. She

27
00:01:41.480 --> 00:01:44.840
<v Speaker 1>also appears to be working in a more conventional CIA

28
00:01:44.959 --> 00:01:49.120
<v Speaker 1>position rather than constantly deploying into combat zones. Yeah, a

29
00:01:49.159 --> 00:01:52.000
<v Speaker 1>more nine to five sort of thing, But because this

30
00:01:52.120 --> 00:01:55.439
<v Speaker 1>is Lioness, that peaceful domestic scene is really just there

31
00:01:55.959 --> 00:01:59.200
<v Speaker 1>to make what happens next feel even more violent. Joe

32
00:01:59.239 --> 00:02:01.760
<v Speaker 1>gets into a v and calls Caitlyn as she begins

33
00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:05.840
<v Speaker 1>leaving the house. Before she can get away, vehicles block

34
00:02:05.879 --> 00:02:09.000
<v Speaker 1>her in. Men converge on the car, smash their way in,

35
00:02:09.039 --> 00:02:11.960
<v Speaker 1>and drag her out. Joe manages to transmit that she's

36
00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:15.840
<v Speaker 1>been blackjacked or forcibly abducted, but she is quickly overwhelmed

37
00:02:15.879 --> 00:02:20.319
<v Speaker 1>and taken we are given no explanation about who these

38
00:02:20.360 --> 00:02:23.080
<v Speaker 1>men are or where they are taking her. Instead, the

39
00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:27.599
<v Speaker 1>episode cuts back six months earlier that immediately establishes the

40
00:02:27.639 --> 00:02:30.199
<v Speaker 1>central mystery of the season. Something that begins with the

41
00:02:30.199 --> 00:02:33.360
<v Speaker 1>operation We're about to watch will eventually expose Joe badly

42
00:02:33.479 --> 00:02:36.439
<v Speaker 1>enough for a hostile force to abduct her outside her

43
00:02:36.479 --> 00:02:40.879
<v Speaker 1>own home. Six months earlier, the CIA receives an offer

44
00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:43.919
<v Speaker 1>back at Langley. Byron Westfield and Caitlyn me discuss an

45
00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:48.960
<v Speaker 1>unusual intelligence approach. A woman claiming to represent Ukrainian intelligence

46
00:02:48.960 --> 00:02:52.439
<v Speaker 1>has made contact through Kyle. More importantly, she said that

47
00:02:52.479 --> 00:02:55.240
<v Speaker 1>she is operating as a double agent inside Rushes Foreign

48
00:02:55.280 --> 00:03:00.280
<v Speaker 1>Intelligence Service, the SVR formerly the KGB. If You did No,

49
00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:05.120
<v Speaker 1>a meeting is arranged at Georgetown University, but the location

50
00:03:05.240 --> 00:03:08.240
<v Speaker 1>gives the CIA room to hide at surveillance team among

51
00:03:08.280 --> 00:03:11.719
<v Speaker 1>the students, staff and members of the public. Joe makes

52
00:03:11.759 --> 00:03:13.960
<v Speaker 1>the actual approach while the rest of the team watches

53
00:03:14.039 --> 00:03:17.360
<v Speaker 1>from concealed positions. Informant does not provide Joe with much

54
00:03:17.400 --> 00:03:20.919
<v Speaker 1>personal information, but she offers something far more valuable, the

55
00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:25.599
<v Speaker 1>location of Alexei Yumov. Yuumov is described as the head

56
00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:30.319
<v Speaker 1>of a highly secretive Russian Special Task Organization and one

57
00:03:30.319 --> 00:03:34.439
<v Speaker 1>of Vladimir Putin's most trusted operational figures. The informant essentially

58
00:03:34.479 --> 00:03:39.120
<v Speaker 1>describes him as Putin's hammer. Killing Yumov would invite an

59
00:03:39.120 --> 00:03:44.719
<v Speaker 1>obvious and potentially massive Russian response. Capturing him, however, could

60
00:03:44.759 --> 00:03:48.360
<v Speaker 1>be treated as another another move in the covert intelligence game.

