Cloak & Dagger

Reviewed by Galen Strickland
Posted on September 10, 2018
Edits and Addendum for Season 2 on October 2, 2024

As has been the case with other comic book adaptations, I was unaware of these characters until the show was announced. I have no idea if it adhered to canon or not, nor do I care. I was impressed with both the acting and writing, and while a few things were clichéd and predictable, the basic story was compelling enough to overlook them. It aired on FreeForm (formerly ABC Family), a channel I didn't have on my SlingTV subscription (which I have sinced cancelled), but luckily Hulu offered it a day after each broadcast. I'm writing this on September 10, a little more than three months after the premiere. Last week Hulu had an 'expiring' notice for this, so I re-watched the first episode before it disappeared. A few days later I noticed it was still available, so I continued with the short (10 episode) season while I had the chance. I don't know how long it will be available there, but I'm assuming even if Season 1 is dropped soon, they will still offer Season 2 when that comes around. If you don't have Hulu, you can watch online at FreeForm [EDIT: Sorry, that is no longer the case.] Another option at this time is to buy the episodes or full season on AmazonVideo. A purchase through our links may earn us a commission.

The cast list in the Overview column is mostly in the order of appearance. Rachel Ryals plays the young Tandy Bowen, first seen at her ballet class. On that same day, Tyrone Johnson (Maceo Smedley) wants to hang with his older brother Billy (Marqus Clae) and his friends, who are upset that a man has stiffed them on the installation fee for a car stereo. Tyrone takes it upon himself to repossess the stereo, resulting in him and Billy being chased by the police. Tandy's mother obviously forgets to pick her up after class, so she calls her father. Nathan Bowen (Andy Dylan) works for Roxxon, an oil and gas producer prominent in many Marvel properties, first appearing in a Captain America comic in 1974. Driving home during a severe storm, Nathan takes a call from someone concerning an oil rig they've designed, which Nathan has warned should be shut down. They are crossing the bay bridge in sight of the rig when it explodes and collapses. Nathan swerves out of his lane, causing an oncoming truck to jack-knife, and their car plunges into the water. At the same time, Tyrone is jumping into the water from a different location. A few minutes later comes the first encounter between Tandy and Tyrone, as they are both affected by a mysterious...something...that moves past them in the water. In later flashbacks we learn they washed up on shore together. Flash forward eight years. Seventeen-year-old Tandy (Olivia Holt) cruises dance clubs for rich marks, gets invited back to their place, where she drugs their drink and heists their valuables, aided by her friend Liam (Carl Lundstedt). Seventeen-year-old Tyrone (Aubrey Joseph) attends a private Catholic prep school, where he is a star athlete on the basketball team, poised to go to the state championships. Their second encounter comes after Tandy swipes his wallet at an outdoor party.

Both of their lives have flipped from previous situations. While not rich, the Bowens had been well off due to his engineering job at Roxxon, but the company placed the blame for the incident on Nathan. Tandy's mother Melissa (Andrea Roth) has blown through their savings trying to get a court ruling against Roxxon to clear her husband's name. She is down to waitressing jobs and living in a seedy trailer park. Tyrone's parents (Gloria Reuben, Miles Mussenden) have moved in the opposite direction. I don't recall seeing or hearing what he does, but she is an activist and lawyer working within city politics. They now live in a more affluent neighborhood, hoping for better things for Tyrone. Over and above the science fictional, fantasy trappings, the story is about much more than that. Societal pressures against people of color, as well as the corruption within the corporate, political, and law enforcement worlds. One of the more emotional scenes is when Tyrone's mother confronts him about missing a day of school, and he strikes back at how she has been smothering him. He says he understands that she thinks if he doesn't do everything perfectly that she will lose him, as she lost her oldest son. Her reply is that she is afraid that even if he does everything perfectly she will still lose him. Tyrone is convinced that his parents did not believe his account of Billy's death, whereas they knew the reality of the situation. An unarmed black boy shot by police was never going to get justice. Best to just keep your head down and do whatever it takes to survive. Even when a helpful detective (Emma Lahana) gets a confession from the cop who pulled the trigger, they still know that makes it even more dangerous for Tyrone.

I won't describe the powers that manifest within these two characters, at least not the ones that give them their nicknames, which have not been spoken on the show yet. Besides, the powers those names represent aren't the only ones they possess. Tandy has the ability to touch someone and see their hopes, although the other person is not aware of what is happening. Tyrone's touch reveals fears, which the other person senses at the same time. Later, Tandy discovers she not only can see someone's hopes, she can also take them away. Another intriguing aspect is how the city of New Orleans, and its history, is presented like another character. Tyrone's friend Evita (Noëlle Renée Bercy) gives tourists a voodoo tour of the city and also works in the family curio shop. Her aunt (Angela M. Davis) recounts previous incidents in city history where a 'divine pairing' saves others, even though one of the pair has to die. Google searches indicate the four accounts are fictional, but the way they are presented is realistic, easy to believe. Are Tyrone and Tandy the latest divine pairing? Will one of them have to die? One of the clues that point to the doomed one is first seen on Tyrone, but later it appears on Tandy too. Will they both die, or can they figure out a way to thwart the curse? Spoiler alert! As previously mentioned, it has been renewed for another season. I haven't seen Marvel or FreeForm use a tag line for the show, but I was thinking a good one would be, "Fate's a bitch, but she can be tricked."

