Marvel's Cloak & Dagger, or simply Cloak & Dagger, is an American cable television series created for Freeform by Joe Pokaski, based on the Marvel Comics characters of the same name. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films and other television series of the franchise. The series is produced by ABC Signature Studios, Marvel Television, and Wandering Rocks Productions, with Pokaski serving as showrunner.
The series stars Olivia Holt and Aubrey Joseph as Tandy Bowen / Dagger and Tyrone Johnson / Cloak, two teenagers with superpowers who form a romantic relationship. A television series featuring the pair had begun development at ABC Family in July 2011. The channel, renamed Freeform, ordered Cloak & Dagger to series in April 2016, and Pokaski had joined as showrunner by that August. Holt and Joseph were cast in January 2017, with Gloria Reuben, Andrea Roth, J. D. Evermore, Miles Mussenden, Carl Lundstedt, Emma Lahana, and Jaime Zevallos also starring in the series. Filming for the series takes place in New Orleans.
The first season aired from June 7 to August 2, 2018 and was met with positive reviews. Freeform renewed the series for a second season in July 2018.
Cast:
Main
Olivia Holt as Tandy Bowen / Dagger
Maceo Smedley III portrays a young Tyrone.
Gloria Reuben as Adina Johnson
Andrea Roth as Melissa Bowen
J. D. Evermore as Connors
Miles Mussenden as Otis Johnson
Carl Lundstedt as Liam Walsh
Emma Lahana as Brigid O'Reilly
Jaime Zevallos as Delgado
Noëlle Renée Bercy as Evita Fusilier
Lane Miller as Fuchs
Angela Davis as Chantelle
Ally Maki as Mina Hess
Roxxon Gulf, a division of the Roxxon Corporation company that has been featured throughout the MCU, is seen in the season. The Darkforce dimension which fuels Cloak's powers was previously established in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter. Pokaski stated that "There are at least a dozen Easter eggs in the first season that Marvel approved, and a few more that I snuck in there." O'Reilly discusses formerly working in Harlem and her friend Misty Knight in the series, while her move to New Orleans is mentioned by her former New York colleagues in the second season of Luke Cage. Loeb noted the Luke Cage references were "not by mistake", with the potential for them to become something more, such as having Simone Missick, who portrays Misty Knight, appearing in the series. Tony Stark and Danny Rand are also mentioned in the series.
When this series first got green-lit and the first trailers started popping up, I was really skeptical of this, especially when Marvel Studios announced that it was coming to the teen-centric network Freeform instead of Netflix or Hulu Plus (like The Runaways). You guys know how much I raved about the first season of The Runaways on Hulu Plus from the tail end of 2017 and I still regard that as one of Marvel Studios' best television series' to date. In that regard, Cloak & Dagger had a lot to live up to in order to impress me after my reactions from the initial trailers and teasers.
Right off the bat, I thought Olivia Holt (Dagger) was a dead ringer for The Gifted's Natalie Alyn Lind at first in terms of appearances, but she's just as a good as her if not better as an actress. Marvel seemed to have scrapped the whole "weak" characterization of Dagger's character from the older comic book lore (much like what plagued a lot of early comics TBH) to make Tandy the more headstrong of the two while Aubrey Joseph's Cloak is more focused, yet angry at his brother's killer. I loved how these two actors complimented each other in every scene that they shared together. That chemistry between these two characters is what makes their partnership special in the comics and I think the two actors cast in these pivotal roles knocked it out of the park. No lie - I was hella skeptical when I heard that they were going with making Cloak and Dagger teens in this but in this iteration of the Marvel Universe, it works.
