Menu
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Podcast
      • Slice of SciFi 964: Universal Monsters and HellblazerUniversal Monsters and Hellblazer
      • Slice of SciFi 963: PG Psycho Goreman“PG: Psycho Goreman”: Making horror-scifi fun again
      • Slice of SciFi 962: Escape Pod: The Science Fiction AnthologyFeaturing “Escape Pod: The Science Fiction Anthology”
      • Slice of SciFi 961: BreachIndie SciFi Action: “Breach” takes on fleeing an alien invasion
    • View all
  • Movie Reviews
      • Promising Young Woman (2020)“Promising Young Woman” and the harsh truths of trauma and justice
      • Review: Parallel (2020)“Parallel” takes on the mental and moral tolls of using parallel worlds
      • Review: I'm Your Woman (2020)“I’m Your Woman” shines with a different take on the mobster’s wife
      • Review: Archenemy (2020)“Archenemy”: Working with the Superhero You Find
    • View all
  • TV Reviews
      • "Project Blue Book"“Project Blue Book” explores the threads of UFO reports
      • Manifest Season 1: 5 Episodes In5 Episodes In: “Manifest”
      • 5 Episodes In: Reverie5 Episodes In: “Reverie”
      • 5 Episodes In: Marvel's Cloak and Dagger5 Episodes In: “Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger”
    • View all
  • DVD Reviews
      • Blu-ray Review: Archenemy (2020)“Archenemy” sparkles in sight & sound
      • The Dark and The Wicked (2020)“The Dark and The Wicked” and the Monstrous Weight of Grief
      • Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection“What’s Up Doc?”: A Look at 80 Years of Bugs Bunny
      • Batman: Death in the Family (2020, animated)“Batman: Death in the Family” makes alternate timelines fun
    • View all
  • Columns
  • News
      • TV News
      • Film News
      • DVD News
      • Interviews
      • Events
      • Geeky, Funny & Weird
      • Online Entertainment News
      • Music News
      • On Stage
      • Space News

Slice of SciFi

This is How We Geek Out: Interviews, Reviews & More

  • Writers, After Dark
  • Horror Happenings
  • The Babylon Podcast
  • SciFi Shop Talk
  • Slice of SciFi TV
  • Contact Us
5 Episodes In: “Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger”

5 Episodes In: “Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger”

July 5, 2018 By Summer Brooks Leave a Comment

I’m a huge Marvel girl. I probably spent more on Marvel comics in the 80s and 90s than on food and clothing. The “X-Men” and most of the other Marvel mutants stories were my favorites, followed closely by “Daredevil”, “Doctor Strange”, “The Avengers”, “Marvel Team-Up, then most of the rest were either miniseries or limited series.

“Cloak & Dagger” was one of those titles, and for my money was the least likely on my list of Marvel characters who would end up being adapted for television. Call it a pleasant surprise with reservations. The comics origin story of Tyrone and Tandy was problematic (trope-laden) back in the 80s, and that version would be even more cringeworthy these days. Even years later in the comics when the nature of their powers kept shifting, both individually and combined, they could never truly shake off the stereotypes of those original origins.

When it was announced that Cloak & Dagger was being adapted and would air on Freeform, I thought there was potential there. At the time I thought Netflix would have been a better home, given that in the comics Ty’s Cloak and Tandy’s Dagger were also part of the darker, grittier New York streets that Matt Murdock, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage walked, and they had strong direct connections with Daredevil, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man and the Runaways. But I’m a big fan of what Freeform has done with some of its original programming since the network name change (huge fan of Stitchers, and more recently, their new supernatural drama Siren), and given the ages of Ty and Tandy, that’s right in the story wheelhouse Freeform’s aiming for.

Changing the location of their story from New York City to New Orleans, and pulling the focus away from their original mission to eliminate the drug trade and move towards something bigger was a bold move that is paying off well beyond my initial hopes. Putting our heroes in the middle of a city still struggling to recover both economically and ecologically from major environmental disasters, and connecting their powers to the causes and effects of those disasters lends a powerful and realistic emotional link to the characters and their home.