61
00:03:49.599 --> 00:03:52.560
<v Speaker 1>She gives Joe a flash drive and means of contacting her,

62
00:03:52.639 --> 00:03:56.000
<v Speaker 1>but Joe remains suspicious, and rightly so. This woman has

63
00:03:56.000 --> 00:04:00.599
<v Speaker 1>supposedly penetrated the Russian intelligence establishment, identified one of Putin's

64
00:04:00.599 --> 00:04:04.120
<v Speaker 1>most valuable operatives, and is now offering him to the Americans.

65
00:04:04.199 --> 00:04:07.000
<v Speaker 1>That is an extraordinary intelligence opportunity, but it is also

66
00:04:07.080 --> 00:04:09.439
<v Speaker 1>exactly the kind of opportunity that could be used to

67
00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:12.560
<v Speaker 1>bait the CIA into a trap. The episode also spends

68
00:04:12.599 --> 00:04:16.560
<v Speaker 1>some time with Caitlin and her husband Eryl. That man.

69
00:04:16.639 --> 00:04:19.279
<v Speaker 1>He seems to be one of the most dodgy persons

70
00:04:19.279 --> 00:04:23.040
<v Speaker 1>I've seen in this entire show through the first and

71
00:04:23.120 --> 00:04:25.759
<v Speaker 1>second season. There's something else going on with this guy

72
00:04:25.839 --> 00:04:30.079
<v Speaker 1>that we haven't really clicked onto yet. Their conversations remain

73
00:04:30.160 --> 00:04:32.199
<v Speaker 1>less like those of a married couple and more like

74
00:04:32.279 --> 00:04:36.519
<v Speaker 1>two senior members of the establishment. Comparing intelligence assessments. They

75
00:04:36.519 --> 00:04:40.560
<v Speaker 1>discuss political instability, foreign influence, artificial intelligence, and the growing

76
00:04:40.600 --> 00:04:43.439
<v Speaker 1>inability of governments to control the systems they have created.

77
00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:47.079
<v Speaker 1>These scenes can sometimes feel disconnected from the action, but

78
00:04:47.160 --> 00:04:51.839
<v Speaker 1>thematically they are important. The entire episode is about systems

79
00:04:51.879 --> 00:04:55.639
<v Speaker 1>becoming uncontrollable. The CIA believes it can manipulate the conflict

80
00:04:55.680 --> 00:04:58.399
<v Speaker 1>in the Ukraine, and the Ukraine informant believes that she

81
00:04:58.399 --> 00:05:02.560
<v Speaker 1>can manipulate both Russia and the United States. Russia may

82
00:05:02.600 --> 00:05:05.720
<v Speaker 1>believe it can use Uumov as either an operator or bait,

83
00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:09.040
<v Speaker 1>and Joe believes she can continue protecting her family while

84
00:05:09.079 --> 00:05:12.639
<v Speaker 1>participating in a global covert war. By the end of

85
00:05:12.639 --> 00:05:16.639
<v Speaker 1>the episode, every one of those assumptions looks questionable. The

86
00:05:16.680 --> 00:05:20.600
<v Speaker 1>intelligence is eventually considered credible enough for the CIA to act.

87
00:05:21.040 --> 00:05:24.240
<v Speaker 1>Joe and the Allion S team travel to the Donetsk

88
00:05:24.360 --> 00:05:28.279
<v Speaker 1>region of Ukraine, and the change in environment is immediate.

89
00:05:28.759 --> 00:05:32.079
<v Speaker 1>This is not the counterinsurgency warfare we have mostly seen

90
00:05:32.199 --> 00:05:36.160
<v Speaker 1>previous seasons. The team is entering an active, conventional battlefield

91
00:05:36.360 --> 00:05:40.920
<v Speaker 1>filled with artillery, trench systems, surveillance drones, and one way

92
00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:43.480
<v Speaker 1>attack drones. Almost as soon as they begin moving through

93
00:05:43.519 --> 00:05:46.399
<v Speaker 1>the tree line, drones are circling overhead, and explosions are

94
00:05:46.439 --> 00:05:49.600
<v Speaker 1>landing nearby. The team is escorted through the forest toward

95
00:05:49.600 --> 00:05:52.720
<v Speaker 1>an underground command bunker while the battlefield erupts around them.