In terms of other characters in this series, I felt a lot of them were easily forgettable. Olivia Holt's Tandy Bowen/Dagger and Aubrey Joseph's Tyrone Johnson/Cloak shine as the stars of this series, but almost everyone in the rest of the cast don't seem to stand out. I didn't realize until doing my research for this review that Emma Lahana AKA Kira Ford from Power Rangers Dino Thunder was portraying Brigid O'Reilly. Her take on O'Reilly wasn't bad at all, just that I completely didn't recognize her as a Power Rangers alumni here - and that's a good thing. She's one of the few characters that don't fade into the background once Tandy and Tyrone's on-screen dynamic comes to fruition. For the few episodes that he was on the series, I thought Lahana's O'Reilly and Lane Miller's Fuchs had a good bit of chemistry together in the scenes that they had but nowhere on the level as Holt and Joseph's. Nothing against the actress portraying Tandy's mother and the actors portraying Tyrone's parents, but they just fell into the usual cliches - one drinking away their sorrows, the others acting oblivious (for the most part) to the crime and truth what happened to their deceased son. Noëlle Renée Bercy's Evita Fusilier (Tyrone's love interest) felt like the most forgettable character in the entire show to me as she was just there to justify the connection between herself and Tyrone through her Aunt Chantelle's (played by Angela Davis) voodoo mumbo jumbo and premonitions. To be fair though, I thought both Bercy and Davis did well with what they were given, especially on staying true to the Louisiana mannerisms and traditions in terms of how they were presented here. I'm just saying they were far from the first things I would remember when thinking back at this series.
I doubt that most casual fans see this coming but they could EASILY do a Runaways/Cloak & Dagger team-up crossover special in either Season Two of The Runaways or the next season of Cloak & Dagger. From where both sets of heroes are left at the end of their respective series, it's not hard to imagine all of these estranged teenagers crossing paths. It would finally give Marvel a foot in the door in terms of these superhero team-up specials that DC Comics have been drawing consistent ratings from on the CW Network during every season.
I don't mind that Marvel is marketing this series towards teens but much like The Runaways, there's some scenes (O'Reilly's then boyfriend being killed and stuffed into a refrigerator immediately comes to mind from the end of Episode 8) and sequences here that borderlines on the violence and topics portrayed and glorified in one of Marvel's Netflix endeavors. I didn't have a problem with the content presented here, but at the same time, it just came off as strange.
In terms of storytelling, I thought Episode 7 was this season's high point. There was some clever usage of Tandy and Tyrone's extensive time in Ivan's mind that one could compare it to the unknown passage of time that Dr. Strange spent in the infinite loop that he trapped himself and Dormammu within his solo film debut. Both Tandy and Tyrone walked away from that ordeal not only physically stronger, due to the massive amount of time that they had in that confined space to master their powers (to an extent), and with a stronger foundation to their partnership, due to Tandy coming to terms with what she's lost to get this far and towards the answers that they both seek to expose Roxxon for all of the crimes that led to the loss of their loved ones. Sadly, we only get to see Tyrone in full costume as Cloak in the traditional sense of how most people remember him looking in the comics. This only occurs in Episode 8 while Tyrone is posing as the "ghost" of his deceased brother while assisting O'Reilly in recording a confession in order to get Connors arrested. I'm anxious to see what they do with O'Reilly once she takes up the Mayhem persona from the comics since they already established that she has history with Luke Cage's Misty Knight. Maybe we might see her pop up in a flashback or cameo role in that rumored Heroes for Hire/Daughters of the Dragon spin-off on Netflix.
In terms of a primary antagonist for this season, you could regard Connors as such, but overall I felt that it's the Roxxon Corporation as a whole, even though this season barely scratched the surface of the shady dealings that they have been doing over the years. Agent Carter mentioned their dealings briefly in that series, but much like the bulk of that corporation's appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe up to this point, we're not given too much information to sink our teeth into outside of the fact that they were responsible for the crisis that gave Tandy and Tyrone their powers. In a weird way, I'm glad that this series didn't rush and create a lackluster "final boss" of sorts that almost all of the Marvel Netflix endeavors fall into the pattern of doing in every season of their hero-based melodramas. Instead, Cloak & Dagger has a "final crisis" (not to be confused with the DC Comics event of the same name) that serves as the finale for the season that revolves around the "destiny" for the chosen two who are bestowed with the powers that they have manifested.
