Ain’t That America?
It’s a truth universally known that you can’t have weird supernatural things go down without an intrepid detective showing up to try to solve things. Which is why Emma Lahana’s Detective O’Reilly arrives at the beginning of this episode at the crime scene of Tandy’s attack. (Her appearance and likelihood of crossing paths with our heroes also hint that the show will eventually start looking into the greater Roxxon criminal conspiracy Tandy’s mom believes killed her husband).
Either way, Tandy is screwed even though she was just defending herself. She shows her vulnerability when she asks, “Which one should I be hoping for?” She doesn’t know which is worse – if she’s killed someone or left a victim who can ID her. She tries to leave town but realizes her mother stole her savings and she now has to pull off a new score in order to buy a fake identity. She places a down deposit with the forgery expert quipping, “We fail, you still profit. Ain’t that America?”
To no fault of the actors every minute Tandy spends with her dud boyfriend Liam (Carl Lundstedt) just makes me wish she was sharing the screen with Tyrone again. The anticlimactic thing about comic adaptations is knowing who ends up with who. And the show isn’t called Liam & Dagger, ya know?
Meanwhile, Tyrone processes his emotions over rediscovering his brother’s killer, Connors, and has a heart-to-heart with Father Delgado (Jaime Zevallos) about retribution and justice. Of course, it’s not a hypothetical conversation for Tyrone who now decides to seek out the murderer again.
Everybody’s Got Their Demons
After a high-intensity first episode, the second episode of the season is much slower, taking time to look at character motivations and flaws. Tandy runs away from all of her problems (literally and figuratively) while Tyrone’s guilt and anger drive him. While it seems a little bizarre Tyrone is so quick to adjust to his powers and go hunting down a murderous cop, he does share some emotional scenes with his mother that help add some depth. His outsider status is also cemented when he’s attacked by his own basketball team who threaten him for risking their chance at a championship.
Olivia Holt especially shines in this episode, delivering a funny and heartbreaking scene where she gets advice from a therapist in the wedding reception bathroom while also pickpocketing her. As Liam later describes, Tandy has her demons but so does everyone else. It’s hard to know whether Tandy is actually conflicted about leaving Liam, even if he does promise to love and protect. What is clear is that she’s genuinely tired of running.
Both characters experience weird vision dreams again this episode (Or are they flashbacks? Flashforwards? It’s really hard to describe). While Tyrone’s glimpse into his mother’s psyche is interesting because it helps up to build up a character outside of the main duo, the flash forward to Tandy’s potential future wedding falls flat. These sequences are a little too David Lynch-lite to work in a superhero drama and I’d be quite happy if they stop happening so frequently.
By the end of the show, Tyrone and Tandy are pulled together again and it’s less than convenient. Tandy is driving her getaway car and dodging Liam’s calls only for Tyrone to be transported right in front of her after he pulls the trigger on Connors, who he had been hunting. Cloak and Dagger are on a crash collision.
Additional thoughts:
- After so many mopey montages in the first episode, this episode does more world building to show the lives of the two and introduce more supporting characters. Of course, none of the new characters are all that compelling yet, but I have a feeling that Detective O’Reilly and Father Delgado are bound to cross paths.
- I was really hoping we could get rid of Liam for good this episode, but I guess he’s sticking around for a while. A love triangle is on the horizon?
- If this show is following the usual Marvel TV story model, then corporations mean BAD NEWS. And I cannot wait to see what evil stuff Roxxon was up to.
Cloak & Dagger airs on Freeform at 8 p.m./7c every Thursday. Stay tuned to The Marvel Report for more coverage.