Cloak & Dagger: Ghost Stories
July 21, 2018 1:45 PM - Season 1, Episode 8 - Subscribe
Tandy and Tyrone each stand at a precipice of finding justice on the eight-year anniversary of losing their loved ones.
I'm having trouble guessing where they are going from here. But I really like the idea of complicating both of the villain plots.
I was quite amused that Young Tandy was adept at pickpocketing a phone.
I'm still unhappy with the detective character.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 4:03 PM on July 21, 2018
I was quite amused that Young Tandy was adept at pickpocketing a phone.
I'm still unhappy with the detective character.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 4:03 PM on July 21, 2018
I thought the fridging was a bold statement. Well played to the writing and production team for the gender flip.
I'm sure I'm going to get pushback by saying this, but right from the start, my opinion was that the actor they picked to play Ty was too short and too slight. Comic-book Ty was a big, hulking presence. I kind of got past that, but after seeing him in the cloak this episode, that opinion came rearing back to life. There really is a physicality missing from those scenes. Yes, I know he was running away and attempting to be ghost-like but it really looked like a young kid with a bath towel on his shoulders playing super-hero dress-up.
I suspect part of picking an actor with that build was a deliberate choice--so he could pair better on-screen with the actress who plays Tandy--but I still feel like an important visual dynamic has been lost.
posted by sardonyx at 5:43 PM on July 21, 2018
I'm sure I'm going to get pushback by saying this, but right from the start, my opinion was that the actor they picked to play Ty was too short and too slight. Comic-book Ty was a big, hulking presence. I kind of got past that, but after seeing him in the cloak this episode, that opinion came rearing back to life. There really is a physicality missing from those scenes. Yes, I know he was running away and attempting to be ghost-like but it really looked like a young kid with a bath towel on his shoulders playing super-hero dress-up.
I suspect part of picking an actor with that build was a deliberate choice--so he could pair better on-screen with the actress who plays Tandy--but I still feel like an important visual dynamic has been lost.
posted by sardonyx at 5:43 PM on July 21, 2018
Commentary from comic fans: Cloak & Dagger Actually Finally Referenced the Larger Marvel Universe (Alex Cranz for io9)
Otherwise, I continue to love Aubrey Joseph's voice, in addition to the acting from him and co-lead Olivia Holt. There's something fascinating about his voice. Anyway, fun show, and it was amusing to hear the casual reference to the larger MCU.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:37 PM on July 21, 2018
The reference comes courtesy of officer Brigid O’Reilly. We already knew O’Reilly was originally from Harlem before transferring to New Orleans to solve crimes. And this week, after Tyrone shows her he can transport himself at will, she mentions it isn’t her first experience with a powered individual before name-dropping her old friend Misty. As in Misty Knight from Luke Cage and The Defenders. Yes, it’s a little weird that she suggests Misty has powers—as a super nice prosthetic arm is in nowhere near the same category as teleportation and the ability to perceive people’s greatest fears with a touch.But otherwise: gender-swapped fridging! I was also pretty excited about that, which shows you how low that particular bar has been set.
Whatever—they’re in the same universe! Something suspected after O’Reilly was name-dropped on Netflix’s Luke Cage earlier this year. In addition to the confirmation that the show takes place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (presumably pre-snap), this week also marked the first time Cloak and Dagger well and truly lived up to their names.
Otherwise, I continue to love Aubrey Joseph's voice, in addition to the acting from him and co-lead Olivia Holt. There's something fascinating about his voice. Anyway, fun show, and it was amusing to hear the casual reference to the larger MCU.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:37 PM on July 21, 2018
A few episodes ago, Ty more or less says/implies/something that Tandy can successfully con people and survive on the streets because she's a pretty white girl, or something like that. I thought that was pretty awesome. I think one of the writers has a little extra race/gender/class/nuance than the yay-PC-SJW-lip-service thing. So yeah, the reverse-fridging I guess is hilarious and deliberate? Sort of took me out of it, though. And sort of a shitty not-super-interesting thing to do to the O'Reilly character.
posted by zeek321 at 12:03 AM on July 22, 2018
posted by zeek321 at 12:03 AM on July 22, 2018
Sort of took me out of it, though.
Yeah, that's what I meant by finding it a bonkers writing choice. Once something has been so trope-i-fied, I don't know that it can be used unironically. Like, you can't kill a character by dropping a piano on them and be surprised if the audience finds it cartoonish. And, it's logistically baffling too -- who aside from a maniacal super-villain would bother with post-mortem fridging? In a real-world setting, it means the killer is lingering at the crime scene to take all the food & shelving out of the refrigerator in order to fit the body in there, increasing the likelihood of getting caught in the act and/or shedding DNA, just for dramatic effect? Like finding your loved one dead on the kitchen floor wouldn't be upsetting enough, they gotta go for the jack-in-the-box jump-scare?
The gender-reversal didn't work for me in canceling out the too-tropey effect.
posted by oh yeah! at 8:03 AM on July 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
Yeah, that's what I meant by finding it a bonkers writing choice. Once something has been so trope-i-fied, I don't know that it can be used unironically. Like, you can't kill a character by dropping a piano on them and be surprised if the audience finds it cartoonish. And, it's logistically baffling too -- who aside from a maniacal super-villain would bother with post-mortem fridging? In a real-world setting, it means the killer is lingering at the crime scene to take all the food & shelving out of the refrigerator in order to fit the body in there, increasing the likelihood of getting caught in the act and/or shedding DNA, just for dramatic effect? Like finding your loved one dead on the kitchen floor wouldn't be upsetting enough, they gotta go for the jack-in-the-box jump-scare?
The gender-reversal didn't work for me in canceling out the too-tropey effect.
posted by oh yeah! at 8:03 AM on July 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
Second season confirmed!!
posted by Pendragon at 1:52 PM on July 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Pendragon at 1:52 PM on July 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
Damn, yeah that's a shitty thing to do to O'Reilly, although the police in this show are finally getting more interesting. I also thought the literal fridging was a bold statement. I did feel like Ty and O'Reilly was taking Connors down a bit too easily.
Also, how does Scarborough not follow-up with how Tandy got in the building? Security protocols usually follow up with what keycards are used during those hours, and Mrs. Johnson would definitely be questioned. But perhaps Scarborough didn't want to follow-up since he's living in fear now.
I'm glad to see Ty successfully control his powers now though.
posted by numaner at 3:37 PM on July 23, 2018
Also, how does Scarborough not follow-up with how Tandy got in the building? Security protocols usually follow up with what keycards are used during those hours, and Mrs. Johnson would definitely be questioned. But perhaps Scarborough didn't want to follow-up since he's living in fear now.
I'm glad to see Ty successfully control his powers now though.
posted by numaner at 3:37 PM on July 23, 2018
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I did like the "my friend Misty" name-drop tie-in to the larger MCU-verse. And the song at the end was very pretty - the singer's voice sounded like what I imagine Tyrone's singing voice sounds like. (Have I said before how much I love Aubrey Joseph's voice? There's just something about the way it's pitched that is off-kilter distinctive somehow.)
posted by oh yeah! at 2:05 PM on July 21, 2018 [4 favorites]