It seems like our protagonists can’t catch a break when it comes to being in mortal danger this season. This week it was Ty’s turn as Evita and Tandy both work to save his life.
After leaving the motel, Tandy brought Ty back to the church but he’s completely catatonic, so she turns to Evita and her Vodou skills.
Meanwhile, Ty is stuck in the Loa dimension accessed by his Darkforce powers. He’s being held by a Loa we learn to be Baron Samedi. Baron Samedi is a god of death with more camp than anyone at this year’s Met Gala, spooky painted skeleton face to boot. He even hangs out in an arcade and views Ty as a figurine to be collected. Totally normal.
Unaware her son is fighting for his life, Adina goes on her own mission of finding Father Delgado to help her with Ty’s case. We learn Delgado has gotten help since we last saw him but is still fragile. Unfortunately for him, Adina isn’t exactly the warm and fuzzy type.
“I don’t care about your feelings, you still have a job to do,” she snipes. There is still a way to save Ty and she’s determined to get him to help.
Evita “diagnoses” that Ty is stuck between the two realms. She teaches Tandy more about the Loa and Papa Legba (who is apparently “married” to Chantelle since that’s Mambo tradition).
Evita is able to summon him and Tandy and Brigid enter the Loa dimension, this time only having to give candy as an offering (yeah, Tandy is right she definitely overpaid last time).
While Tandy goes to Ty, Brigid is sent back to the mall where Mayhem waits.
Baron Samdi explains Ty belongs to him now but Tandy promises to pay off any of his debts. He explains it’s not that simple and “every action has its own reaction,” which calls back to Ty’s speech in the premiere
Instead, she must convince Ty to leave on his own.
Andre’s migraines get worse and he tricks Lia into letting him feed off of her. At the record store, he walks over to the veve symbol but the door is locked. Before Brigid can confront him, Mayhem pulls her out of danger.
Ty is entranced by the game he’s playing which after an intro he and Tandy end up inside. Not only is this a unique storytelling device, it’s a clever nod to the comics since the Ty and Tandy of this game experience the comic book origins of the characters in gameplay (if it seems a little weird for non-comic readers, yes the characters really did get injected with radioactive heroin that activated their powers in the comic).
More interesting is the fact that Ty doesn’t want to leave the game. For him, it’s the perfect world, where the good guys fight and win instead of being sabotaged by corrupt systems.
The House Always Wins
Back on this plane, Evita tries to pray to Papa Legba to see the future but instead, she discovers the truth about what happened to Chantelle. Chantelle’s spirit tells her she must take her place as Mambo, but Evita resists.
But it’s destiny. She was born with the “sight.” The worse news is that to save Ty she’ll have to marry Baron Samdi. What all this marriage entails is never truly explained but we do know Evita will have to give up her dreams of being a doctor and accept her fate as a priestess.
While I’ve loved the exploration of Vodou in the show, I’m less keen on the plot predestining Evita in this way just so she can save Tyrone. Her new powers will likely set her up for a bigger role in the show, which is a good thing, but I hate the idea that it’s all to save a guy she probably won’t end up with.
Ty and Tandy make it through the levels to the “Boss Level,” but being sent back to the motel freaks Tandy out and she leaves the game.
Emma Lahana has been impressive all season, but the scenes between Brigid and Mayhem in this episode are some of my favorite. The characters come to terms that they need each other if they want to catch Andre and it’s as feel good as you can get in a scene where someone confronts her alter ego (if you love the Caitlin-Killer Frost plot on The Flash you’ll love this as well.)
Even after they’re back in the arcade, Ty doesn’t want to return to a world where “the only payoff is pain.” Both agree they’d rather live in a world with each other than apart. And their devotion to each other makes Evita’s great sacrifice even harder to swallow.
Baron Samdi tells him to hurry up and choose, but the choice is made for him when Evita goes through with the wedding ceremony and they’re released (A very sassy Brigid/Mayhem also make it out also in case you’re wondering.)
After failing to convince him to help, Adina decides to confess to Delgado. In a shocking twist, we learn she didn’t actually forgive Connors at the end of the last episode. She murdered him. And that’s why she needs Delgado to take the evidence to the FBI to exonerate Ty.
After draining Lia, Andre regains his strength and has a breakthrough: His veve symbol shows a pattern of musical notes. After dealing with Loa all episode, the show is about to add one more to their roster.
Tandy arrives home, but while she was saving Ty apparently Andre somehow got to her mother and caused her to slip back into her alcoholism. She may have saved Ty this episode, but Andre is still out there and must be stopped.
Cloak & Dagger airs Thursdays on Freeform.