96
00:05:52.759 --> 00:05:56.759
<v Speaker 1>The gritty realism here is next level. Taylor Sheridan gets

97
00:05:56.800 --> 00:05:59.560
<v Speaker 1>it even just small team tactics where a member of

98
00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:01.839
<v Speaker 1>the team taps the last man on the shoulder and

99
00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:05.000
<v Speaker 1>tells him last Man before moving through the open ground

100
00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:08.319
<v Speaker 1>after popping smoke to mass their approach. The small things

101
00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:11.240
<v Speaker 1>like this matter to veterans like myself and others. From

102
00:06:11.240 --> 00:06:14.160
<v Speaker 1>a military perspective, this is one of the episode's strongest ideas.

103
00:06:14.360 --> 00:06:16.720
<v Speaker 1>The soldiers are still living and fighting from the trenches

104
00:06:16.720 --> 00:06:19.639
<v Speaker 1>that would look familiar to someone from the First World War,

105
00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:24.759
<v Speaker 1>but above those trenches are thermal sensors, electronic surveillance systems,

106
00:06:24.759 --> 00:06:29.240
<v Speaker 1>and drones capable of identifying and striking individual people. Kyle

107
00:06:29.759 --> 00:06:32.839
<v Speaker 1>later describes it as the First World War colliding with

108
00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:35.560
<v Speaker 1>Star Wars, which is probably the simplest summary of the

109
00:06:35.720 --> 00:06:39.360
<v Speaker 1>entire battlefield sequence. So inside the bunker, Joe's team meets

110
00:06:39.399 --> 00:06:42.920
<v Speaker 1>the unit that will actually conduct the capture operation. Cody

111
00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:45.519
<v Speaker 1>is back, played once again by Taylor Sheridan, and he's

112
00:06:45.560 --> 00:06:48.720
<v Speaker 1>accompanied by a specialized assault team that includes Grady, a

113
00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:51.519
<v Speaker 1>highly experienced canine handler, and some of you guys may

114
00:06:51.600 --> 00:06:57.839
<v Speaker 1>recognize him from Yellowstone. The atmosphere becomes confrontational immediately. Joe's

115
00:06:57.839 --> 00:07:00.360
<v Speaker 1>team expects to participate in the mission, but the soldiers

116
00:07:00.439 --> 00:07:02.720
<v Speaker 1>running the operation do not believe they are prepared for

117
00:07:02.759 --> 00:07:07.079
<v Speaker 1>this particular battlefield. This is not necessarily an insult to

118
00:07:07.120 --> 00:07:11.680
<v Speaker 1>Bobby Tucker and the others. They're extremely capable special operations personnel,

119
00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:15.160
<v Speaker 1>but competence in one kind of warfare does not automatically

120
00:07:15.199 --> 00:07:18.800
<v Speaker 1>mean experience in another. On this front, electronic detection can

121
00:07:18.800 --> 00:07:22.800
<v Speaker 1>bring an explosive drone down on someone within moments. The

122
00:07:22.839 --> 00:07:26.319
<v Speaker 1>local operators understand those dangers because they live with them

123
00:07:26.399 --> 00:07:30.199
<v Speaker 1>every day. There's also another problem. The team has a

124
00:07:30.240 --> 00:07:33.519
<v Speaker 1>tracking beacon associated with Yuumov, but it does not have

125
00:07:33.560 --> 00:07:36.120
<v Speaker 1>a secure photograph that can be carried or transmitted in

126
00:07:36.120 --> 00:07:39.920
<v Speaker 1>the field. Joe is therefore needed to make the positive ID.

127
00:07:40.439 --> 00:07:43.759
<v Speaker 1>In other words, until Yuumov is captured, Joe herself becomes

128
00:07:43.759 --> 00:07:47.800
<v Speaker 1>the most important part of the mission. The Lioness team

129
00:07:47.879 --> 00:07:51.879
<v Speaker 1>does not like the idea of letting her go without them,

130
00:07:52.040 --> 00:07:54.959
<v Speaker 1>After some heated arguing, Joe's permitted to take Cruise with her,

131
00:07:55.160 --> 00:07:57.360
<v Speaker 1>while Bobby and the remainder of the team provide support

132
00:07:57.439 --> 00:07:59.480
<v Speaker 1>from the bunker. It's great to see that Cruise is

133
00:07:59.480 --> 00:08:01.800
<v Speaker 1>back along Joe, but it also places her in a

134
00:08:01.800 --> 00:08:05.240
<v Speaker 1>slightly different role. She is no longer the inexperienced lion

135
00:08:05.319 --> 00:08:08.399
<v Speaker 1>s being manipulated by Joe. She is now the person

136
00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:11.519
<v Speaker 1>Joe trusts to cover her when the operation goes bad.

