“O, beware, my lord, of jealousy;
It is the green-ey'd monster, which doth mock
The meat it feeds on.”
― William Shakespeare, Othello

When you think of Lioness, you tend to think first of action, betrayal, and truth. And with good reason, for these are key themes in the series. Finding out the truth is an especially pertinent theme, with Sam trying to figure out who framed her in season 1 and, in season 2, Bianca hounding the Hugos for the truth about Andy. Or Adrian. Or whatever you want to call him. But more on that later. Another theme that has reared its ugly head in the second season, is jealousy.

This is evident in the Caitlyn-Megan-Thomas Fletcher triangle – a completely inappropriate triangle what with Mr Fletcher being Caitlyn’s teacher and old enough to be her father. But this does not stop Caitlyn from falling head over heels. He tries to keep his distance, but this isn’t exactly easy: not only is he her teacher, but he hooks up with Megan. Caitlyn’s resultant jealousy and distress upon discovering this tryst compels her to take desperate measures.

First, Caitlyn tries to tell Mr Fletcher that Megan is only using him – her reason, ironically, being to make Jason jealous. But Megan quickly dispels this with her oh-too-true observation that if she wanted to make Jason jealous, she would not have chosen a high school teacher with poor fashion sense.

Caitlyn’s jealousy spirals out of control when she tries to pin false accusations against Mr Fletcher – a move that could have ruined his life. Confronted with the consequences of what her lies could have done, and having to admit to it, she tries an even more desperate move, which, thank goodness, she does not carry through.

The young girl’s jealousy is plain to see. But hers is not the only writhing green monster in the series. There’s Brian’s monstrous jealousy too. Caitlyn’s jealous actions could have had devastating consequences, but her family pulled her through. They’re going to need to pull through for each other again if Brian’s jealousy is not curtailed. His is a far more frightening green monster because it’s a stealthy, lurking jealousy hidden behind placid smiles.

His run-ins with Miranda are painful enough given their past, but they’re also very unsettling because, as much as we’d hoped he’d turned a new leaf, deep down we knew they were planned. If there was any doubt, it all vanished when we saw him pay off his "date" and when he “accidentally” spilled all Miranda’s secrets to her new boyfriend, Jake. It’s safe to say, we’re scared of Brian.

Jealousy, however, does not play out in other areas you might expect. Sam, although wary of Bianca, ultimately does not seem too bothered about what transpired between Bianca and Adrian (besides all Adrian’s lying and pretending to be dead, of course). Sam’s love for her children has always been her top priority and a strong, we’d even say main, theme running through this story. However, this season there’s also a strong look at sibling dynamics, which are causing a lot of tension. In season 1, a lot of that was thanks to brothers Adrian and Jason’s conniving ways. However, there was not too much focus on the Hugo children’s relations to one another – but we’re seeing more of that in season 2.

The air between Liam and Miranda is decidedly frigid, with Miranda particularly upset about turning their father into compost – not that Liam was jumping for joy over the grisly task. But as we’ve seen before, and are seeing again, Miranda thaws easily and there’s no doubt that if (although that should probably be when) Brian actively tries to harm her, Liam would do anything to protect her, no matter how many cold shoulders the brother and sister give each other now.

The other sibling situation that has not arisen – thanks to Sam’s circumventions – is Bianca’s children meeting their half-siblings Liam, Miranda, and Caitlyn. Will such an encounter ever take place? Not if Sam has anything to do about it.

Bianca’s role has seen two themes intertwine, one of which is: finding out the truth. But her honest attempts have been futile, as she’s been rebuffed by one Hugo after another. This has forced her hand and she’s contacted her estranged brother Max to help with her hunt for the truth. And it seems Max is the kind of guy who will do whatever it takes to find out the truth and help his sister. As they patch things over and Max makes his way into Sam’s life it appears we are set for truth, lies, and family to create an explosive combination that is sure to push us off the edge of our seats.

Watch Lioness season 2 every Thursday at 20:00 on M-Net channel 101. If you miss an episode catch up with DStv here.
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