Give this a shot, but be warned that it might not be for everyone. Overall, I felt the series was a slow burn. Freeform were smart to premiere the first two episodes together as nothing really won't blow people away from just the pilot episode. Things only seem to pick up in Episode 2 and move on at a steady pace following those events. The 10 episode format served this series better for the long haul as it allowed viewers (at least for me) to digest this a week at a time instead of feeling like you need to binge it all in one sitting, compared to the Marvel Netflix end of things. If you can stomach the teen angst-style soundtrack that seems to accompany a lot of these episodes in their final moments, you'll find a decent series here to serve as sensible appetizer to hold you over as you wait for either more Marvel Netflix premieres or the next season of The Runaways on Hulu Plus.
Gloria Reuben as Adina Johnson
Andrea Roth as Melissa Bowen
J. D. Evermore as Connors
Miles Mussenden as Otis Johnson
Carl Lundstedt as Liam Walsh
Emma Lahana as Brigid O'Reilly
Jaime Zevallos as Delgado
Recurring
Wayne Péré as Peter ScarboroughNoëlle Renée Bercy as Evita Fusilier
Lane Miller as Fuchs
Angela Davis as Chantelle
Ally Maki as Mina Hess
Hannah Hardin portrays a younger Mina.
Tim Kang as Ivan Hess
Tim Kang as Ivan Hess
Carsyn Taylor portrays a young Billy.
Mike Donovan as Rick Cotton
Dalon J. Holland as Duane Porter
Andy Dylan as Nathan Bowen
Gary Weeks as Greg Pressfield
Dalton E. Gray as Benny
Luray Cooper as Big Chief Roland Duplantier
Gralen Banks as Choo Choo Broussard
Vanessa Motta as a professional killer disguised as a water delivery person.
Stan Lee has a cameo appearance as an on-set painting.
Mike Donovan as Rick Cotton
Dalon J. Holland as Duane Porter
Andy Dylan as Nathan Bowen
Gary Weeks as Greg Pressfield
Dalton E. Gray as Benny
Luray Cooper as Big Chief Roland Duplantier
Gralen Banks as Choo Choo Broussard
Vanessa Motta as a professional killer disguised as a water delivery person.
Stan Lee has a cameo appearance as an on-set painting.
Episode Summaries:
1 "First Light"
A young Tandy Bowen is picked up from ballet by her father Nathan. Meanwhile, a young Tyrone Johnson is dissuaded from stealing a car radio by his brother Billy, only for them to be chased by police officer Connors. The Roxxon Gulf platform off the coast of New Orleans explodes, causing Nathan and Tandy to crash into the ocean, where Nathan dies, and causing Connors to shoot Billy. Billy also falls into the ocean, and Tyrone jumps in to rescue him. Tandy and Tyrone are both affected by an energy force from the rig. Eight years later, Tandy earns money by stealing from rich people and avoids her mother Melissa, whose new lawyer boyfriend Greg is working on a case against Roxxon. At a party, Tyrone and Tandy bump into each other and realize that they had been together after the explosion; the encounter activates super-powers in each. Tandy is later assaulted by Rick, someone she had robbed, and accidentally stabs him with a dagger of light. Tyrone discovers that he can teleport after an encounter with Connors, now a detective.2 "Suicide Sprints"
Detective Brigid O'Reilly begins investigating the stabbing of Rick, scaring Tandy to the point that she attempts to leave town. Tyrone becomes obsessed with catching Connors, leading to him neglecting basketball practice. He attempts to make up for it at the suggestion of Father Delgado, but his teammates beat him up due to his absences. When Tyrone returns home, he apologizes to his mother Adina for his recent behavior and after touching her he sees her greatest fear: that she will lose him like she did Billy. When Tandy discovers that Melissa took her stolen money for drugs, she decides to rob a wedding to get the money she needs to flee. She is helped by her boyfriend Liam, but becomes scared of their relationship after seeing his greatest hope: that he wants to marry her. As they attempt to run away with the stolen money, O'Reilly arrests Liam. Tandy decides not to help him. Tyrone steals a gun from Adina and confronts Connors. As he is about to pull the trigger, Tyrone unintentionally teleports to the middle of a road where Tandy is driving.3 "Stained Glass"
