Truth is the Shrewdest Lie

**Truth is the Shrewdest Lie** is the fifth episode of the first season of the Paramount+ espionage thriller *Special Ops: Lioness*. It aired on August 13, 2023.

## Synopsis

Joe and Neal deal with the aftermath of Kate's accident. Westfield and Kaitlyn deploy Joe's team to subdue a terrorist threat. Cruz's cover may be in jeopardy.

## Plot

Cruz awakens in a bed at the safe house with an IV attached to her arm. A bit disoriented, she removes the IV and joins the team in the living room, where Bobby injects her in the butt with a little pick-me-up that immediately takes effect. Cruz remembers little, so Tucker informs her that some guy drugged her with GHB. Fortunately, he didn't get far with her, as they got there in the nick of time, even if he did manage to get her underwear off.

Joe arrives at the RHC with Kaitlyn as Neal waits outside the operating room, where Kate was undergoing surgery. Alan informs them that Kate is in recovery and that the surgery went well. There is considerable soft tissue damage, but it doesn't appear to be significant nerve damage. The procedure is called an open reduction internal fixation, where they make an incision that allows them to insert a rod through the center of the femur. They then attach a plate outside to stabilize the fracture. It will take a while to recover, and they can't even assure Joe what condition Kate will be in a year from now, as she's still growing. Alan asks to speak with them alone and reveals Kate's body rejected the pregnancy. Before Joe joins Kate in recovery, Kaitlyn gives her two hours before they have to leave. Neal offers Kaitlyn some coffee and they take a seat. He asks about Errol, who is happiest in a downturn. The worse the economy, the jollier the man, she remarks. "Be greedy when everybody scared and scared when everybody's greedy," is his philosophy. She tells Neal to ask the question that he really wants to ask, but Neal knows that she can't answer it. If she needs Joe in three hours today, that means that she must really need her, which is why Neal hasn't asked. Kaitlyn tells Neal not to give up on Joe. He wishes he could, but when she walks in the room, she still takes his breath away.

Kate awakens to see Joe at her bedside. The first thing she says is that her friends are dead. Joe can relate to the feeling and is sorry that Kate is having to go through this ordeal. Joe knows that Kate thinks she's a bad mother, but what she doesn't understand is that all those moments of Kate's life that Joe missed, she missed those moments so other families can have them. So it is Kate who makes the sacrifice for the job that Joe chose. She always thought that she was setting a good example for Kate, as a woman can do anything she set through mine to. And when she does her job well, lives are saved. Just like her father, who saves lives every day, but he gets to come home to the kids every night, which Joe envies. Joe is a soldier and hopes that Kate will choose to live her life differently. Kate can hate Joe but punishing herself is a terrible way to show it. Kate insists that she doesn't hate her mom and that she simply misses her. Joe misses Kate too and tells her that she will be an adult soon with adult problems. Her advice is for Kate to be a child for as long as she can. Kate then realizes that her father must've told her mother about her pregnancy. Fortunately, Kate is no longer pregnant. Kate is relieved, as she's not ready to be a mother. The days of Joe and Neal grounding her are gone. They lost, and life snuck up and took a bite out of her, and now Joe's there to simply give her advice, as she's made the same mistakes Kate made, meaning she too got pregnant by accident. Her situation was different; she was already married. Neal was in medical school, and Joe was in a team. The timing was terrible, but they brought Kate into the world nonetheless. Kate wonders what will happen to her leg, but Joe is unsure. Kate is then escorted to her room, but not before saying goodbye to her mom, who will return in a few days.

Joe reconvenes with Neal and Charlie, who greets Joe with a hug. Unfortunately, she has to leave for a few days. Charlie reveals that she's learning the Russian alphabet in school. Neal jokes they're making spies in first-grader one at a time. Joe tells Neal that she loves him. He doesn't say it back, which doesn't go unnoticed by Joe, but then he does.

Joe and Kaitlyn make their way back to the team. On their way back, Joe reveals that it went well with Kate. She owned her mistake, as did Joe. Kaitlyn asks Joe's thoughts on becoming a station chief. She'd be gone all the time, but at least she'd be somewhere she could take the family, such as London, but they'd still a target, unfortunately. In the meantime, Joe's team is in route to Lackland, but before they rendezvous there, She and Kaitlyn have to see the boss first.

Meanwhile, Cruz, Bobby, and the rest of the team arrive at the Lackland Air Force base in San Antonio, Texas.

Joe and Kaitlyn arrive at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, where she convenes with Kyle, accusing him of hanging her despite her agreeing to let him use her team. Their only chance at salvation is if Kyle's intel is correct. Kaitlyn calls them into the boardroom, where Deputy Director Westfield awaits. Kyle ran an illegal operation on U.S. soil that violates the rules of engagement — U.S. code 1385 that limits their ability to operate on U.S. soil. Fortunately for him, the intel is good and actionable. Joe's team is on standby in San Antonio. She will have tactical command, but Kyle is lead. San Antonio SWAT will provide cover, and they will take credit if the mission is successful. If the mission fails or somehow finds its way on the streets, they will likely arrest Joe and her team. According to Kyle, San Antonio is a way station. This is a capture only mission, so Westfield advises they do it quiet and clean. Westfield dismisses Kyle alone and warns Joe that the assets he's granted her are his assets that he allows her to use for missions that only he approves. She is not to deploy that team without his permission. Joe is then dismissed, with Kaitlyn joining her, revealing that she will be tagging along due to the amount of trouble Joe has gotten herself in.

Joe arrives at the hangar in San Antonio, where, to her surprise, Cruz is among the team. She refuses to allow Cruz to end up on the news coming out of a safe house or end up catching a bullet. Bobby was told there were six targets in the house they're supposed to raid. With Joe, they have six bodies on their side, which concerns Bobby. This job should be a two squad minimum, and she doesn't feel comfortable rushing the place with a SWAT team. Joe agrees and tells Bobby to keep Cruz in the back of the line.