137
00:08:11.600 --> 00:08:15.480
<v Speaker 1>A plan to capture Urumov. Intelligence indicates that Uumov is

138
00:08:15.560 --> 00:08:18.720
<v Speaker 1>hiding in or around a pipeline beneath a farmhouse on

139
00:08:18.720 --> 00:08:21.959
<v Speaker 1>the opposite side of the battlefield. The location is protected

140
00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:26.600
<v Speaker 1>by hostile troops, including North Korean soldiers, and watched by drones.

141
00:08:27.759 --> 00:08:31.000
<v Speaker 1>The team decides to move during daylight, using heavy fog

142
00:08:31.279 --> 00:08:35.600
<v Speaker 1>or artificial concealment from smoke to reduce visibility. The Canines

143
00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:39.240
<v Speaker 1>will go first. It's an aggressive plan, but the dogs

144
00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:43.919
<v Speaker 1>provide speed, confusion, and an immediate psychological shock against defenders

145
00:08:43.960 --> 00:08:46.919
<v Speaker 1>who cannot clearly see what is approaching them. In this case,

146
00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:52.720
<v Speaker 1>that's North Korean troops to begin with. Joe, Cruz, Cody, Grady,

147
00:08:52.759 --> 00:08:54.639
<v Speaker 1>and the Assault Element move out while the rest of

148
00:08:54.639 --> 00:08:57.559
<v Speaker 1>the lion S team remains behind. This is where the

149
00:08:57.559 --> 00:09:01.200
<v Speaker 1>episode turns into an extended war film. Right the assault

150
00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:03.960
<v Speaker 1>through the fog, the dogs are released into the concealment

151
00:09:03.960 --> 00:09:06.639
<v Speaker 1>ahead of the operators. They hit the defenders around the

152
00:09:06.639 --> 00:09:10.159
<v Speaker 1>pipeline entrance before the assault teams follows, using the confusion

153
00:09:10.519 --> 00:09:14.279
<v Speaker 1>to close the distance. The fighting is fast, violent and

154
00:09:14.399 --> 00:09:19.279
<v Speaker 1>deliberately chaotic. Soldiers are engaging at extremely close ranges, while

155
00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:24.039
<v Speaker 1>drones remain a constant threat. Overhead visibility is poor, communication

156
00:09:24.200 --> 00:09:27.080
<v Speaker 1>is difficult, and the team has very little time to

157
00:09:27.200 --> 00:09:31.240
<v Speaker 1>distinguish between the target and everyone protecting him. The canine

158
00:09:31.279 --> 00:09:34.879
<v Speaker 1>element is especially effective. Although the episode does not sanitize

159
00:09:34.919 --> 00:09:37.159
<v Speaker 1>what military working dogs are being sent in to do,

160
00:09:38.519 --> 00:09:42.039
<v Speaker 1>at times it is quite graphic. Yeah, like you see

161
00:09:42.039 --> 00:09:45.720
<v Speaker 1>the dogs tearing into people's necks and faces and the lot.

162
00:09:46.519 --> 00:09:48.840
<v Speaker 1>One of the dogs is stabbed during the fighting inside

163
00:09:48.840 --> 00:09:51.399
<v Speaker 1>the tunnel system. That moment affects the handlers and the

164
00:09:51.440 --> 00:09:54.679
<v Speaker 1>operators more deeply than many of the human casualties around them,

165
00:09:54.759 --> 00:09:58.399
<v Speaker 1>and that reaction feels authentic. A military working dog is

166
00:09:58.519 --> 00:10:01.919
<v Speaker 1>not treated as disposable equipment by its handler. It is

167
00:10:01.919 --> 00:10:04.200
<v Speaker 1>a member of the team and losing one during an

168
00:10:04.240 --> 00:10:07.320
<v Speaker 1>assault carries its own kind of emotional impact. The assault

169
00:10:07.320 --> 00:10:11.679
<v Speaker 1>team finally locates the man believed to be Yuumov. Joe

170
00:10:11.759 --> 00:10:16.399
<v Speaker 1>positively identifies him. He's taken alive. The team then discovers

