Freeform and Marvel join forces for “Cloak & Dagger” and its two hour series premiere delivers a dark, compelling and character driven drama that should reel in tons of fans, Marvel fans or otherwise. “First Light” and “Suicide Sprints” showcase Tandy Bowen and Tyrone Johnson, two troubled teenagers who are connected in a strange way as they discover through an unusual fashion.
The Roxxon Incident | Kicking things off is a younger Tandy being picked up from ballet practice very late by her father, who works for the Roxxon Corporation debating the issues of a nearby oil rig. Meanwhile, a young Tyrone accompanies his brother Billy to steal a car radio to pay off some friends. While Tandy’s dad argues with lawyers about the legality of the rig, Billy and Tyrone get chased by cops who catch them trying to rob the car. Billy gets shot by a scarred cop, Connors, and Tyrone ends up falling into the same river that Tandy’s father’s car has crashed into- the same river where the rig has just exploded. As Tyrone swims to save Tandy from drowning in the car, the energy from the rig reaches them both in a beautiful visual moment.
Light and Darkness | In present day, Tyrone (Aubrey Joseph) gets in a fight at his school’s basketball game, while Tandy (Olivia Holt) seduces a rich kid before drugging him and robbing his house, including expensive jewelry and tickets to the New Orleans ballet. But Tandy hides some of the money from her heist in her alcoholic mother’s house, as her mom tries to convince Tandy that the married lawyer she’s dating could help them build a case against Roxxon for seizing their assets following the rig’s explosion.
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When We Touch… | Tyrone gets invited to a party by classmate Evita and literally runs into Tandy at said party. Tandy makes small talk with him, but covertly swipes his wallet and when Tyrone discovers it missing, he chases her into a graveyard. When he grabs her hand, they get blown across the graveyard and her hand is glowing, while his is oozing black smoke. Tandy scatters, but not before recognizing Tyrone as “the guy from the beach.”
When Tandy returns to her mother’s house, she accidentally cuts her hand and when her mother touches her, Tandy sees a vision of her mother and father watching a young Tandy do ballet and talking about how much they loved her. Tyrone has a worse day, though: He wakes up on a random rooftop wearing nothing but his black bedsheets. As he makes his way home, he sees Connors loading weapons into the trunk of his car nearby.
Self Defense | Tandy uses the stolen ballet tickets, but ends up sitting on the catwalk above the stage in another great dialogue-free scene. Unfortunately, as she leaves the theater, the guy she stole from jumps her in the alley and tries to rape her. She shoves him back and rips a bloody hole in his chest from the light dagger that appeared in her hand.
Speaking of bad timing, Tyrone teleports again, this time ending up in the trunk of Connors’s car- along with loads of illegally obtained cocaine. He leaps out of the car as Connors chases after him, but when Tyrone touches Connors, he sees him replaying the night he shot Billy. Connors tries to shoot Tyrone, who gets out by teleporting away just in time. As the two of them try to get some sleep, one last flashback reveals that Tandy woke up on the beach of the river with Tyrone by her side and left him there.
Get Out of Dodge | In “Suicide Sprints,” Tandy and her partner/lover Liam plot to run away from New Orleans after Tandy’s near murder last night, which detective Brigid O’Reilly (Emma Lahana) is investigating. After Tandy’s mom finds and takes the money left there by her daughter, Tandy is forced to pull off another con to get the money to buy new identities.
So, she does what anyone would do: Rob a wedding! Tandy and Liam get dressed up and even have a dance, but Tandy once again has a vision of Liam promising to her that he will always love her. Back with Tyrone, he gets the crap beaten out of him by the members of his basketball team after they get punished by the coach for his fight at the game. He talks with his mom about it and gets a vision of his own of his mother watching Tyrone and Billy both die.
Tandy and Liam get away with the money from the wedding planner, but Tandy abruptly breaks off from Liam and leaves him in a stolen car to get arrested by O’Reilly. Tyrone goes to Connors’s apartment with his mother’s gun and tries to shoot him, but teleports to the middle of the road where Tandy is driving down and causes her to crash the car as daggers erupt from her hands.
What did you think of “Cloak & Dagger’s” series premiere? Will you be watching the rest of the series? Let us know in the comments.
“Cloak & Dagger” airs Thursdays on Freeform.