O'Reilly realizes that Tandy was responsible for stabbing Rick after deducing that he was trying to rape her. Tandy struggles to recover from crashing after swerving to avoid Tyrone, and arrives home to Melissa and Greg before O'Reilly arrives looking for her. Tandy sneaks away while Melissa and Greg talk to O'Reilly. Concussed, Tandy falls unconscious on a bus. Tyrone meets with his classmate Evita who takes him to voodoo priestess Auntie Chantelle for spiritual guidance. She has him bathe in various charms and spices to induce a fugue state. Both Tandy and Tyrone experience a surreal vision of each other, with Tandy attempting to stop Tyrone from taking revenge against Connors and Tyrone stopping Tandy from running away from her problems. Tandy meets with O'Reilly privately to explain her story, but the corrupt Connors has already closed the case. Tyrone decides to pursue a relationship with Evita. Later, he follows Tandy to the abandoned church in which she lives and confronts her about their shared connection.4 "Call/Response"
Tyrone and Tandy talk about their personal lives and issues, explaining the visions that they saw of each other. Tyrone decides to falsify a stolen bike report, using his father Otis's bolt cutters, to get close to Connors; he ends up running out of the police station in fear. Otis discovers that Tyrone stole the bolt cutters and, fearful that Tyrone will become a criminal, takes him to see Big Chief Roland Duplantier of the Wild Red Hawks, a Mardi Gras tribe. Tyrone learns that Billy was designing a cloak for the next march and with Otis's approval he decides to complete it. Tandy discovers that Greg, who is already married, genuinely cares for Melissa and decides to help him research Roxxon. However, Melissa breaks up with Greg and when Tandy goes to see him again he is assassinated. Tandy tries to commit suicide by drowning, but changes her mind and uses her powers to survive. Tyrone returns to the police station and asks for O'Reilly while Tandy returns to Greg's office and takes the Roxxon files he had found as evidence to clear Nathan's name.5 "Princeton Offense"
O'Reilly agrees to investigate Connors as long as Tyrone stays away. Instead, he meets with Billy's friend Duane Porter hoping he will know something that can help. Tandy applies as an intern at Roxxon Gulf to get close to the executives there and sees that many of them wish to overthrow their CEO. Tyrone plays in a basketball tournament, but during halftime he accidentally teleports to a Roxxon party that Tandy is attending. Together they discover that Roxxon CEO Peter Scarborough was responsible for defaming Nathan. Tyrone teleports back just in time for the game to resume. As Tyrone plays, he picks up on the opposing players' fears and ends up throwing the game. Tandy meets Scarborough and uses her powers to see his greed. O'Reilly tries to get close with Connors by pretending to be loose with the law herself. After a night with Evita, Tyrone discovers that Duane is working with Connors to distribute drugs despite knowing that he killed Billy. Tandy meets Mina Hess, the daughter of Nathan's colleague Ivan.6 "Funhouse Mirrors"
Evita and Auntie Chantelle begin studying Tyrone, believing that he is part of a "Divine Pairing" and that either he or Tandy will have to die to save New Orleans. Tyrone attempts to work for Duane, while Tandy becomes an intern for Mina. At Tandy's suggestion, Tyrone steals a bag of drugs that Duane is distributing and returns it to him to earn Duane's trust. Duane then agrees to involve Tyrone in the business, and takes him to meet with Connors, who arrives under the pretense of a drug bust. Connors is paired with O'Reilly, but is able to stall her. Connors confronts Duane about the bag of drugs being stolen, and sets up a situation in which O'Reilly is forced to shoot and kill Duane. This is witnessed by Tyrone, who Connors sees before he escapes. Tandy learns about Ivan and Nathan from Mina, but Mina realizes who Tandy is and leaves. Tandy discovers that Ivan has been in a catatonic state since the rig explosion but is unable to see into his mind. Mina forgives Tandy afterwards. Back at the church, Tandy finds a grieving Tyrone.7 "Lotus Eaters"
Tandy asks Tyrone to help her enter Ivan's mind. Together they are able to find him reliving the final moments of the rig explosion over and over again. He is optimistically passive as he cannot remember how much time has passed, nor can he remember his name or Mina. The other employees on the rig had been infected by the strange energy that Roxxon was searching for, and appear in Ivan's memories as psychopathic killers. Ivan believes that the explosion can be stopped from the core, but was unable to do so in real life and has still been unsuccessful in his attempts since. Tyrone is able to do so with his powers, but it does not work due to being Ivan's mind. Tandy discovers that her father Nathan had called Ivan moments before the explosion, and takes the opportunity to talk to him in each loop. Tyrone convinces her that it is not actually her father, and they help Ivan reach the core after reminding him of Mina. Ivan awakens with no memory of Tandy or Tyrone, and is reunited with Mina. Tandy and Tyrone later listen to a recording of Billy together.8 "Ghost Stories"
