Cloak and Dagger season two has been mostly good, verging on great, and the show has managed to do so even while telling an otherwise straight-forward story, because it’s dared to go out there narratively. Whatever you want to say about season 2 of this show, there is one thing you absolutely cannot say, and that is that the show didn’t take any chances.
Sometimes, like in “Two Player,” it almost feels like the show is taking too many chances, like the narrative gimmicks are verging on overdone, like a touch of reality would be welcome. In the end, however, this show has earned a lot of narrative good will, and Tyrone and Tandy have earned a lot of character – and relationship – good will as well, so I’m willing to sit back and hope that the show is going to wrap up this story-line in a satisfying way.
This is a big deal, considering how many other shows have absolutely lost us lately. Looking at you, Game of Thrones. Looking at you.
So, let’s go into the questions this episode left us, starting with:
Was Evita’s choice earned?
Narratively, I don’t think it was. I don’t even think Tyrone really deserved the choice she made, and in the end, I don’t think he would have chosen to stay, anyway. But that’s the thing about caring for someone, sometimes you do the thing you feel you have to do.
The problem, however, is that we don’t really care about Evita enough for this to be heartbreaking? I mean, I’m glad she made that choice and saved Tyrone’s life, but I’m not heartbroken about what Evita lost, and the reason why I’m not is because I don’t feel like I even know Evita. For this to actually resonate we needed a hell of a lot more of Evita than we got, and by more I mean more of her as a person, not her in relation to Tyrone.
Why was Tandy so nice?
Tandy trying to convince Tyrone that he didn’t need to stay in this fake world where everything sorta seemed to be going well in a way that wasn’t real was emotional, and the actors played it to perfection, but I found myself wondering for the entirety of the time Tandy spent trying to convince Tyrone why she wasn’t just grabbing him and shaking him out of his stupor?
I get it, she cares, and I get it, she feels a tad responsible, and all of that, but Tandy, my dear, if there was a moment for tough love, it was this one. Tyrone not only cares about you, he trusts you, and sometimes that means you gotta tell him that he’s being a fucking idiot, and if he doesn’t process it, well, just kick his ass until he does the right thing.
Was Andre ever a good guy?
Weird question to ask about THE villain of the season, I know, but there was a moment there, at the beginning of the season, and I think, even up to this episode, where we kinda wondered what had changed Andre, where the narrative seemed to be building to a moment that broke him and made him who he is. This episode, however, seems to cement Andre as just a bad guy, the kind that maybe, was always bad?
That’s a bold choice for a show that’s the younger cousin of shows like Jessica Jones or Daredevil, and though there are only two episodes left, I kinda hope we get to explore a little more of what Andre is, and why he is that, even if there’s no real catalyst.
Is it finally time for Tyrandy?
Look, everything has been building towards this. We knew it, you knew it, they knew it, hell, even Evita seemed to know it. And to the show’s credit, it didn’t seem like they were keeping them apart just to not deal with the fact that they are each other’s person. But the show has tried hard – way too hard at times – to make their relationship seem strictly platonic, and it has never truly rang true.
Maybe it’s because they hired actors with too much chemistry, maybe it’s because the setup for this story always seemed to be taking us there, either way, there comes a time where you either have to pull the plug or you’re left with viewers feeling cheated. We’re not there yet, and I’d argue the show can still drag this out till season 3, but if there’s a sweet spot for doing it, then they’re as close as they’ve ever been.
Don’t let that moment pass you by, Cloak and Dagger. Trust me.
Agree? Disagree? Share with us in the comments below!
Cloak and Dagger airs Thursdays at 8/7c on Freeform.