171
00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:20.879
<v Speaker 1>the tracking device implanted beneath his left armpit. Cody and

172
00:10:20.919 --> 00:10:23.879
<v Speaker 1>a remember of his team immediately remove it without anything

173
00:10:23.919 --> 00:10:27.480
<v Speaker 1>resembling proper medical treatment. It is brutal, but leaving the

174
00:10:27.480 --> 00:10:30.519
<v Speaker 1>tracker inside him could allow Russian forces to follow the

175
00:10:30.519 --> 00:10:33.240
<v Speaker 1>extraction team all the way back to its base or

176
00:10:33.240 --> 00:10:36.039
<v Speaker 1>call an artillery or drones strike directly onto their position.

177
00:10:36.639 --> 00:10:40.039
<v Speaker 1>This tracker is also one of the episode's most important details.

178
00:10:40.720 --> 00:10:43.720
<v Speaker 1>Was it simply a Russian security measure used to monitoror Yumov.

179
00:10:44.399 --> 00:10:46.879
<v Speaker 1>Did Yumov know that it was there, or was he

180
00:10:46.960 --> 00:10:50.000
<v Speaker 1>deliberately positioned so that the Americans could capture him and

181
00:10:50.159 --> 00:10:52.960
<v Speaker 1>unknowingly carry the tracker with them. The team escapes from

182
00:10:52.960 --> 00:10:55.519
<v Speaker 1>the pipeline with Yumov, but the return journey remains an

183
00:10:55.559 --> 00:10:59.720
<v Speaker 1>extremely dangerous one. Drones close in overhead, forcing operators to

184
00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:01.960
<v Speaker 1>shit them out of the sky while moving back toward

185
00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:05.039
<v Speaker 1>the bunker. They eventually make it inside with the prisoner.

186
00:11:05.519 --> 00:11:09.080
<v Speaker 1>The mission is technically a success, so Yurumov has been

187
00:11:09.080 --> 00:11:12.360
<v Speaker 1>captured alive, the tracking device has been removed, and Joe's

188
00:11:12.399 --> 00:11:16.200
<v Speaker 1>positive identification means the CIA can reasonably be confident that

189
00:11:16.279 --> 00:11:19.240
<v Speaker 1>it is the correct man. But nobody seems convinced that

190
00:11:19.279 --> 00:11:21.559
<v Speaker 1>the cost or the reason for the operation has been

191
00:11:21.559 --> 00:11:24.919
<v Speaker 1>fully explained. Joe questions the mission, so after the operation,

192
00:11:25.080 --> 00:11:27.720
<v Speaker 1>Joe reflects on what they have just done. A large

193
00:11:27.799 --> 00:11:30.159
<v Speaker 1>number of people have been killed to capture one man

194
00:11:30.200 --> 00:11:32.960
<v Speaker 1>in a conflict that Joe does not believe directly belongs

195
00:11:32.960 --> 00:11:35.840
<v Speaker 1>to them. This is not Joe suddenly becoming opposed to

196
00:11:35.919 --> 00:11:39.600
<v Speaker 1>covert action. She's ordered and participated in plenty of lethal

197
00:11:39.639 --> 00:11:43.039
<v Speaker 1>operations before. The difference is that she increasingly suspects that

198
00:11:43.080 --> 00:11:45.480
<v Speaker 1>she is being moved around a chessboard without being told

199
00:11:45.480 --> 00:11:48.320
<v Speaker 1>who was actually playing the game. Yuumov is clearly valuable,

200
00:11:48.519 --> 00:11:51.799
<v Speaker 1>but the amount of intelligence actively surrounding his capture suggests

201
00:11:51.799 --> 00:11:55.360
<v Speaker 1>there is more happening than a simple prisoner extraction. Someone

202
00:11:55.399 --> 00:11:59.320
<v Speaker 1>wanted the CIA involved. Someone ensued that Joe personally had

203
00:11:59.320 --> 00:12:02.600
<v Speaker 1>to enter the battle field, and someone may already know

204
00:12:02.879 --> 00:12:06.320
<v Speaker 1>who exactly she is, but who Joe finally returns to

205
00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:09.000
<v Speaker 1>Virginia late at night. Her family is asleep, and she

206
00:12:09.399 --> 00:12:13.159
<v Speaker 1>quietly checks on Neil before going downstairs and pouring herself

207
00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:15.639
<v Speaker 1>a drink. For a few moments, the episode gives her

208
00:12:15.960 --> 00:12:19.200
<v Speaker 1>and us a chance to decompress. Then someone knocks at

209
00:12:19.200 --> 00:12:22.840
<v Speaker 1>the front door. Two men identify themselves as state police.

