Cloak & Dagger’s second season is simultaneously an improvement and a let down. The overall story is more compelling. The supporting characters had some really engrossing developments since last season, specifically Adina and Brigid. The villains were way more sinister and compelling and seemed like a credible threat. Unfortunately our heroes, Ty and Tandy, have to deal with some clunky, heavy-handed writing that interrupts any momentum or innate charisma that the actors bring to the their characters.
It took us a whole season for them to team up, but almost every episode, it felt as if they had a fight and broke up. I’m not familiar with the comic books so maybe the television series is a faithful adaptation, but if it isn’t, I need Marvel to let us enjoy a team up instead of immediately breaking them up. Also I think that the creative team needs to consider giving up repetition. Can I see things from different characters’ perspectives without the series showing me the same scene repeatedly? If there isn’t enough material to fill ten episodes, then make the seasons shorter. Also each hero does not have to take turns being in jeopardy and saved by the other if it doesn’t move the overall story forward. Late in the season, during Episode 8, the performances are outstanding and a supporting character makes a huge choice that will affect the series if it is renewed, but how we got there made no sense. Why at that sudden moment did the hero almost die? There is no preceding precipitating moment. It comes out of the blue. As a viewer, it just felt like because the other one was previously in danger, they wanted to switch places. There were hints earlier of weakness, but it wasn’t properly fleshed out. Even people with powers get tired.
Also I’m not sure why the writers prefer to measure time in months instead of years. Do you want us to watch Cloak & Dagger with a calculator or a pen and paper? Instead of saying that a scene took place 96 months ago, just say eight years ago. I understand that you don’t want to specify a specific time because then the series won’t be timeless, but citing general number of years and seasons won’t do that.
I feel as if this entire season should have come with a trigger warning. If it was more widely watched, Cloak & Dagger could court controversy: sex trafficking, abuse, extrajudicial executions and corruption. I am specifically ambiguous about Tandy facing a rape threat every season. On one hand, I think that one of the series’ strengths is that the heroes still face threats that people who are in their demographic share. Their powers give them no immunity to systematic oppression. On the other hand, when does it veer into stereotypes? Ty is fighting drug dealers even though his character has no organic reason to target them for his vigilantism, which probably explains why his storyline feels more like an afterthought than endemic to his character’s plight. Tandy does, but it seems ridiculous because even though the villain wants to stop her from being a threat, this villain also remarks how if something happened to her, she would attract too much attention. There is some prurient element to this threat—we get to see her powerless, but not the satisfaction of getting the upperhand. Even when she devastates a henchman, it is toothless. She doesn’t actually do anything other than remove that person from the room. So we can see one part of the encounter, but not the other. There were some odd, lopsided creative decisions made on what to show and what to hide that didn’t necessarily make narrative logical sense.
In contrast, the supporting characters are unleashed in a satisfying way. Brigid’s storyline is phenomenal. She has become a great anti-hero who may later become a credible threat to our heroes. In a less sensational way, Gloria Reuben really gets to show some range as Ty’s mom, Adina. From the first season, we knew that she had a gun, was a mover and shaker and though she was bourgie, did not have those origins. Well, we get to find out this season that she isn’t wearing athletic clothes for comfort. We saw a glimpse of her understated menace in Blindspot, but she gets to have some real screen time on Cloak & Dagger that shows us more about her character’s origins than any exposition could. Ty is soft, but his mom is a real G. Could she become a villain in the future to Tandy because when she doesn’t like somebody, she means it! His father didn’t get as much time to shine, but there is one delicious scene with his sowing circle that makes him memorable.
Cloak & Dagger also succeeded in surprising me regarding the identity of the villain though it was obvious in retrospect. I was genuinely shocked and as more about this villain’s plan got revealed, I thought that it could work and could not figure out how to stop the evil plan. To a certain degree, this person was sympathetic because the level of temptation is too great. I completely bought the character’s entire arc of how the villain got to that point eight years ago then stumbled on a solution, but the solution is so evil that sympathy only works to a point, and I was completely invested in stopping the evil plan by any means necessary. The whole plan was that wicked. The visual metaphor of the villain’s powers was exquisite though I possibly would have preferred if Tandy didn’t encounter it first, and it was just shown on the periphery instead of a whole detour.
I hated the henchman completely. While I don’t think that Cloak & Dagger was wrong to show that the henchman was also a victim and does punish her, I think that the justice system and this series pulled too many punches when it comes to evil women. The villain was a catalyst, but in some ways she is worst because she knows better. She is like the fifty-two percent without being a demographic part of that group. They were a bunch of terrifying vampires, and I don’t like the idea that she is alive because she could still be a threat if she pairs up with the right person in the future. Or maybe it is terrific because it will make a great story.
At this point, it is unclear whether or not Cloak & Dagger will be renewed for a third season. It ends in a way that brings the story to a somewhat satisfying end if it doesn’t. I’m not clamoring for another season, but I would watch it if it returned. I think there should be fewer episodes in each season, and the writers need to start learning from each season’s mistakes, which they haven’t done. The music is fantastic, but every episode shouldn’t have a video segment. It still needs a lot of improvement, but was sufficiently entertaining the second time around the block.