On the series premiere of Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger, Tandy and Tyrone’s backstories are revealed and they learn of their powers.
“First Light” starts by introducing the audience to the two main protagonists as children. Tandy Bowen calls her father Nathan for a ride home when ballet practice finishes. She practices in the rain until he picks her up. She asks about her mother, who he says is having back trouble. Tandy asks about all the pills her mom takes and her dad says everything will be fine.
At the same time, Tyrone Johnson walks the streets of his neighborhood and finds his brother Billy chatting with friends. The young men want to steal a car stereo because the owner didn’t pay them what was owed. Tyrone pretends to go home but he watches as the others argue and decides not to steal the stereo. Tyrone breaks in and takes the stereo and gives it to Billy, who says they should take it back. Police see them and chase them to the docks, right as Tandy and her father are going over the bridge.
Nathan’s on the phone with his company telling them to shut down a rig because if not, it’s going to collapse and cause multiple explosions. Moments later he sees the rig fall and swerves to miss another vehicle, sending the car into the water. Simultaneously, the police catch up with the boys, shooting and killing Billy when the rig explodes. He falls into the water and Tyrone jumps in after his brother.
Both Tandy and Tyrone are unable to save their family members. They both are trapped underwater, Tyrone in darkness and Tandy in the light of the vehicle that landed on their car. The next explosion happens and Tyron reaches for the light, for Tandy. She reaches back for towards the dark shadows to Tyrone, and they lock hands.
In the present day, Tandy scans a club for someone to con. She settles on a rich guy named Rick and subtly suggests they have a party at his place instead. At the house, she makes drinks for them and later when he starts kisses her, she tries to pull away. He insinuates since he’s paid for her drinks, he’s entitled to her body. As he starts stumbling around, she lets him know she drugged him and is there to rob the house. Tandy’s boyfriend Liam shows up and helps her take stuff. After, he drops her off at a house. She waits until he leaves, walks across the road, and sneaks into a church.
Tyrone is playing basketball and being targeted by someone on the other team. The referee ignores him and when the player pushes him to the ground, Tyrone has finally had enough. He hits the other player and a fight breaks out. Tyrone’s parents were at the game and are disappointed in their son. The scene goes into between Tandy and Tyrone as they get ready for bed. He in his nice home, her in an abandoned church. Tyrone hears his parents arguing and puts on music to shut them out. Tandy takes some drugs and puts earphones in before going to sleep.
In another childhood flashback, Tandy watches as men take away her father’s belongings. Melissa, Tandy’s mother, objects but the men say the items are the property of the Roxxon Corporation. Tandy hears the men are using her father as a scapegoat for the explosion. Back in the present, Liam pawns the stolen items. Liam isn’t able to get much money and Tandy is upset. He mentions a big party happening in the woods later. Before going to the party, Tandy goes to her mother’s trailer and hides her pills and money.
At school, Tyrone’s classmate Evita flirts with him and asks him to come to the same party. At the party, Tandy runs into him, spilling a drink on his jacket. The two chat and she leaves, saying she’s going to find some paper towels. Evita sees Tyrone and asks him to buy her a drink. Tyrone agrees, but he realizes Tandy stole his wallet. He calls out to Tandy, and she starts running. He follows her through the woods and into a graveyard.
Tyrone catches up and grabs her hand. Their powers manifest and they are both flung back. In her hand is light, in his darkness. When Tandy looks at the dark shadows in his hand, she wonders he’s the boy who saved her and asks. He confirms it and wants them to talk, but when he touches her, her hand gets brighter and she yells. Tyrone closes his eyes against the light, and when he opens them, Tandy is gone.
Later, Tandy and Liam sit in his truck and she looks at her hands. She asks if he believes in a higher power or miracles, and he says no. She starts talking about the hand that pulled her out of the crash but doesn’t finish. Liam notes she will start talking about something important and then pull away.
Tyrone gets home and climbs into bed. When he wakes up, he finds himself on a roof beside a Roxxon Corp sign, his sheet wrapped around him like a cloak. In a flashback, Tyrone and his family go to the police after Tyrone tells them what happened to his brother. The cops cover it up, claiming no cop fired a gun that night and that Billy death was due to drugs. To discredit Tyrone further, his parents are shown a video of him stealing the stereo. The cop claims no one matches Tyrone’s description is a cop.
When Tyrone leaves the building, he sees the cop who killed his brother, Detective Connors. The man puts his badge around his neck and gets into his car. Later, Tyrone tries to get a cabbie to take him home, but he has no money.
Tandy accidentally cuts herself when her mother surprises her by coming home early. The two talk and Melissa wonders why Tandy isn’t at Liam’s. Melissa quit her job, again. She talks about going back to court and says she’s seeing a lawyer. Tandy disagrees and Melissa notices her cut. She touches Tandy, and Tandy has a vision. She sees herself as a child and her parents talking to one another about their perfect life. Tandy pulls away from her mother and both of them are confused when Tandy starts to talk about what she saw.
At home, Tyrone searches for Connors on the internet and finds a picture of him with some other cops. His mother Adina comes in and they talk. She confronts him about missing school and his behavior lately. He confesses the weight of trying to be perfect for his parents is too much. She lets him know she’s worried she will lose him like she lost his brother.
Tandy goes to the ballet with the stolen ballet tickets but ends up sitting in the rafters. As she’s leaving, the guy she stole from, Rick, and his friends arrive. In another flashback, after the two children saved each other, Tandy woke up on the beach. She looked around, took Tyrone’s hoodie and her pink bag and left. Back in the present, Tandy apologizes for taking Rick’s stuff, but he says it’s not enough and pushes her against the wall and tells his friends to leave. He attempts to rape her, but light pushes through her hands, creating a dagger which stabs Rick.
Tyrone goes to sleep and wakes up in the trunk of Connors’s car. Tyrone finds drugs in the trunk, which he uses along with a tire iron to get away when Connor’s opens the trunk to do a drug deal. He runs and hides in an abandoned warehouse but Connors finds him and presses him against the wall. The room goes dark and Tyrone sees what happened seconds after Connors shot his brother. Connors said his uncle would help him cover up the murder. Back in the present, Tyrone pushes away and runs but Connors follows and shoots. Tyrone finds himself back in his own room, a black tarp and a bullet the only proof he was gone.
In a flashback scene on the beach, Tyrone wakes up alone and sees Tandy’s ballet slipper. Back in the present, he holds the ballet slipper in his hands. Meanwhile, Tandy tries to get her powers to work. She looks at Tyrone’s old hoodie, puts it on and hugs herself tightly.
Cloak & Dagger has found a new fan. I've only read one comic that had both characters in it, so I wasn’t sure what to expect from this show. I think this was a good premiere. So far, I like Tandy and Tyrone. I’m interested in learning more about them, their powers, and seeing how their relationship develops.
Cloak & Dagger airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on Freeform.