Ivan tells Tandy that Nathan hid evidence to clear their names in a safety deposit box. It is the eight-year anniversary of the rig explosion, and she plans to remember her father with Melissa later on. First, she visits Tyrone and his family who are struggling with the anniversary of Billy's death, and steals an access card for Roxxon from Adina. She uses it to enter Roxxon and confront Scarborough with Nathan's evidence, and he offers to pay her for it. She refuses, wanting to clear her father's name instead. Tyrone completes Billy's cloak, and then uses it to better control his powers. This allows him to "haunt" Connors, pretending to be Billy's ghost, which leads to him confessing to the murder. O'Reilly arrests Connors. Tyrone joins Tandy and Melissa for their memorial, but when the three hold hands Tandy and Tyrone enter Melissa's memories and see that Nathan was abusive toward her. Upset, Tandy accepts Scarborough's bribe. To celebrate Connors' arrest, O'Reilly visits her new boyfriend Fuchs, but she finds his dead body stuffed in a fridge.9 "Back Breaker"
Tyrone's parents are informed of Connors' arrest and suspension, but neither react to it. Tyrone lashes out at school, leading to a confrontation with Father Delgado in which Tyrone sees the priest's fear of his drinking addiction and how it either killed a young child once, or could in the future. After learning about her father's abusive behavior, Tandy becomes addicted to stealing the hopes of others, including Mina's. She attempts to steal Liam's hope, but is stopped by Tyrone. She confronts him at school, where Evita realises that Tandy is the other half of the Divine Pairing, whom Auntie Chantelle believes will be needed soon due to Roxxon's drilling. Drunk while mourning Fuchs, O'Reilly attacks Connors but he beats her in front of her colleagues. Tandy discovers that Liam has stolen the money she got from Scarborough, and then finds Melissa being held at gunpoint by Greg's killer. Adina tells Tyrone that she just wants to protect him from the police, but now he is framed for Fuchs' murder. Mina sees an energy leak infect several Roxxon workers.10 "Colony Collapse"
Tandy saves Melissa and Mina, with the latter helping confront Scarborough. He reveals where the core for the city-wide system is, and Tandy leaves his mind trapped in a similar state to what Ivan's had been. Tyrone and O'Reilly are arrested, but the infection spreads to the precinct and the police officers begin fighting each other. Tyrone teleports to Tandy in time to stop an infected Mina, before the pair are told of their fate as the Divine Pairing by Evita. O'Reilly helps fend off infected civilians so Tandy and Tyrone can reach the core, but is shot and apparently killed by Connors. Her body is exposed to the energy before he pushes it into the ocean. Connors is then absorbed into the Darkforce emitted from Tyrone's cloak. Inside the core, Tandy and Tyrone are able to absorb the leaking energy and release it safely into the sky, saving the city and curing all those infected. Roxxon is blamed for the crisis. Tandy moves back in with Melissa while Tyrone moves into her church, as he is still wanted by the police. A mutated O'Reilly later emerges from the water.Marvel Cinematic Universe tie-ins
Roxxon Gulf, a division of the Roxxon Corporation company that has been featured throughout the MCU, is seen in the season. The Darkforce dimension which fuels Cloak's powers was previously established in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter. Pokaski stated that "There are at least a dozen Easter eggs in the first season that Marvel approved, and a few more that I snuck in there." O'Reilly discusses formerly working in Harlem and her friend Misty Knight in the series, while her move to New Orleans is mentioned by her former New York colleagues in the second season of Luke Cage. Loeb noted the Luke Cage references were "not by mistake", with the potential for them to become something more, such as having Simone Missick, who portrays Misty Knight, appearing in the series. Tony Stark and Danny Rand are also mentioned in the series.
