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WARNING: Spoilers below.
“Lioness” star Elizaveta Neretin reacted to Taylor Sheridan’s bombshell season 3 finale, which saw her character, Oleksandra Balakin, killed off.
Speaking to Digital, Neretin — who played the Ukrainian double agent — said she expected Oleksandra’s fate. The character had been captured by American forces and recruited to help rescue Joe (Zoe Saldaña) after she was kidnapped.
Elizaveta Neretin plays Oleksandra Balakin in “Lioness.” (Lauren “Lo” Smith/Paramount+)
In the episode, which aired Sunday night, Oleksandra was killed.
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“I thought it was going to happen. So when he called, and he told me, I was like, ‘Yeah, I get it.’ I’m sad for Oleksandra and what Oleksandra represents, but I understand the choice. It does serve this. It serves to show how the whole system is. Like American or not American, the whole system and the people that work in the system. It’s all sharks, you know, so it just demonstrates how people are,” she told Digital.
Taylor Sheridan is the creator behind “Lioness.” (Dominique Charriau / WireImage)
Neretin said she would have preferred a different outcome for Oleksandra but understood why Sheridan made the decision.
“I would love a different ending for her, but like I said, I understand why it had to happen.”
“I would love a different ending for her, but like I said, I understand why it had to happen. But of course I would have a good ending for her. I just wonder if being a triple agent, I think your days are numbered. I don’t think you can pull that off and live to an old age unless you give up on family you have, which I don’t think she would.”
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“If you give up on the family you have, perhaps you could find a way to hide somewhere, you know what I mean? But the way she fights for her country, I think she cares way too much, way more about that outcome than her life. I think that she made that decision a long time ago,” Neretin said.
Elizaveta Neretin as Oleksandra in “Lioness.” (Credit: Paramount+)
The actress said she never asked Sheridan whether he had considered an alternative ending for Oleksandra. Instead, she trusted his creative judgment and did not try to challenge him while working on the series.
“No, I didn’t challenge him. I just remember he shortened Oleksandra’s name a certain way, and I just suggested, I was like, ‘By the way, the short version of Oleksandra in Ukrainian is Alessa.’ And he was like ‘yeah, that works,'” she began. “I didn’t challenge him, it was very interesting, like he runs the show, you know what I mean? He’s the boss,” she said.
Nicole Kidman as Kaitlyn in “Lioness.” (Ryan Green/Paramount+)
Nicole Kidman, who plays Kaitlyn in “Lioness,” was also asked whether her character felt remorse over Oleksandra’s death during an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
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“She absolutely has a moral code and conscience, but she always weighs it up against cost. At the same time, she’s not mired down in regret. She’s a move-forward person, in the same way that when people play sports, you don’t get stuck on a previous point. Because otherwise she can’t do her job; she’s rendered inactive and vulnerable then,” Kidman told the outlet.
Zoe Saldaña as Joe in “Lioness.” (Ryan Green/Paramount+)
Neretin also described Sheridan’s writing and production process as an interesting experience.
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“So we don’t have all the episodes right away. So that was an interesting process. Because this is my first big role, I didn’t know that that’s how he worked. So that part was interesting because I didn’t know. And it’s like, you’re waiting, and it feels like Christmas every time the episode drops. You’re like, Oh my God. And that’s all we talk about on set the next day everybody’s like, ‘oh my gosh did you see this?’ Yeah, people have bets going what’s gonna happen,” she said.
Taylor Sheridan in October 2025. (Ryan Emberley/amfAR/Getty Images for amfAR)
A fourth season of “Lioness” has not been confirmed, but Kidman believes Kaitlyn’s story could take many different paths if the series returns.
“There’s a lot. We’ll see where it goes, if we get to make a fourth season. It’s just so rich that there’s so many different paths that you can go down. The first season, you’re establishing everything, and the beauty of getting to do multiple seasons is that it becomes more deeper, richer, more complex. Taylor is such a strong writer that he can take things anywhere,” she said.
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