210
00:12:23.039 --> 00:12:25.480
<v Speaker 1>Joe does not believe them. She keeps the security chain

211
00:12:25.519 --> 00:12:28.279
<v Speaker 1>attached and has her weapon ready or questioning them through

212
00:12:28.360 --> 00:12:30.799
<v Speaker 1>the partially opened door. One of the men slips out

213
00:12:30.799 --> 00:12:34.600
<v Speaker 1>of his supposed American identity and back to his native accent,

214
00:12:34.840 --> 00:12:38.320
<v Speaker 1>confirming Joe's suspicions. Joe warns them that the real police

215
00:12:38.360 --> 00:12:40.919
<v Speaker 1>will soon arrive and attempts to close the door. The

216
00:12:40.960 --> 00:12:43.480
<v Speaker 1>men force their way inside. Joe is knocked down, but

217
00:12:43.559 --> 00:12:46.840
<v Speaker 1>she reacts almost immediately and kills both attackers. Joe then

218
00:12:46.879 --> 00:12:50.120
<v Speaker 1>calls for immediate federal assistance and reports that her identity

219
00:12:50.120 --> 00:12:53.159
<v Speaker 1>has been compromised. Neil comes downstairs to find his wife

220
00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:55.720
<v Speaker 1>standing outside their home with two bodies on the ground.

221
00:12:56.240 --> 00:12:59.039
<v Speaker 1>This is the real turning point of the episode. Joe

222
00:12:59.039 --> 00:13:02.080
<v Speaker 1>has faced Dan overseas for years, but her home has

223
00:13:02.120 --> 00:13:06.360
<v Speaker 1>always presented the boundary. That boundary no longer exists. The

224
00:13:06.360 --> 00:13:09.639
<v Speaker 1>people hunting her know her identity, her address, and where

225
00:13:09.639 --> 00:13:12.799
<v Speaker 1>her husband and children sleep. Even worse, we already know

226
00:13:12.919 --> 00:13:15.200
<v Speaker 1>from the opening scene that the first attempt will not

227
00:13:15.279 --> 00:13:20.480
<v Speaker 1>be the last. Okay theories. Theory one, the Ukrainian informant

228
00:13:20.559 --> 00:13:23.639
<v Speaker 1>is the spider. My first theory is that the woman

229
00:13:23.679 --> 00:13:26.480
<v Speaker 1>who approached the CIA is not simply a friendly Ukrainian

230
00:13:26.519 --> 00:13:29.480
<v Speaker 1>intelligence officer. She could be the spider referred to in

231
00:13:29.519 --> 00:13:32.399
<v Speaker 1>the episode title. She places Yuumov in a location where

232
00:13:32.440 --> 00:13:35.440
<v Speaker 1>the CIA can reach him, provides enough intelligence to make

233
00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:38.679
<v Speaker 1>sure the operation is irresistible, and ensures that Joe becomes

234
00:13:38.679 --> 00:13:42.039
<v Speaker 1>personally connected to the mission. Joe believes she's hunting Yuumov,

235
00:13:42.200 --> 00:13:45.000
<v Speaker 1>but she may actually be the fly drawing into the web.

236
00:13:45.759 --> 00:13:49.240
<v Speaker 1>Informant could still be genuinely working for Ukraine while manipulating

237
00:13:49.240 --> 00:13:52.240
<v Speaker 1>the Americans for her own agenda. She does not need

238
00:13:52.279 --> 00:13:54.960
<v Speaker 1>to be a straightforward Russian villain for this theory to work.