The Verdict:
When this series first got green-lit and the first trailers started popping up, I was really skeptical of this, especially when Marvel Studios announced that it was coming to the teen-centric network Freeform instead of Netflix or Hulu Plus (like The Runaways). You guys know how much I raved about the first season of The Runaways on Hulu Plus from the tail end of 2017 and I still regard that as one of Marvel Studios' best television series' to date. In that regard, Cloak & Dagger had a lot to live up to in order to impress me after my reactions from the initial trailers and teasers.
Right off the bat, I thought Olivia Holt (Dagger) was a dead ringer for The Gifted's Natalie Alyn Lind at first in terms of appearances, but she's just as a good as her if not better as an actress. Marvel seemed to have scrapped the whole "weak" characterization of Dagger's character from the older comic book lore (much like what plagued a lot of early comics TBH) to make Tandy the more headstrong of the two while Aubrey Joseph's Cloak is more focused, yet angry at his brother's killer. I loved how these two actors complimented each other in every scene that they shared together. That chemistry between these two characters is what makes their partnership special in the comics and I think the two actors cast in these pivotal roles knocked it out of the park. No lie - I was hella skeptical when I heard that they were going with making Cloak and Dagger teens in this but in this iteration of the Marvel Universe, it works.
In terms of other characters in this series, I felt a lot of them were easily forgettable. Olivia Holt's Tandy Bowen/Dagger and Aubrey Joseph's Tyrone Johnson/Cloak shine as the stars of this series, but almost everyone in the rest of the cast don't seem to stand out. I didn't realize until doing my research for this review that Emma Lahana AKA Kira Ford from Power Rangers Dino Thunder was portraying Brigid O'Reilly. Her take on O'Reilly wasn't bad at all, just that I completely didn't recognize her as a Power Rangers alumni here - and that's a good thing. She's one of the few characters that don't fade into the background once Tandy and Tyrone's on-screen dynamic comes to fruition. For the few episodes that he was on the series, I thought Lahana's O'Reilly and Lane Miller's Fuchs had a good bit of chemistry together in the scenes that they had but nowhere on the level as Holt and Joseph's. Nothing against the actress portraying Tandy's mother and the actors portraying Tyrone's parents, but they just fell into the usual cliches - one drinking away their sorrows, the others acting oblivious (for the most part) to the crime and truth what happened to their deceased son. Noëlle Renée Bercy's Evita Fusilier (Tyrone's love interest) felt like the most forgettable character in the entire show to me as she was just there to justify the connection between herself and Tyrone through her Aunt Chantelle's (played by Angela Davis) voodoo mumbo jumbo and premonitions. To be fair though, I thought both Bercy and Davis did well with what they were given, especially on staying true to the Louisiana mannerisms and traditions in terms of how they were presented here. I'm just saying they were far from the first things I would remember when thinking back at this series.
