‘Lioness’ Episode 8: We Found the Real Mole! [PREVIEW]

Last week’s episode of Lioness ended with clear (if circumstantial) evidence that a U.S. ally was actually a mole working for a foreign country.

This week’s episode will certainly undo that theory and implicate one or two others in on the plot to kidnap Joe McNamara, a senior case agent with the CIA.

I think I know who has been pulling the puppet strings. It’s a theory that relies on a piece of evidence that emerged eight days ago.

• Ep. 8 of Lioness is called “The Unraveling.” It premieres on Paramount+ this Sunday (Sept. 20).
• This is the final episode of Season 3 of Lioness.
• Season 4 has not been confirmed.

This is your spoiler warning if you’ve not yet watched the first seven episodes of Season 3.

Lioness Season 3, Episode 7 Recap:

The penultimate episode of Season 3 was the shortest of the season, but two very important things happened.

First, Kyle and Joe’s QRF successfully rescued her after Babat’s motorcade ran through a red light in Houston. There was a tremendous shootout and Joe helped her own cause by getting ahold of a gun and shooting her abductor. A helicopter carrying Cruz, Bobby and more swooped down at the last second to finish the rescue.

Joe cried. The women protected her. It was all very emotional — the kind of scene that would end any other show.

Blame has shifted from Russians to Iranians (and maybe even Chinese) through Season 3 of Lioness, but Kaitlyn’s (Nicole Kidman) conversation with her husband leads to a different conclusion.

They think Ukrainians embedded the double agent (Balakin) with a longterm mission of abducting a senior case agent. The goal was to convince American it was Russia who kidnapped Joe, thus getting them to commit further resources to the war.

That’s where Secretary of State Mullins (Morgan Freeman) and Byron Westfield (Michael Kelly) settle. They decide they need to kill Balakin to squash a news story that would be very damning.

Lioness Season 3, Episode 8 Preview:

At the very end of Ep. 7, Joe pledges to kill whoever was responsible. So, we’re to believe she’s off to Tulsa, Okla., to hunt down Balakin, who has been living as Paige Weaver in witness protection there for six months.

I’m not convinced.

I think there’s still another layer to this cake, and that Balakin is being used as well.

Kaitlyn’s husband Erroll seems pretty mole-y as he has all the intelligence she brings home and a company that surveys world affairs for the State Department. That would be disappointing however, if only because he’s such a small character, and because it seems so obvious.

So who else has the intelligence and ability to subtly sway key decisions to protect the terrorists — and himself?

CIA Deputy Director Byron Westfield was the one who suggested the U.S. kill Balakin. He also suggested they give Yurimov back to the Russians free of charge. Consider both of these events as if he is the true mole: Balakin could out him, and Russia is getting a key war planner back.

There’s one more reason I believe it’s Westfield.

Earlier this month, actor Michael Kelly was revealed as the newest member of the Landman cast. He’ll play an oil tycoon in a reoccurring role for Season 3. That makes a lot more sense if he’s killed off in Lioness, or simply shipped off to prison.

Longtime Yellowstone fans may recall the same thing happening to Hugh Dillon when it was announced he was starting Mayor of Kingstown with Taylor Sheridan. His character Donnie Haskell was quickly killed off the show so there was no confusion.

That makes three reasons why he’s the mole. Try to come up with more than two for anyone else.