“Lioness” Season 3, Episode 6 Ending Explained: Who Is Behind Joe’s Kidnapping?

0Dimitry Rozental as Renat and Zoe Saldaña as Joe in ‘Lioness’Credit: Ryan Green/Paramount+NEED TO KNOWLioness season 3, episode 6 premiered Sept. 6 on Paramount+

The episode sees Kyle track down Oleksandra, who is living under witness protection

Viewers also watch Joe learn who is really behind her kidnapping

Warning: Lioness season 3, episode 6 spoilers ahead!

Joe McNamara’s (Zoe Saldaña) team comes painfully close to finding her in Lioness.

In season 3, episode 6, fans learn that Operation Treasure has led to 37 arrests. Confident that the person behind the attack on her home is among them, Joe tells her family it’s safe to return to the Virginia suburbs. Little does she know that within weeks, she’ll be kidnapped.

The episode then returns to the present day, where Kyle McManus (Thad Luckinbill) is doing everything in his power to find Joe. Running out of time and leads, he tracks down Ukrainian double agent Oleksandra Balakin (Elizaveta Neretin), who is living under witness protection, believing she may have valuable intel.

Oleksandra offers a promising theory about who took Joe — and where she might be found. Her intel leads Kaitlyn Meade (Nicole Kidman) to send Joe’s team to Texas for a last-chance rescue before she’s flown into international airspace.

So, what else happened during Lioness season 3, episode 6? Here’s a breakdown of everything that unfolded.

Kyle finds Oleksandra living a seemingly normal life in Tulsa, Okla., after being placed in the Federal Witness Protection Program. He had initially suggested locating her because he believed the Russians would eventually find and kill her. After Joe is kidnapped, however, he realizes Oleksandra may be able to help track her down.

Kyle tells Oleksandra that Russian contract agents took Joe, but she insists Russia wouldn’t risk a direct confrontation with the U.S. — meaning someone else must be behind the operation. She then asks whether Joe has ever led a successful mission against Iran, and the look on Kyle’s face says it all.

“The greater success her operation had, the more motivated Iran would be to act against her,” Oleksandra says. “Iran’s foreign policy is revenge and perception of strength. If you burn Iran bad enough, Iran is gonna want to burn back.”

Oleksandra adds that if a Russian officer were helping Iran carry out the kidnapping, the plan would likely involve flying Joe out of the country from Houston.

Armed with Oleksandra’s intel, Kaitlyn puts Joe’s team on a jet to Texas. Kyle and several others track down the plane intended to fly Joe out of the country, while Tex (Jonah Wharton) and Randy (Austin Hébert) search a neighborhood for possible Russian safe houses.

When they arrive at the first address, 1117 Hudson, Tex and Randy radio Army commander Amber Whalen (Dawn Olivieri) and suggest checking the garage and backyard. Amber disagrees, instructing them to visit every house on the list before working their way back.

“We’d rather work ’em over one by one, know they’re clean before we move on,” Tex replies. Despite his and Randy’s objections, Amber stands firm, and they continue to the next address.

Viewers then learn that Tex and Randy’s instincts were right: The Russians are holding Joe inside 1117 Hudson.

With the plane compromised and Tex and Randy searching the neighborhood, the Russians realize Joe’s team is closing in.

They call the man who ordered her kidnapping and threaten to abandon Joe on the street unless he quickly arranges her extraction.

When he arrives, Oleksandra’s theory is confirmed: He introduces himself as Babat (Kamyar Jahan), an Iranian operative.

“I’m here to take you to your death,” he tells Joe, explaining that she will be tortured before being burned alive.

Joe mocks his name mid-speech, prompting Babat to cut off her pinky toe in retaliation. He and his team then force her into a car and drive toward an unknown destination.