Well, talk about going out with a bang.
A very LITERAL bang.
Cloak and Dagger closed Season 1 with “Colony Collapse,” an episode that flips the tables – so to speak – for our titular heroes, as well as establishes them, for good, as not just two people walking the same road, but partners not just in whatever quest might come their way, but in life.
AND THERE’S NOT EVEN A HINT OF ROMANCE.
Not that I’d be adverse to it coming in the future, but that’s not what the show is about, not now, and it shouldn’t be. Male/Female friendships can sometimes seem like an impossible thing and TV is often guilty of telling us that they just don’t happen, so to see Tandy and Tyrone care for each other the way they do, not because they’re in love with each other, but because they’re friends, is both refreshing and heartwarming.
Because you love your friends, in different ways that you might love a significant other, yes, but you love them. And we don’t often see that portrayed on TV in any way other than casual conversation.
Just as we don’t often see teenage heroes go through the kind of journey Tandy and Tyrone went through in season 1 of this show, a journey that took them here, to a point where both of them were willing to make a sacrifice for the good of their city.
A point where Tyrone was willing to be the one to die so Tandy wouldn’t.
A point where Tandy willingly walked into almost-certain death because she couldn’t abandon Tyrone.
Perhaps this is why the season ends the way it ends: with the city saved, and the two of them alive and more together than ever.
Ironic, isn’t it? Or maybe it was always meant to be?
Let’s go a little bit into the themes, the relationship and the supporting characters of Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger, as we look back at this episode, and in a way, at the season that just ended.
DIVINE PAIRING
We knew we were heading here from the beginning, and yet another show, one less committed to telling this story the right way, would have brought us to the end of this episode much sooner.
I’m really, really glad this show is different.
Because we needed to get there slowly. We needed to feel that when Tandy tells Tyrone that she’s learning to care, at the end of this episode, she really means it. We needed to see them come together not because of their powers or because they had common questions, but because they wanted to.
And because, together, they can do good.
Of course, this is just the beginning of their journey. They’re not really the Cloak and Dagger of the comics yet, not even close. But they are, if possible, something better. They’re real people we’ve fallen for, real people we care for. And that makes their journey into those superheroes all the more important.
Plus, let me just take a moment to celebrate how we got here without adding romance into it. Not that I’m against romance, and I know the comic book history so I assume that’s where we’re going so far, but their bond feels so much deeper, more organic, if it’s rooted on real respect and friendship.
Those are, after all, the relationships that really last.
So, kudos on great development in Season 1. If anything, this episode makes me wish Season 2 started tomorrow. It’s going to be a long wait.
THE HEROES OF NEW ORLEANS
If this episode did something other than establish Tandy and Tyrone as a unit, it established them as two people who care about their city, and who will not back away from the challenge of being what New Orleans needs them to be. Even if that’s dangerous.
But then again, isn’t that what heroes do?
Tyrone had many chances to run. Tandy had many chances to save her own skin. They both chose the hard path, and that’s why the end of the episode serves as reminder that this is not just the beginning of their journey together as people, but their journey together as heroes.
We all know that journey isn’t without setbacks.
But this wasn’t the episode for setbacks, that was last episode. This was the episode for triumph. This was the episode for two people who had very literally done everything wrong this year, to finally win one, and to do that by fighting together.
It’s a theme, isn’t it? Together they are stronger. Together, they can save their city.
Here’s to more of that in season 2.
FLIPPING THE SCRIPT
As effective as Season 1 was at flipping the script in the way these two were introduced, with Tandy being essentially homeless and poor and Tyrone being from a well-off family, the show flips the script back once again, and it does so in a way that doesn’t feel like they’re falling into stereotypes.
Tandy is still who she is. Tyrone is still who he is. Their own privileges are still intact, and the drawbacks each of them face still exist. Life outside of the walls they each choose as sanctuary will be different now, yes, but some things never change.
Except, of course, the way they face those circumstances has forever been altered. And that means it’s a whole new ballgame.
Can you tell I’m excited? The show did an amazing job at showing different sides to privilege, and it has an even bigger opportunity to play with those stereotypes in season 2, and the messages this show is sending are especially important for the target audience it’s trying to reach: teenagers.
I don’t think I have to spell out all its messages, but I want to reinforce an important one: Anyone can be a hero. We all got it inside us. It’s just about finding a way to channel it.
WHAT NEXT?
Brigid has issues, Tyron is on the run from the cops, Tandy seems to have made up with her mom, and that sets up a whole new dynamic in season 2. Especially because, as the end clearly established, this Tandy will not just abandon Tyrone. So I presume that, at some point, they’re going to get tired of just sitting down and they’re going to want to clear his name.
And then, I guess something has to happen to New Orleans. That’s just the way it goes. But at least the city has heroes to save it.
Things I want to know:
- WTF HAPPENED TO MINA? Is Ally coming back next season? She was at SDCC, so I’m going to assume she is, but why do I have a bad feeling about this?
- DON’T TURN BRIDIG INTO THE BAD GUY 2K18 PLEASE.
- WTF did Tyrone do to bad cop whose name doesn’t even deserve to be uttered? Is he gone for good?
- Does Tandy own any dark article of clothing?
- Does Tyron own any white?
- How long will it take for his parents to do what they said they weren’t gonna do and go find him which will in turn create a whole mess since he’s still believed to be responsible for a death?
- Does Evita really think Tyrone is dead? What role is she going to play going forward?
- WHEN IS SEASON 2 COMING?
Agree? Disagree? Have any other thoughts on the episode? Share with us in the comments below!
Cloak and Dagger aired Thursdays on Freeform.