5 TV Shows To Watch If You Like Lioness

This article contains discussions of domestic abuse and sexual assault.

In recent years, showrunner, producer, director, and actor Taylor Sheridan — who was previously known for writing genuinely great films like "Hell or High Water" and "Sicario" — has become one of the biggest names in television thanks to his juggernaut hit "Yellowstone." Even though the "Yellowstone" universe is vast at this point, with prequels and sequels and spin-offs galore, Sheridan has also worked on a handful of other shows ... including "Lioness," a female-led spy thriller that's an absolute delight.

Zoe Saldaña, who won her first Academy Award in 2025 for her supporting turn in the film "Emilia Pérez," leads "Lioness" as Joe McNamara, the leader of a CIA unit called the "Lioness program" that utilizes strong female agents to fight terrorism in the Middle East. Joe, who's famous within the universe of "Lioness" for being instrumental in the assassination of real-life figure Abu Musab al-Zarqawi while in the program herself, is a senior case officer when we first meet her — and she's surrounded by the best of the best. Besides her family, including her husband Dr. Neal McNamara (Dave Annable) and their daughter Kate (Hannah Love Lanier), Joe works with powerful figures like the United States Secretary of State Edwin Mullins (Morgan Freeman), the CIA's director of operations Byron Westfield (Michael Kelly), and CIA Clandestine Service supervisor Kaitlyn Meade (Nicole Kidman, always game to don a different wig on the small screen). 

So what should you watch next if you're totally obsessed with "Lioness?" We have some ideas. Save for one show here (which still features many incredible female characters), all of these suggestions are, like "Lioness," led by female protagonists who are spies, work in law enforcement, catch bad guys, or all three. If you love "Lioness," check these picks out.

One of the best new TV shows of 2026 without question, "Furious" has a curious pedigree. Though it was created by consummate showrunner Liz Meriwether, she's best known for shows like "New Girl," "The Dropout," and "Dying for Sex" — and "Furious," which Meriwether loosely adapted from Ronald Bass' 1987 movie "Black Widow," marks Meriwether's first crime drama. Thankfully, this versatile showrunner proved, with "Furious," that a crime drama is a great fit for her too.

"Furious" casts Emmy Rossum as former NYPD homicide detective and new-ish FBI agent Alice Black, who deals with her past as a domestic abuse survivor while working a boring job at the FBI's call center. Before long, her former NYPD partner Danny Kelly (Scoot McNairy) calls and asks her to take a look at a crime scene, and as the two investigate the suspicious deaths of multiple men who may have been involved in some seriously illegal and horrifying activities, they figure out they're chasing a female serial killer.

Enter the mysterious Catherine Grace, said killer played weirdly winningly by Lola Petticrew and who suffered years of abuse at the hands of powerful, wealthy men ... and is now enacting her revenge. A gorgeous cat-and-mouse thriller anchored by Rossum and Petticrew's lead performances, "Furious" also lets veteran performers like Quincy Tyler Bernstine (as head of the FBI's sex crimes unit Nora Washington), Jake Lacy (as Alice's violent ex-boyfriend Marshall Connelly), and Hope Davis (as the daughter of a powerful abuser, Emma Easton) take center stage from time to time. If you haven't checked out "Furious" but you love "Lioness," this is an ideal binge-watch to add to your queue.

Missed Emilia Clarke on your screen after "Game of Thrones" ended, or hoped that Haley Lu Richardson's beleaguered assistant Portia would return after her winning turn in Season 2 of "The White Lotus?" Well, we've got good news and bad news. Clarke and Richardson are fantastic together in the comedy-drama series "Ponies," which premiered on Peacock in January 2026; the bad news is that the show was canceled after its first season.

With that said, even across just a single season, "Ponies" is well worth watching, especially if you love the camaraderie found under duress in "Lioness." When Twila Hasbeck (Richardson) and Beatrice "Bea" Grant (Clarke) move to Moscow to accompany their respective husbands — Tom (John MacMillan) and Chris (Louis Boyer) — as said husbands work for the CIA, the women are horrified and gutted when their husbands are killed during a covert mission. As two Americans living in Russia who aren't under suspicion, though, Bea and Twila realize they can be helpful ... largely because they're what are called "ponies," or "persons of no interest." With limited Russian and help from actual CIA agents like Dane Walter (Adrian Lester), Twila and Bea successfully work several missions as fledgling CIA recruits, attempting to also find out what might have happened to their husbands.