Another change that adds a few new layers to the characters and the story is switching up the back stories of both Tyrone Johnson (Aubrey Joseph) and Tandy Bowen (Olivia Holt). In the comics, Ty was from the streets and Tandy was from a privileged home; here in the TV adaptation, Ty as a teenager is living a life in private schools and in high profile high school athletics, while Tandy had been living a good middle class life until her father Nathan died in a car accident and was posthumously blamed for a tragic explosion on a Roxxon research platform. The destruction of his legacy and reputation sent Tandy’s mother Melissa into a spiral of addiction and neglect, altering Tandy’s path to one of being a loner and a grifter.

Marvel's Cloak & Dagger

We begin with seeing various events in both their lives unfold after tragic events that all take place on the same night, the night when a huge storm hits the city and the Roxxon platform explodes. Both Ty and Tandy as young children end up underwater in the Gulf — Tandy having been a passenger in the car when her father’s accident propels them off a bridge, while Ty witnesses his older brother Billy falling off the docks after being shot by a police officer, then dives into the water after him, hoping to save his life.

Both children make a connection underwater, manifesting the darkness and the light, but they end up on the shore in the morning, together and alone. Tandy runs away before Ty wakes up, and they never see each other again until a chance encounter 8 years later at an outdoor high school party, where Tandy chooses Ty as a mark to pickpocket. He chases her after discovering what she’s done, and the explosive result of them touching activates their powers and triggers both recognition and remembrance of the night of the storm.

They try to continue living their lives as normal, but more events occur that continue to bring them together as well as hint at their connection to each other, and also to dark secrets that threaten the city and everyone who lives in it.

Ty slowly discovers that there are corrupt links between members of the police and the drug trade that directly impacted his own life and circumstances, starting with his brother’s death. Tandy discovers there’s far more to her father’s death and the accident on the rig, through her mother bringing in yet another lawyer/lover to try to sue Roxxon for what she sees as the unfair treatment she received after Nathan’s death as well as the loss of all their assets. Unfortunately for mom’s new friend Greg, he’s put together too much Roxxon related information, which gets Tandy more interested in finding out what really happened, but attracts attention from people who’d rather he not dig any further. It doesn’t end well for Greg.

Piece by piece, both Ty and Tandy begin to ask questions that they’d never thought to ask, never even thought they needed to ask. Each connection hints at how much larger the big picture is, and the situations they get into lead to more chances to use their powers and gain more insight into how their powers work, and slowly discovering how to actively control those powers. There’s also a change in some aspects of their powers: Tandy’s ability allows her to see people’s deepest hopes, and Ty’s ability allows him to see people’s darkest secrets and fears. The original aspects from the comics of Tandy needing to feed Ty’s darkness with her light to save him from being consumed entirely seems to have been dropped. I’m good with that.

Marvel's Cloak & Dagger

On the periphery are Evita (Ty’s potential girlfriend) and her aunt Chantelle, who are physically and spiritually connected to New Orleans and her history, and through them we learn more about who Ty and Tandy may really be, and what their appearance at this time means for the city. The mythology behind the “divine pairing”, and the implied history of said pair appearing at different times throughout the history of New Orleans is new, and I’m looking forward to finding out more about the source and the history of the “divine pairing”, and what that means for the fate of our heroes. I’m also curious where Tandy’s mom Melissa will be heading, and how Ty’s parents fit in, especially the secret collective that his father Otis belongs to.

The shadow of Roxxon Energy Corporation falls over just about everything in Tandy’s life, while grief and long-held secrets hold sway over both Ty and Tandy. I’m curious to find out if Roxxon characters from the comics show up in this show as they have in Daredevil and Agents of SHIELD. I have a suspicion about one character we’ve already seen (the woman delivering water to the lawyer Greg’s office late at night, and it would be a bit of a spoiler to say more).