I doubt that most casual fans see this coming but they could EASILY do a Runaways/Cloak & Dagger team-up crossover special in either Season Two of The Runaways or the next season of Cloak & Dagger. From where both sets of heroes are left at the end of their respective series, it's not hard to imagine all of these estranged teenagers crossing paths. It would finally give Marvel a foot in the door in terms of these superhero team-up specials that DC Comics have been drawing consistent ratings from on the CW Network during every season.
I don't mind that Marvel is marketing this series towards teens but much like The Runaways, there's some scenes (O'Reilly's then boyfriend being killed and stuffed into a refrigerator immediately comes to mind from the end of Episode 8) and sequences here that borderlines on the violence and topics portrayed and glorified in one of Marvel's Netflix endeavors. I didn't have a problem with the content presented here, but at the same time, it just came off as strange.
In terms of storytelling, I thought Episode 7 was this season's high point. There was some clever usage of Tandy and Tyrone's extensive time in Ivan's mind that one could compare it to the unknown passage of time that Dr. Strange spent in the infinite loop that he trapped himself and Dormammu within his solo film debut. Both Tandy and Tyrone walked away from that ordeal not only physically stronger, due to the massive amount of time that they had in that confined space to master their powers (to an extent), and with a stronger foundation to their partnership, due to Tandy coming to terms with what she's lost to get this far and towards the answers that they both seek to expose Roxxon for all of the crimes that led to the loss of their loved ones. Sadly, we only get to see Tyrone in full costume as Cloak in the traditional sense of how most people remember him looking in the comics. This only occurs in Episode 8 while Tyrone is posing as the "ghost" of his deceased brother while assisting O'Reilly in recording a confession in order to get Connors arrested. I'm anxious to see what they do with O'Reilly once she takes up the Mayhem persona from the comics since they already established that she has history with Luke Cage's Misty Knight. Maybe we might see her pop up in a flashback or cameo role in that rumored Heroes for Hire/Daughters of the Dragon spin-off on Netflix.
In terms of a primary antagonist for this season, you could regard Connors as such, but overall I felt that it's the Roxxon Corporation as a whole, even though this season barely scratched the surface of the shady dealings that they have been doing over the years. Agent Carter mentioned their dealings briefly in that series, but much like the bulk of that corporation's appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe up to this point, we're not given too much information to sink our teeth into outside of the fact that they were responsible for the crisis that gave Tandy and Tyrone their powers. In a weird way, I'm glad that this series didn't rush and create a lackluster "final boss" of sorts that almost all of the Marvel Netflix endeavors fall into the pattern of doing in every season of their hero-based melodramas. Instead, Cloak & Dagger has a "final crisis" (not to be confused with the DC Comics event of the same name) that serves as the finale for the season that revolves around the "destiny" for the chosen two who are bestowed with the powers that they have manifested.
For fans craving a lot of action, it doesn't pick up until towards the tail end of this season, with the majority of the season exploring the lives of both Tandy and Tyrone and how they eventually learn to connect with one another. In that regard, I felt that the narrative storytelling made up for the lack of the heavy emphasis of action that a lot of these Marvel Cinematic Universe based television melodramas tend to cater to.
Watch It or Don't Bother?
Give this a shot, but be warned that it might not be for everyone. Overall, I felt the series was a slow burn. Freeform were smart to premiere the first two episodes together as nothing really won't blow people away from just the pilot episode. Things only seem to pick up in Episode 2 and move on at a steady pace following those events. The 10 episode format served this series better for the long haul as it allowed viewers (at least for me) to digest this a week at a time instead of feeling like you need to binge it all in one sitting, compared to the Marvel Netflix end of things. If you can stomach the teen angst-style soundtrack that seems to accompany a lot of these episodes in their final moments, you'll find a decent series here to serve as sensible appetizer to hold you over as you wait for either more Marvel Netflix premieres or the next season of The Runaways on Hulu Plus.
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