‘Lioness’ Stunner! [SPOILER] Talks About Season 3 Finale Plot Twist

Season 3 of Lioness ended with a twist very, very few people saw coming and we're being generous.

Some on social media guessed correctly, but honestly those guesses felt like lucky stabs (double entendre intended) in the dark. Taste of Country talked to actor behind the character at the center of all of it. Yes, we're stalling because we want to respect those who've not yet watched.

• Lioness Season 3 finale began streaming on Sunday (Sept. 20) on Paramount+.
• Heading in to the episode, Joe McNamara's (Zoe Saldaña) team was still trying to figure out who was responsible for her kidnapping.
• Season 4 of Lioness has not yet been confirmed.

Once again: this is your spoiler warning. Full interview coming after our Episode 8 Preview video.

Lioness Season 3, Episode 8 Recap: Who Kidnapped Joe?

At the start of Episode 8, everyone in the White House believed Ukraine (and by extension Balakin) was behind Joe's kidnapping for reasons that are complicated and ultimately don't matter any longer.

Joe is pretty sure it was Iran because everyone she talks to keeps saying Iranian missions are for revenge (watch Season 2 of Lioness to understand why they'd want revenge).

All guesses wrong. At the very end we learn the true organizer of both kidnappings was Aaliyah Amrohi, played by Stephanie Nur in Season 1.

In that season, Lioness Cruz (actor Laysla De Oliveira) killed Aaliyah's father (with a knife) after the two women became romantic. Now Aaliyah wants her revenge and says she's going to try to have Joe kidnapped a third time in hopes the full QRF will come to her rescue.

If you guessed this outcome, take a bow because there wasn't a whiff of it through the first eight hours of Lioness. Only in the last two minutes do we learn that Aaliyah is alive, prospering and seeking revenge.

Who Is Aaliyah On Lioness? Stephanie Nur Interview:

Taste of Country: Welcome back to the Lioness Universe.

Thank you.

Did you always know this was the plan?

No, I did not. I did not know this. After we wrapped the first season, I kept having dreams as Aaliyah. Of course, being quite attached to this character, I've always thought about what happens to her and had my own scenarios. But no, I had no expectation to be back.

I'm gonna pivot immediately then. Take me into one of those dreams. What happens when you're dreaming of a—

Oh, I can't say that! (laughs) But all kinds of scenarios, to be honest. And, well, mostly like feeling like my unconscious was sorting its own emotions out as Aaliyah, about what had happened to her and kind of processing what happens in the the end of the first season.

Aaliyah, played by Stephanie Nur on Lioness

I would never dream of asking you for details about what's to come in the future. But I'm just curious if you've had conversations or seen anything on paper about what's in the future. 

No, no, no, no. I'm just like you, watching the show and just a big fan of the show and watching it as a spectator.

So we're all waiting to know what's the outcome if we do get a renewal. That's also— we're waiting on that. So nothing has been announced. So no, I don't know. It could go in a bunch of different directions, which is what's so great about Taylor's writing, because he plants these seeds that could go different possible ways. And then it's never what you expect, but it always makes sense.

To that point, how much fun was it watching this season, knowing that you come in at the end? People had a lot of theories. 

It was really hard to keep it a secret. I remember when I went to Texas to shoot this I didn't even want to go to a coffee shop because it happened once where they were like, "Aaliyah?" And I was like, I'm never going outside again after this.

So yeah, it was really hard to keep it a secret, too, because I was so excited. But a lot of my friends are fans of the show too, so I didn't want to spoil it for them. So that was really hard to keep under wraps.

When I found this news out that Taylor wanted to bring me back, I rewatched everything, too. And then I was like, 'Oh, wow, it's kind of always been there.' If you piece together the clues, it's kind of always a little bit been suggested or hinted at that it could go that way. And then there was like Reddit pages of different theories of what happened. I was like, wow, this has taken on a whole world of its own. The fans are amazing.

I gotta plead guilty there because I stoke those theories. So I'm part of the problem. I'm the problem, it's me.

No, I love it, it's great. Are you kidding? That's the best thing is that, you know, I love that when I watch a show or a movie that I'm left with like theories of what happened. You make the audience a part of the show by doing that. You give them an agency to use their imagination, too.

So much of Season 1 was your character and Cruz (Laysla De Oliveira) on screen together. It seems that if we move forward to this fourth season, there has to be some sort of meetup. I just wonder if you and the actress who plays Cruz have texted or shared some excitement about the potential for this all lining up again?

No, nothing yet. You know, sometimes life imitates art and art imitates life. And if people are traveling in different projects and stuff, you kind of just don't cross paths. And maybe that's part of the performance, too, is that as actors, we, you know, right now Cruz's world is not mixed in with Aaliyah's world and vice versa. So maybe it's meant to be that way, you know?

Luke Varley, Paramount+

Let me ask just a clarification question. The guy who delivers the news that your kidnapping attempts failed to you, is that supposed to be your brother on screen or a lover?

I love this question. I, I can't say yet.

The show Lioness runs up against so many real-world tensions. Taylor's great about including Russia and Iran, which parallels what's going on in America. I wonder if the cast and crew acknowledge those sort of the real life and fictional life parallels.

I mean, I can just speak to Season 1, but yes, there were some— there were a lot of conversations between us. It depends. Some people are more interested in world politics than others. So you find yourself speaking on different perspectives. Also, we got to shoot in Spain and Morocco and so you're with different kinds of crews there, and you get to speak with them on their perspective.

There were a lot of conversations also with Taylor. When Taylor flew us out to Texas to do some of the rehearsals, I had a lot of conversations with him about just political things. He is amazingly well-versed, like he knows all the intricacies of what's happening in like minute details. So it's very interesting to pick his brain about things. I mean, I was — we were definitely talking the world stage politics together and I was like, pinch me, because this was— it was so cool.

You're a full-fledged villain now. Is that exciting?

Let's see. But yeah, of course. I mean, everyone loves an origin story and all villains were not villains always. They become villains for a reason. And betrayal is a pretty good one.