Sadly, Peacock canceled "Ponies" after its inaugural season, which is frustrating; this story was a really fun one, and it deserved the chance to continue. Still, if you just watched "Lioness" and are looking for a one-season wonder that features great performances from Clarke, Richardson, and scene-stealers like Dropout's own Vic Michaelis, try "Ponies."

While the other shows on this list are led by female protagonists, we have to be honest: that's not true of "The Night Agent," a series helmed by Shawn Ryan and adapted from Matthew Quirk's novel of the same name. Still, even though Gabriel Basso plays series lead Peter Sutherland on "The Night Agent," he's flanked by a ton of extraordinary female characters ... so what's the deal with this show, generally?

On "The Night Agent," Basso's Peter finds out, during the show's inaugural outing, that there's a mole leaking information from the United States government — and said mole seems to be extremely high-ranking, meaning they're also probably quite dangerous. Not only does Peter have to protect the country from someone willing to sell its secrets, he's also determined to protect Rose Larkin (Luciane Buchanan), who runs a tech start-up and may be in serious danger after her aunt and uncle are murdered by shady forces.

"The Night Agent," which began its run on Netflix in 2023 and is set to span four seasons, is a gripping, excellent spy thriller with a great central performance from Basso and incredible lead and supporting turns from actors like Fola Evans-Akingbola, Sarah Desjardins (of "Yellowjackets" fame), Jennifer Morrison, and Genesis Rodriguez, just to name a few. Set any reservations you have about another male-led thriller series aside for "The Night Agent," which is a legitimate delight — and perfect for fans of "Lioness."

For three seasons and 57 episodes from 2015 to 2018, Priyanka Chopra Jonas captivated audiences in "Quantico," a twisty spy thriller that makes you constantly wonder about the real motivations of its cast of characters. Created by Joshua Safran (the man who led "Gossip Girl" through its final bonkers seasons and rebooted it in an ill-advised HBO Max experiment), "Quantico" casts Jonas as Alex Parrish, a recent graduate from the FBI Academy who is found amidst the wreckage after New York City's Grand Central Station is bombed in an apparent terrorist attack. Considered a suspect in the attack itself, Alex then finds herself on the run and desperately trying to prove her innocence, and it's ultimately revealed that, throughout her training at the FBI Academy, Alex was being tailed and surveiled by superiors almost constantly ... and the man who was in charge of her, Ryan Booth (Jake McLaughlin), is found shot in Alex's apartment.

Actors like Mark Pellegrino, Kelly Rutherford, Aunjanue Ellis, Maria Cross, and Eliza Coupe provide excellent supporting performances on "Quantico," and as the show barrels towards its hasty conclusion — "Quantico" was canceled by ABC after its third season — it does get considerably crazier. Still, "Quantico" is a good time if you lean into some of its more ridiculous moments, and it did actually make history, as Jonas, a former Bollywood star, became the first woman of South Asian descent to headline a broadcast network series. "Lioness" is much more serious than "Quantico," but they're both worth watching.

Florence Pugh has basically never turned in a bad performance in her life, but if you're missing out on her miniseries "The Little Drummer Girl," you haven't actually seen the full spectrum of her considerable talent. Adapted from John le Carré's 1983 novel by Michael Lesslie and Claire Wilson for the BBC — and with acclaimed South Korean auteur Park Chan-wook on board as the director — "The Little Drummer Girl" casts Pugh as Charmian "Charlie" Ross, the story's female protagonist who finds herself drawn into work as a spy in 1979.

An aspiring actress who ends up working with the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad to try and stop a terrorist attack from enemy forces in both London and across Europe, Charlie is tough but naïve, and thankfully, she excels at her first few missions, working closely alongside the handsome intelligence officer Gadi Becker (Alexander Skarsgård) and senior Mossad spy Martin Kurtz (Michael Shannon) while keeping her actor boyfriend Al (Max Irons) at bay. Pugh is absolutely fantastic in "The Little Drummer Girl," and if you're looking for a high-stakes female-led spy thriller like "Lioness," you can't miss this one.

"Lioness," meanwhile, is available to stream now on Paramount+.

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.

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