Zoe Saldana takes point in 'Special Ops: Lioness'

"You came to the right place," she's told, before acing her training and being quickly drafted to join Joe's unit.

As the new player in this gritty world, De Oliveira (Netflix's "Locke & Key") provides an obvious conduit for seeing this ruthless assignment through her eyes. That's marginally effective, made less so by the fact her story doesn't have an ounce of originality to it.

Of course, "Yellowstone" didn't break much new ground either, but the series found a receptive audience that has fueled multiple prequels and made the prolific Sheridan's production kingdom one of the tallest peaks on Paramount Mountain.

There's a place for what amounts to meat-and-potatoes TV, even in the prestige-conscious streaming world. Nevertheless, when it comes to training an audience to come back week after week, "Special Ops: Lioness" feels about as basic as it gets.

"Special Ops: Lioness" premieres July 23 on Paramount+.