239
00:13:55.200 --> 00:13:58.639
<v Speaker 1>In the intelligence world, an ally can provide accurate information

240
00:13:58.799 --> 00:14:03.200
<v Speaker 1>and still be using you. It happens every day. Okay

241
00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:07.679
<v Speaker 1>Theory two. Uumov wanted to be captured. The second possibility

242
00:14:07.720 --> 00:14:11.240
<v Speaker 1>is that Yuumov's capture was intentional. He is supposedly one

243
00:14:11.240 --> 00:14:15.120
<v Speaker 1>of Russia's most capable covert operators, yet the CIA receives

244
00:14:15.159 --> 00:14:18.879
<v Speaker 1>his location from a conveniently placed double agent and reaches

245
00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:22.519
<v Speaker 1>him with relatively little warning. The implanted tracker could have

246
00:14:22.639 --> 00:14:25.840
<v Speaker 1>been intended to expose American position, but it could also

247
00:14:25.879 --> 00:14:28.559
<v Speaker 1>have been included to make the capture of peer authentic.

248
00:14:28.720 --> 00:14:32.639
<v Speaker 1>Uumov may be carrying false intelligence designed to poison CIA assets.

249
00:14:33.000 --> 00:14:36.080
<v Speaker 1>He may intend to identify American assets during the interrogation,

250
00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:39.120
<v Speaker 1>or he may be escaping an internal Russian power struggle

251
00:14:39.120 --> 00:14:43.000
<v Speaker 1>and using the CIA as his extraction service. The important

252
00:14:43.000 --> 00:14:46.440
<v Speaker 1>thing is that capturing Uromov does not necessarily mean the

253
00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:50.840
<v Speaker 1>CIA has defeated him. Getting inside the American intelligence system

254
00:14:50.919 --> 00:14:54.240
<v Speaker 1>may have been his objective all along. Theory three the

255
00:14:54.279 --> 00:14:58.399
<v Speaker 1>CIA has an internal leak. The attackers know far too

256
00:14:58.480 --> 00:15:01.679
<v Speaker 1>much about Joe. Do not merely recognize her from the

257
00:15:01.759 --> 00:15:05.080
<v Speaker 1>Ukraine operation. They know where she lives and feel confident

258
00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:08.159
<v Speaker 1>enough to approach her front door disguised as an American

259
00:15:08.159 --> 00:15:11.320
<v Speaker 1>police officer. So six months later, another team knows her

260
00:15:11.399 --> 00:15:13.759
<v Speaker 1>routine well enough to block her vehicle as she leaves

261
00:15:13.879 --> 00:15:19.519
<v Speaker 1>work that suggests surveillance access to protective information or both.

262
00:15:20.360 --> 00:15:23.399
<v Speaker 1>The obvious explanation is a breach inside the CIA or

263
00:15:23.440 --> 00:15:27.600
<v Speaker 1>another agency. The elite could be ideological, financial, or part

264
00:15:27.600 --> 00:15:30.720
<v Speaker 1>of a much larger foreign penetration operation. The official season

265
00:15:30.759 --> 00:15:35.559
<v Speaker 1>three description specifically refers to hidden networks, foreign operatives, and

266
00:15:35.639 --> 00:15:38.919
<v Speaker 1>personal betrayals, and that makes an internal betrayal much more

267
00:15:39.039 --> 00:15:44.120
<v Speaker 1>likely than a simple Russian revenge operation. Right theory four,

268
00:15:44.720 --> 00:15:48.519
<v Speaker 1>the first attack was a test. The two men at

269
00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:51.919
<v Speaker 1>Joe's door may not have expected to succeed. Their real

270
00:15:51.960 --> 00:15:54.919
<v Speaker 1>purpose could have been to test Joe's reaction and observe

271
00:15:54.960 --> 00:15:58.759
<v Speaker 1>the security response. How quickly did she identify them, who

272
00:15:58.919 --> 00:16:01.879
<v Speaker 1>arrived after she called for assistance, and where was her

273
00:16:01.919 --> 00:16:05.039
<v Speaker 1>family moved to? Right? What new protective measures were installed?

