Forget Yellowstone: The 56% Rotten Tomatoes Underdog That Could Save Taylor Sheridan’s Career

Taylor Sheridan built his TV empire on saddles and barbed wire. The show that might actually reshape his career? Not a Western. It is his spy thriller, Special Ops: Lioness.

Why Lioness matters right now

Sheridan has spent years perfecting ranch drama and frontier grit with Yellowstone. Lioness is a sharp left turn: a grounded espionage series inspired by real-world military programs, led by Zoe Saldana and Nicole Kidman, and designed to travel globally. That is important for Paramount+, which needs more than just another cowboy saga. It needs variety, scale, and a way to pull in viewers who would never hit play on a ranch feud.

And yes, it is working. The show launched to mixed reviews and still pulled big numbers, then doubled down in Season 2. With Season 3 now officially a go, Lioness is not a placeholder in Sheridanworld; it is the project that could steady his next phase and push him beyond the Yellowstone sandbox.

• Yellowstone snapshot: premiered 2018; 5 seasons; genre: neo-Western drama; producers: 101 Studios, Bosque Ranch Productions, Linson Entertainment; IMDb 8.6/10; Rotten Tomatoes 83%.
• Special Ops: Lioness snapshot: premiered 2023; 2 seasons so far; genre: espionage/spy thriller; producers: 101 Studios, Bosque Ranch Productions; IMDb 7.8/10; Rotten Tomatoes 73% (it opened closer to 56% before climbing).
• Early pull: Lioness drew nearly 6 million viewers in its first week on Paramount+, landing among the service's most-watched global premieres.
• Season 2 surge: its premiere hit 12.4 million global viewers, ranking as Paramount+'s fourth-biggest original series debut.
• Season 3 status: officially renewed; no release date yet.
• Cast locked: Zoe Saldana returns as Joe McNamara. Nicole Kidman is expected to continue as Kaitlyn Meade.
• New face with familiar boots: Yellowstone's Ian Bohen (he plays Ryan and was almost Jamie Dutton early on) joins Lioness as Grady, a Delta Force operator and K9 handler.
• Where to watch: Special Ops: Lioness Seasons 1 and 2 are on Paramount+. All seasons of Yellowstone are available to buy on Apple TV.

What this says about Sheridan's next chapter

Lioness shows Sheridan stretching in ways that actually matter: international stakes, tactical realism, and female-driven stories that don’t lean on the hyper-macho energy of his Westerns. It proves he can build something outside his established universe and still land a crowd. If he keeps pushing into this lane, the post-Yellowstone stretch could be broader, more global, and a lot more genre-fluid than anyone predicted.

Could Lioness be the series that saves Sheridan's career? I wouldn’t go that far, but it might be the one that redefines it. What do you think?