USA TODAY International Edition
‘Cloak and Dagger’s appeal is no mystery
Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger is the kind of show that reminds you why we’re drawn to superheroes in the first place.
We’re either in a golden age of superhero television or an annoying glut of it, depending on your perspective. Either way, we’re flush with more shows based on comics and superheroes than ever before, and their genuine appeal can get lost in fan theories, Easter eggs and crossover episodes.
Enter Freeform’s Cloak and Dagger (Thursday, 8 ET/PT, ★★★g), a ray of light (and darkness) in a sea of Spandex that may just be the purest superhero saga on TV. Created by Joe Pokaski (Underground, Heroes), Cloak and Dagger is the first Marvel show from its corporate cousin, Freeform, and it’s well-suited to the youth-skewing network. The series is earnest, simple and utterly winning, an emotional and stylish teen drama that mixes in mysticism and metaphor.
At the center are Tyrone (Aubrey Joseph), a black, upper-middle-class student athlete, and Tandy (Olivia Holt), a white, formerly wealthy runaway. (Eventually, he’s Cloak and she’s Dagger, but they don’t adopt their superhero names in the first four episodes made available for review.)
The series opens with the characters as small children who experience a devastating loss and exposure to a toxic explosion, linking them both psychologically and supernaturally. The explosion gives them powers (Tyrone teleports, Tandy conjures light daggers and both have visions) which surface only once the pair reunite as teens.
Too many superhero series are exhausting and weighted with extraneous heroes and sidekicks (CW’s DC Comics series); dour themes and bloated seasons (Netflix’s Marvel shows); or simply their own mythology (FX’s Legion).
Cloak and Dagger deals with serious subject matter: Tandy squats in a church and robs rich kids to get by, Tyrone appears to be depressed by the loss of his brother as a child. Yet despite this, it manages to be light and breezy. Episodes are well-paced and often use an unconventional structure, jumping around in time.
But its greatest strengths are its restraint and simplicity. The show unfolds slowly and delicately, with greater initial focus on its enchanting young leads than their newfound superpowers. Both teens have gone through trauma, and their powers manifest as a metaphor for post-traumatic stress disorder, forcing them to relive the worst parts of their lives.
Holt , a former Disney Channel star, and Joseph are appealing. The pilot is directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love and Basketball), who plays with the light/dark dichotomy that is part of Tandy and Tyrone’s powers.
Cloak and Dagger isn’t a joyful series but it’s joyful to watch it unfold. And isn’t that how a superhero should make you feel?