Photo: Lauren Smith/Paramount+
Lioness is a mess of political signifiers without a coherent political worldview. You might say that’s what makes this cowboy techno-thriller an all-American TV classic. In the context of these “interesting times,” it’s also what makes it increasingly crazy-making to watch. Episode four brings season one fan-favorite Cruz back into the fold and makes the show’s first reference to the Israel-Palestine war in the same scene. “There’s no such thing as a moral war, Cruz. There is survival and there is surrender. You can ask any concertgoer in Israel the consequences of surrender, or any eight-year-old in Gaza for that matter. If you can find one.”
Painting the U.S. imperial project in…