Kyle explains to the team that these photos were taken yesterday at a safe house in Alpine. The targets left five hours ago, which should put them in San Antonio in the next 20 minutes. They'll hit the house at 0400. He gives the lay of the land and explains how they will breach the safe house. This is a capture only mission. If for some reason this goes to shit, they got a cache of weapons, and they are prepared, so they fall back and let San Antonio SWAT take over. Kaitlyn walks them through the gravity of the situation. They have one chance to get Border Patrol and DPS a prize big enough that they will look the other way from the incident in Van Horn. If this becomes a shit show as well, there's no prize and everyone will be exposed. This is their mess to clean up. They then discover movement at the safe house, where they have set up surveillance. The Al-Qaeda operatives not only have guns, but explosives as well. Cruz recalls hitting a similar house in Pakistan. But it was capture-kill, and no one was thinking about capture. The guy in the back of the house detonated and took three with him. But that house only had one entrance, so they just didn't have enough time.

Having discovered that the Al-Qaeda operatives are in possession of explosives, Joe, Kaitlyn, and Kyle discuss their next course of action. The HRT team in Houston is too far, and they can't simply evacuate the neighborhood without alarming the terrorists. They must neutralize the threat, and the FBI can withhold all the evidence because releasing it would jeopardize national security. Jimenez has engineers in San Antonio and a bomb unit in Laughlin. He can have them available in three hours. Kaitlyn decides they'll neutralize the threat, close down the scene until bomb squad has secured, which they won't, at which point, they'll evacuate the neighborhood and detonate the bombs in place. Joe proceeds to inform her team that the rules have changed. They're free to kill the targets and clear the scene.

In route to the safe house, Bobby irritatedly asks Kyle if he's wearing cologne, which he is. It's this distinct smell that allows Randy to recall his first interaction with Kyle back in 2011, in Baghdad.

Kaitlyn reminds Joe of the mission and tells her not to try to protect Cruz, as it will only get her killed, and she tells Cruz not to go in trying to prove herself, as it will result in the same. Kaitlyn remains in the SUV at a safe distance while Joe and her team infiltrate the safe house after killing the power. They kill the first person as they enter through the front door, awakening the others from their sleep. They kill three more as they make their way through the hallway and kill the remaining two as they enter the bedrooms. There's one bedroom remaining. Joe tells Cruz to hold her position, but she kicks in the bedroom door nonetheless. There, an Al-Qaeda operative stands with a bomb vest strapped to his chest, but Cruz shoots him in the head before he can react. Kyle then calls in to Overwatch to report that the house is secure and to request bomb squad and the engineer.

On their way back from a mission success, Cruz wonders what she is to tell Aaliyah about her three-day disappearance. Joe doesn't know, but Kaitlyn advises her to tell the truth while leaving out the names.

Kaitlyn returns home to Errol, who plays the news report of the house explosion in San Antonio. Errol remarks that a heads-up would've been nice, as this has affected oil prices. Kaitlyn doesn't seem concerned and says that she wants to invite the girls over for supper. Errol says that it's a bad week for it, but she wasn't asking. Kaitlyn says that it's going to happen again, but she doesn't know where or when. They are coming in through Mexico, using the cartels. They can't stop them, and now the whole world knows it.

Joe returns to RHC as promised, where Neal tells her she didn't miss much, as Kate has been sleeping mostly. The pain was pretty bad last night, so he upped her morphine. Joe had a rough night and cleans the bruise on her cheek, leaving Neal to question if ISIS came to Baltimore or if he's married to a hitman.

Cruz and the team returns to Fort Bragg, where she reads all the unanswered messages she received from Aaliyah. Cruz goes to her room and calls Aaliyah, who fears that Cruz hates her for leaving her at the bar. She begged the security to go back, but they were pushed out. Aaliyah asks Cruz to FaceTime her, which she does reluctantly. Cruz claims that she's at her dorm, which Aaliyah asks to see, but Cruz refuses. Aaliyah compares the two of them to *Lady and the Tramp*, except Cruz is a lady too, making them "Lady and the Lady Tramp." Aaliyah is still in Hampton and shows Cruz her new bathing suit. She's all alone and invites Cruz to join her.

Joe finds Neal watching the news report of their mission in San Antonio. Before she can address him, she gets a call from Cruz.

## Cast

* Laysla De Oliveira as Cruz Manuelos
* Dave Annable as Neal McNamara
* Jill Wagner as Bobby
* LaMonica Garrett as Tucker
* James Jordan as Two Cups
* Austin Hébert as Randy
* Jonah Wharton as Tex
* Stephanie Nur as Aaliyah
* Hannah Love Lanier as Kate McNamara
* Nicole Kidman as Kaitlyn Meade
* Morgan Freeman as Edwin Mullins
* Martin Donovan as Errol Meade
* Thad Luckinbill as Kyle McManus
* Celestina Harris as Charlie McNamara
* Michael Tow as Dr. Hammond
* Erick Betancourt as Hernandez
* Migs Govea as Jiminez
* Ana Cruz Kayne as Means
* Zach Appelman as Lt. Jennings

Co-starring* John Anthony Gorman as CIA Agent - AFB
* Noga Blum as Nurse
* A.J. Franklin as SA SWAT #1 (Van at House)
* Jamie Guyer as SA SWAT #2 (Hangar)
* Logan Crawford as News Anchor
* Essam Ferris as Alashka
* Abraham Justice as Eyes
* Mustafa Haidari as Suicide Bomber
* Mike Heslin as Polo