274
00:16:05.799 --> 00:16:08.120
<v Speaker 1>And a failed attack can generate an enormous amount of

275
00:16:08.120 --> 00:16:11.080
<v Speaker 1>intelligence If the attacker is watching the response, that would

276
00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:13.879
<v Speaker 1>explain why the second operation six months later is much

277
00:16:13.879 --> 00:16:18.200
<v Speaker 1>more organized. The enemy learns from the first attempt and

278
00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:21.759
<v Speaker 1>returns with enough manpower, vehicles, and speed to take Joe

279
00:16:21.799 --> 00:16:26.519
<v Speaker 1>before help can arrive. Thirty five, Joe's family will become

280
00:16:26.600 --> 00:16:29.840
<v Speaker 1>part of the operation. Joe, who's always believed that she

281
00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:33.639
<v Speaker 1>can absorb the consequences of her work herself. Season three

282
00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:37.320
<v Speaker 1>appears ready to destroy that illusion. Neil has now seen

283
00:16:37.480 --> 00:16:41.519
<v Speaker 1>armed foreign operatives enter their home. Joe's daughters are living

284
00:16:41.519 --> 00:16:44.799
<v Speaker 1>at an address known to hostile intelligence officers, and the

285
00:16:44.840 --> 00:16:48.639
<v Speaker 1>opening kidnapping proves that whatever protective arrangements are introduced will

286
00:16:48.639 --> 00:16:51.799
<v Speaker 1>eventually fail. Joe may be forced to disappear, send her

287
00:16:51.799 --> 00:16:54.960
<v Speaker 1>family into protection, or use herself as bait to expose

288
00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:58.120
<v Speaker 1>the network hunting them. The central conflict of the season

289
00:16:58.200 --> 00:17:01.679
<v Speaker 1>may therefore be less about Red Joe and more about

290
00:17:01.679 --> 00:17:04.079
<v Speaker 1>whether she can destroy the threat before it reaches Neil

291
00:17:04.119 --> 00:17:07.400
<v Speaker 1>and the girls. Right to my final thoughts. As a

292
00:17:07.440 --> 00:17:10.480
<v Speaker 1>season premiere, the Spider in the Fly does exactly what

293
00:17:10.559 --> 00:17:14.319
<v Speaker 1>it needed to do. It gives us a major military operation,

294
00:17:14.920 --> 00:17:18.119
<v Speaker 1>brings Cruise and the QRF back into the action, introduces

295
00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:21.319
<v Speaker 1>a dangerous new intelligence mystery, and makes the threat deeply

296
00:17:21.400 --> 00:17:26.079
<v Speaker 1>personal for Joe. The Ukraine sequence is spectacular, but the

297
00:17:26.160 --> 00:17:28.960
<v Speaker 1>quiet scene at Joe's front door may be more important.

298
00:17:29.599 --> 00:17:32.440
<v Speaker 1>On the battlefield, Joe knows she is in enemy territory.

299
00:17:32.519 --> 00:17:34.759
<v Speaker 1>At home, she believes she is safe, so by the

300
00:17:34.839 --> 00:17:37.119
<v Speaker 1>end of the episode, the enemy has shown her that

301
00:17:37.160 --> 00:17:40.680
<v Speaker 1>there is no longer any difference. The biggest questions going

302
00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:43.799
<v Speaker 1>into episode two are these who arranged the attack on

303
00:17:43.880 --> 00:17:47.680
<v Speaker 1>Joe and is Yuremov a prisoner, a defector or a

304
00:17:47.720 --> 00:17:51.880
<v Speaker 1>trojan horse? Can the Ukrainian informant be trusted? And how

305
00:17:51.920 --> 00:17:54.559
<v Speaker 1>does this chain of events eventually lead to Joe being

306
00:17:54.640 --> 00:17:57.680
<v Speaker 1>dragged from her vehicle six months later? All right, let

307
00:17:57.680 --> 00:17:59.720
<v Speaker 1>me know your theories in the comments section. All right,

308
00:17:59.759 --> 00:18:01.920
<v Speaker 1>do you think Russia is behind everything? Or is someone

309
00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:05.279
<v Speaker 1>inside the American intelligence system feeding information to the enemy?

310
00:18:05.359 --> 00:18:07.039
<v Speaker 1>And what do you think of the depiction of drone

311
00:18:07.039 --> 00:18:10.559
<v Speaker 1>and trench warfare in Ukraine? Please remember to like the video,

312
00:18:10.680 --> 00:18:13.680
<v Speaker 1>subscribe to the channel, and share it with other Lions fans.

313
00:18:13.960 --> 00:18:17.200
<v Speaker 1>Thanks for watching or listening wherever that may be, and

314
00:18:17.359 --> 00:18:21.759
<v Speaker 1>I'll catch you after episode two. Thanks for watching geekon Camo. Craig,

315
00:18:21.960 --> 00:18:23.160
<v Speaker 1>I'm out so Yer's