Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger – Princeton Offense

By: Darryl Ley

In the dawn at a beach we see a man, Louden Swift (Zachary Perez-Rukavina), with an artificial arm sweeping. He tells us that he is a veteran who lost him arm. This is a Roxxon commercial. We then see Tandy (Olivia Holt) watching at the church where she is surrounded by paperwork which she is sifting through. She begins laying things out in an order and then stands back looking it all over as we move to the title card.

Detective Bridgid O’Reilly (Emma Lahana) is having sex with Officer Fuchs (Lane Miller) in his car when she gets a call to come in. At the precinct she is talking to Tyrone (Aubrey Joseph), seemingly at first, about the missing bike but the conversation is in fact about his brother’s shooting. He is there because Tandy told him she could be trusted, but O’Reilly says he can’t. She explains that Detective Connors in in Vice, which allows him to hide in the shadows protected by the police department. Tyrone tells her about the drug deal he interrupted and is told to go home and be a kid when he suggests he can help.

Back at school, Tyrone notices that his locker has been decorated by Evita (Noëlle Renée Bercy). He feels someone next to him and turns to thank Evita only to find Tandy standing there. She apologises for the fight at the church and reveals that she now has control over her power. Tandy also notes that whoever it was who decorated his locker really likes him before asking Tyrone if they have a computer lab at the school.

At the computer lab Tandy does research on the Roxxon website while talking to Tyrone about the championship game. She asks him if he loves basketball and he replies he used to when he played with his brother and his friends. As Tandy prints out profiles of high level Roxxon employees Tyrone asks how she got control of her powers and she reveals it was a near death experience that did it. She suggests that they should use their abilities to look at fears and hopes, but Tyrone thinks it is too much of an invasion of privacy.

Tyrone heads back to the hall where the pregame festivities are about to begin for the championship game. One of the players who beat him up and locked him in the equipment room compliments Tyrone on his jump shot and when reminded of what he did tells Tyrone that he’s played better since it happened. Then, the cheerleaders come in including Evita. Tyrone thanks her for the locker and she says that is what friends are for, which surprises Tyrone. We see another member of the team give his letterman jacket to his girlfriend, one of the cheerleaders, to much cheering.

Tandy watches the pep rally and decides on a plan stealing a girl’s uniform from the locker room before she leaves the school. At the police precinct Detective O’Reilly is looking at information from Billy Johnson’s case when she is interrupted by Officer Fuchs. He tells her about the drug scene in New Orleans and a crackdown that happened eight years ago, which is also the same time that Detective Connors moved to Vice.

Tyrone is at home looking at an old picture of his brother with his friends. He takes it down to talk to his mother Adina Johnson (Gloria Reuben) about old times. Tyrone said he always wanted to be like his brother and to make him proud but now that he is at the championship game Billy isn’t here to see. After the two talk and bond, Tyrone goes to return the photo to the stairs when his power activates, and he teleports to a workshop. Duane (Dalon J. Holland), one of Billy’s friends, comes around the corner and recognizes Tyrone. The first thing he says is that it is like Tyrone knew he was thinking of him and turned up.

Duane has been following Tyrone’s basketball career and the two talk about the championship. Tyrone learns that Duane owns this workshop and how he got started. Duane thinks that the only way to live is to look forward not to the past and thinks on what life would be if Billy was still around. Back at the church Tandy adds profiles with pictures of some of the Roxxon executives.  She finds that there is a Roxxon Gala happening that night. On further investigation she finds an in as one of the executives is pictured with an escort and follows the social media hashtag back to the modelling agency that organizes the women.

Tandy goes to register with the agency and is taken through what to do while representing them as well as the possibility of extras happening outside the scope of the agency. Tyrone brings Evita into the priest’s office where he presents her with his letterman jacket. She’s worried that he is feeling pressured into it, but eventually accepts and she reminds him again that she pays attention to him.

We see Tyrone’s championship match intercut with Tandy’s arrival at the Roxxon Gala. Tandy uses her powers freely “reading” people while Tyrone plays. After a steal and quick basket Tyrone is confused by a bad call from the referee for a foul when no contact was made. Detective O’Reilly goes to see Liam Walsh (Carl Lundstedt), Tandy’s ex. She asks him if he wants to pass on a message to Tandy and Liam is surprised that she is still in New Orleans. Eventually, O’Reilly asks him about the local drug scene specifically at the club where he and Tandy profiled their victims.