Aside from some stereotypical portrayals, particularly the big bad cop and the control he is able to exert on the others in the precinct, most of the acting is subtle but emotionally charged. Highlights are the two leads, along with Reuben and Bercy. I liked Lahana too, whom I remembered from Haven, although I'm not sure I'll care for her character's arc next season. No spoilers on that. Secrets from the past surface, leading Tandy to learn her family's pre-explosion life was not as positive as she had believed. She becomes more cynical, distrustful of others, but through her powers she realizes she may be able to right the wrongs done to, and by, her family. Tyrone is closed-off for a while, but later events help him to channel his hate and fear towards justice. They clash on multiple occasions, but eventually realize their fates are entwined. If they can bury their pasts and work together, perhaps there is hope for everyone. I recommend this, no matter which venue you have to use to watch it. It's much better than other recent Marvel series, including Hulu's Runaways and Fox's The Gifted. Maybe not up to the level of Netflix's Jessica Jones or Luke Cage (although I haven't watched the second seasons of either), but still well worth your time.

Another edit, October 2, 2024: Other than Chinese Blu-Rays, for which they may not have obtained the rights, and which I've only seen on eBay, there has been no official DVD or Blu-Ray release, but I will update this page if that changes. Even though Disney had purchased the Marvel properites several years prior, C&D was produced before the Disney+ streaming service began. I was thinking they are also the sole owner of Hulu now, but not quite, they only hold 67% of the stock, the remainder is in the hands of NBC/Universal. Of course, that could change at any time, but I don't know what that will mean for the fate of this show if and when it does. Hulu has other Disney produced series and films, especially ones with more mature content, but even Disney+ may be reassessing what they want on their branded streamer. Hulu once again had the show on its expiring page, supposedly for October 1, so I watched it all again before it disappeared. And once again they reversed that decision, so it is still available, but there is no telling how long that will last. I suggest you watch while you can, even if it means signing up for a free trial of Hulu. Just two seasons of ten episodes each, each about 42 minutes without ads..

*     *     *

Posted October 2, 2024
I'm not sure why I didn't update this page for Season 2 a long time ago. After all, it aired on FreeForm in April and May 2019, and I watched on Hulu either the next day, or as soon as I could. That was less than a year after I posted the review of the first season. It still has not been released on disc (officially at least), but my recent re-watch came from yet another notice on Hulu that it was expiring off the service, supposedly yesterday. They once again reversed that decision for some reason, but I am glad they did. It is still available at this time, but I don't know how long it will last, so you should check it out if anything I say sounds interesting. Other than the brief scene just before the full credits on Season 1's finale, the main story arc was close to complete, with only the fates of the dirty cop and Brigid O'Reilly (Emma Lahana) uncertain. She was affected by the same, or similar, chemical contaminate that had given Tyrone and Tandy their powers, but as we have seen in multiple other stories, the same cause can have different effects across a range of people, such as another group of Marvel heroes, the Fantastic Four. I will only give a hint as to what happens to Bridgid: think of a iconic character from a book by Robert Louis Stevenson.

My new comments will be brief to avoid spoilers. One thing I didn't mention in the review above is how I was reminded of a book I read earlier that year (2018), which was also set in New Orleans. Even if you watch some of C&D but don't care for it, you might still like the Crescent City duology by Bryan Camp. The third episode in Season 1 is one of my favorite TV episodes ever, and I immediately noticed similarites to Camp's books, and the author did too, posting about it on Twitter. Not so much the social/racial issues in the show, but the spiritual beliefs expressed by Evita and her Aunt Chantelle, and the alternate planes of existence experienced by Tyrone and Tandy as they learned a little more about each other. Another character whose first appearance was Season 2's second episode reminded me of one in City of Lost Fortunes. Brooklyn McLinn plays Andre Deschaine, a counselor at the community clinic Tandy and her mother go to for group therapy. We later learn he was a musician who lost his ability to play the trumpet due to trying to hit the supposedly impossible "Blue Note." Since then he had suffered debilitating migraines, but he had hatched a plan to reverse that situation, one for which he had recruited his fellow counselor Lia (Dilshad Vadsaria).

The show's main themes revolve around the dichotomy of hope and despair. Tyrone's parents' hope for a better life for themselves, but particularly for their surviving son. The despair of Tandy, pining for her late father, compounded by later revelations of his less than stellar treatment of her mother. Both the hope and despair of the whole city, still reeling from the devastation from Katrina, and the continuing racial tensions. Weaved throughout are the supernatural elements, not just the powers gained by Tyrone and Tandy, but also the calling upon loa for help and guidance, or in some cases to hinder the actions of adversaries. Not a perfect show by any means, but a well-written, well-acted (for the most part) examination of society's faults, and the possible ways to turn the negative into positives. It is hard to remember from five years ago, but it is possible the final scene of Season 2 has been changed from the original ending. They board a bus together, and while there was never any indication they had, or would have, a romantic relationship, they were intent on being a team, using their powers for good. They talk about a news story about dead girls washed up on a beach, deciding to go there to see if they could help. The next time we saw Cloak & Dagger they appeared in two episodes of Marvels' Runaways. Since it is unlikely C&D will ever be revived, and Runaways ended two episodes after their appearance, all we can do is rewatch a very good show, and if I can direct even a few eyes toward it, I will be satisfied. And I will buy it on DVD or Blu-Ray if Disney ever releases them.

 

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