This show is much like The Gifted on Fox (Season 1 is on Hulu), a wonderful adaptation of characters from Marvel’s cornucopia of mutants, made richer with inventive and believable character development that doesn’t feel the need to strictly adhere to the history and mythology from the comics. The new story being built in New Orleans is compelling and addictive; the show is a wonderful ride that’s over too soon each week, with more crumbs revealed and more layers added to the Roxxon mystery and the characters’ journeys, and a driving need to want to watch the next episode right then and there.

Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger airs Thursdays at 8pm on Freeform, and is available to rewatch and binge on Hulu.

And if you really want to have a little fun, check out Twitter on Thursday nights, and follow along with some of the cast, writers and showrunner and their live tweets of the episodes… just follow #CloakAndDagger, or any of the following accounts: @CloakAndDagger, @JoePokaski, @canddwriters, @Phangvantageous, @aubreyomari, @olivia_holt,

Rating: 4.5 stars


“Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger” is the story of Tandy Bowen (Olivia Holt) and Tyrone Johnson (Aubrey Joseph) – two teenagers from very different backgrounds, who find themselves burdened and awakened to newly acquired superpowers which are mysteriously linked to one another. Tandy can emit light daggers and Tyrone has the ability to engulf others in darkness. They quickly learn they are better together than apart, but their feelings for each other make their already complicated world even more challenging. The series is based on the beloved comic characters and is co-produced by Marvel Television and ABC Signature Studios.

5 Episodes In: "Marvel's Cloak & Dagger"
4.25

Summary

This show is a wonderful adaptation of characters from Marvel’s cornucopia of mutants, made richer with inventive and believable character development that doesn’t feel the need to strictly adhere to the history and mythology from the comics.

Sending
User Review
4 (1 vote)
Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on Email

Filed Under: TV Reviews Tagged With: Freeform, Marvel Studios

Related Posts

Slice TV: Captain America: Civil War
Marvel Hit & Miss: “Captain America: Civil War” vs “X-Men: Apocalypse”
Deadpool
Reviewing “Deadpool”
“Avengers” Trailer Tops 10 Million Downloads

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Search in posts
Search in pages
Filter by Categories
Audio Productions
Awards News
Book News
Book Reviews
Columns
Comics News
DVD News
DVD Reviews
Entertainment Business News
Events
Fan Films
Fan Productions
Film News
Film Reviews
Gaming News
Geeky, Funny & Weird
Human Interest
Interviews
Music News
On Stage
Online Entertainment News
Science News
Slice of SciFi
Slice Video News
Space News
Specials
Technology News
TV News
TV Reviews

Subscribe to Podcast

Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsAndroidiHeartRadioStitcherTuneInRSS

Listen to Slice of SciFi

iTunes
iHeart Radio
Player.FM
RSS
 

Keep Up With Slice of SciFi

  • Movie & TV Reviews

Recent Comments

  • Lou Tambone on Universal Monsters and Hellblazer: “Thank you, Summer. It was great talking to you again.”
  • dutch on “Parallel”: Isaac Ezban, Martin Wallström and Mark O’Brien: “If you pass this film up by saying, “Ugh, another parallel universe flick.”, you did not ask the right question.…”
  • Summer Brooks on “Near Dark”: Stacey Abbott on teaching vampire lore: “I hadn’t remembered until I was making the graphic for this episode that I own a copy of READING ANGEL…”
  • Joyce Gravino on “Near Dark”: Stacey Abbott on teaching vampire lore: “Thank you for this episode. I now have to to look for the reading angel book and the x-files one…”
  • Daniel M on Giveaway: “2067” on DVD: “back to the future”
Tweets by @sliceofscifi
death to humans 160x600
Save 10-50% on in-stock toys at TFAW.com.

Slice of SciFi
1121 Annapolis Rd PMB 238
Odenton MD 21113
602-635-6976

Artwork:
Slice of SciFi spiral logo designed by Tim Callender

Theme Music:
Slice of SciFi music and themes
courtesy of Sci-Fried

Sister Sites:
Writers, After Dark
Horror Happenings
SciFi Shop Talk
Slice of SciFi TV

Copyright © 2005–2021 · Magazine Pro Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in