Back at the game we see the same referee make another bad call while at the Gala Tandy looks for the executives from Roxxon. There is a loose ball scramble at the game and Tyrone manages to come out with it. The referee making the bad calls touches him and Tyrone’s power activates. We see that the referee is in trouble with a bookie and his fear is being tortured if the wrong result in the championship game happens. As Tyrone comes out of the vision he realizes the ball is gone and we see it has teleported over to the Gala, falling directly in front of Tandy.

At the game it is half time and we see Tyrone head into the locker room. At the Gala Tandy “reads” one of the executives, seeming him in the board room being served a drink by an older man in a suit. She touches another and this time we see the executive on a call while the older man is tied up and strapped to the wall. Tyrone looks at his hands seemingly confused by something before grabbing a towel and putting it over his head. Tandy touches another executive and we see in this vision the older man approaching the executive and about to perform a sex act on him as he watches on.

Tandy is enjoying herself and smiling as she looks around for the next victim only to see Tyrone appear in front of her. Tyrone is confused but when he finds out what Tandy is doing there he realizes that her use of her power has been affecting him all night and blames her. She says she is close to figuring out the main person in charge. Just as she turns she sees a photo featuring the older gentleman Peter Scarborough (Wayne Pere) and she recognis him as the same man who led the group who came to her house after her father’s death and took all his work stuff.

Tyrone wants her to figure out how to get him back to the game and she suggests the near-death experience thing, but he refuses. She distracts him by talking about how important the game is and then Tandy pushes him over the railing causing him the fall to the floor below. Fortunately, he teleports as soon as he hits a pond water feature.

Tyrone gets back to the game just at the end of the half time talk as the team heads back onto the court. Tandy encounters an extremely nervous Mina Hess (Ally Maki), who she initially thinks is drunk she reassures Mina and she heads off to do her speech. Detective O’Reilly has arrested a drug dealer and is quizzing her about where she gets her supply. The dealer questions why she isn’t being taken in and suggests that O’Reilly is just another corrupt cop.

Tandy continues her investigation at the church and finds a name for the older man in the suit and numerous documents that indicate he is the man at the top of the conspiracy. There are ten seconds left in the championship game with the score 66-65 in favor of the opposing team. Tyrone has the ball and uses his power to read the fear and stun the players on the other team. With seconds left he puts up a shot and misses it. It is unclear if done on purpose, but likely that it was as we see him smile to himself when leaving the court.

Tandy buzzes a front door and we see her in her stolen St. Sebastien’s uniform. She is at the house of Peter Scarborough. She asks to use his phone to call AAA because of a flat tire. Instead, Peter decides to come out and change the tire for her and as he does Tandy considers stabbing him with her light dagger but instead she “reads” him. In the vision we see Peter in a suit trudging around in the water like a fisherman emptying crab traps but instead of crabs there are bundles of cash, which he puts into a cooler slung over his arm.

As he pulls up traps we see there are seemingly dead Roxxon employees in the water bobbing to the surface. Peter checks them for money and kills one when it turns out he isn’t dead yet. The hat of the worker Peter strangles floats over to Tandy and when she takes a closer look she sees the name is Ivan Hess, the same last name as Mina from the Gala.

Tyrone heads up to his room only to find Evita waiting for him. She climbed in through his open window and he thinks that she wants to return his jacket because he is now a loser she laughs at him. She says she knows what he did with the ref and the other team but doesn’t specify. She reminds him again that she pays attention to him. She takes off the jacket and we see she is only wearing underwear beneath it and the two begin to kiss.

Detective O’Reilly is in what looks like the evidence room and is snorting cocaine when she gets interrupted by Detective Connors (J.D. Evermore) who quickly joins her in taking the drug. She talks about her time in the Narcotics squad and in Harlem and Connors suggests that maybe he was wrong about her.

The next morning we see Evita leaving Tyrone’s place opting to sneak out instead of surprising his parents. As Tyrone lays back he teleports back to Duane’s workshop in time to see Connors and Duane arguing. From the context we see that Connors is supplying Duane’s drug empire. Connors says that they are partners, but Duane refutes that especially he says after Connors shot his boy. Tyrone, reeling from this new information, walks away from them unseen.

Tandy is doing my research at the church and notices that her father and Ivan Hess signed off on the plans to the platform that exploded. She manages to track down Mina Hess as she is shooting a promotional video for Roxxon and we see that Mina has followed in her father’s footsteps and is working for Roxxon.