Will Tandy and Tyrone keep running from the truth or face it head on? Find out in our recap of Cloak & Dagger episode 1.03, “Stained Glass.”
Don’t Take This Personally
After last week’s cliffhanger, we find out what happens to Tandy (Olivia Holt) and Tyrone (Aubrey Joseph) after the car wreck. And it’s not the happy reunion we might have hoped for. Tandy is understandably alarmed that Tyrone appeared in the middle of the road pointing a gun at her. More alarmingly she has a concussion, but unfortunately, there is no Claire Temple of New Orleans to take care of her.
Instead, she goes back to her mom’s house to hide out only for Detective O’Reilly (Emma Lahana) to show up looking for her. The good news is O’Reilly now knows Tandy is a victim and offers to help her. As the scene switches focus to Tandy hiding in the bathroom you can see the shock and disbelief on her face. It’s clearly been a long time since anyone has taken her side. The bad news is Tandy runs like she does any other time. She might have actually found an ally, but that doesn’t mean she’s going to trust them, especially when they’re a cop.
She later boards a bus out of town, and her head is still ringing from the accident so she uses headphones to drown it out (a Baby Driver homage?) and falls asleep. Or at least it seems like she fell asleep because when she wakes up the bus is abandoned and she steps out into a searingly bright parking lot. There she sees a young Tyrone bouncing a basketball.
So far these visions haven’t revealed much new information except to reiterate the two characters’ connection, but with their continued occurrences it looks like they might become an integral part of Cloak & Dagger.
Switching back to Tyrone we get to see the events from his perspective. Right now the narrative structure focuses on the dual narratives converging towards the characters meeting once again.
The day after the accident Tyrone goes to church to pray and express his uncertainty. Whether or not you’re religious, Aubrey Joseph sells the scene and you can connect with his fear about the changes happening in his life and his desire to find some sort of explanation. In a twist, he addresses his pleas to Billy, his dead brother, not God.
“I’m trying to be like you, but I’m failing. And I’m flailing. And I’m cursed.”
It’s a heartbreaking scene. Both of the main actors of Cloak & Dagger do an incredible job of highlighting their characters’ vulnerabilities and making them relatable to the audience.
Evita (Noëlle Bercy) overhears him and offers to help him by introducing him to Voodoo culture, something she happens to know a lot about because a) she’s a tour guide and b) her Auntie Chantelle practices it. The show adeptly weaves in the New Orleans culture so that it fits in the narrative naturally while still paying tribute to the city they chose to film in.
Superhero shows, whether they’re filmed in Vancouver or on the actual streets of New York, don’t always play up to their settings, but Cloak & Dagger embraces its location full heartedly. Tandy and Tyrone’s stories are an avatar for the city of New Orleans and its people.
As Evita explains, “There are some places just like there are some people that will always stand back up.”
Hopes and Fears
Eventually, Tyrone agrees to try a Voodoo ritual bath suggested by Evita’s aunt (ironically they have to go to Whole Foods for the ingredients). There is also some foreshadowing in this scene when Auntie Chantelle explains the only other thing she could do to open up his mind is give him a concussion. Hey, didn’t Tandy…
All of the mysticism plays nicely into the mystery of the protagonists’ stories.
He gets the bath (with Evita still in the room, awkward!). It works though because when he wakes up the house is empty and dark. He steps outside to find himself on the Roxxon roof with young Tandy.
The show switches back to Tandy now that they’re both having visions. Billy and his friends show up in Tandy’s vision where the events cycle through showing Tyrone kill the dirty cop only to lose his parents or his own life. Tandy tries to talk to the Tyrone in the vision, telling him he has to try something else. She creates a light dagger and tries to help him.
In Tyrone’s vision, Tandy loses her father repeatedly, but she always runs away. This scenario also repeats itself over and over until Tyrone can intervene, stopping her from running and wrapping Tandy in his shadowy cloak.
The next set of visions are even weirder, with Tandy seeing a young Tyrone locked in a room full of crumpled up checks written by Billy to Tyrone and Tyrone seeing a young Tandy handing out poisonous communion wafers to the men she’s scammed.
In the end, they’re both drawn to stained glass windows in their visions and both wake up out of their trances.
Back in the physical world, Connors approaches O’Reilly, telling her the mugging case has been closed with a homeless junkie identified as the culprit. O’Reilly doesn’t buy the cover-up and gets a call from Tandy. The two meet but O’Reilly has to explain what’s happened and why she can’t help her.
Evita and Tyrone seem to be growing closer (I guess since Liam has been gone all episode we need some sort of love triangle) and share a kiss. He then sees the church from his vision as they’re walking through town.
He surprises Tandy inside and tells her they need to talk.
Additional Thoughts:
- Connors makes a short appearance in this episode, but I’m glad the narrative is stepping back from Tyrone trying to take him on alone. It felt like it was rushing the inevitable conflict without fully exploring the conspiracy.
- Seriously…what happened to Liam though? Tandy really isn’t going to call him back?
- I hope Voodoo and the mysticism of New Orleans continue to be highlighted throughout the season. (Also if Marvel is inviting journalists to set visits next season, I volunteer)
- There are some weird scenes that show Auntie Chantelle printing out Voodoo dolls, but after having to interpret all the visions I’m not even going to touch that one. Feel free to leave your guesses as to what it could mean for Tyrone in the comments.
Cloak & Dagger airs on Freeform at 8 p.m./7c every Thursday. Stay tuned to The Marvel Report for more coverage.