Freeform's Cloak & Dagger - Episode 2.08 "Two Player"
Tandy and Evita must go to great lengths when Tyrone is put in a dangerous situation. Adina looks to someone surprising for help.
In 2018, there were 495 scripted shows airing amongst the linear channels and streaming services. The way people are consuming content now is so different than it used to be. It happens according to one's own schedule. As such, there is less necessity to provide ample coverage of each specific episode in any given season from a show. Moreover, it is simply impossible to watch everything. As such, this site is making the move to shorter episodic reviews in order to cover as many shows as possible. With all of that being said, here are my thoughts on the next episode of Freeform's Cloak & Dagger'
"Two Player" was written by Kate Rorick & Joy Kecken and directed by Jessika Borsiczky
Tyrone is dying from cryptic injuries here. In fact, it almost seems as if it is a choice whether he is going to keep on living or just give up. That's what Tandy finds when she reunites with him in the alternate dimension that houses all of these supernatural beings. He is in perfectly stable condition in the church. Smoke just continues to pour off of him. It gets to the point where Tandy and Brigid are allowed to travel to this dimension once more in the hopes of getting answers. But it's ultimately not because of anything they do that Tyrone is saved from this fate. Instead, it's all about Evita being the hero despite her making a huge sacrifice for her personal life. She is so eager to save Tyrone's life that she doesn't even realize her auntie is dead on the floor. That's a stark image. It proves that there seemingly was a consequence to her interaction with Andre in the previous hour. Andre continues to emerge as a serious threat too. He may not even be loyal to Lia at the end of the day. He just sees her as his willing partner who will continue to supply pain and misery to him in order to alleviate his own. Once he gets that here, he is more than fine leaving her on the side of the road. He is too interested in figuring out how to elevate to god-like status. That's his core mission and even seems to unlock a clue by noticing that his veve has a resemblance to sheet music. That's dangerous. And yet, Brigid is willing to give up a piece of her personal freedom in order to let Mayhem free to track him down. They are now no longer two separate people. They don't return as one either. Now, they appear to be sharing the same body with Mayhem in the driver's seat. That's a fascinating twist that promises even more chaos and destruction. That is already playing out with her burning down the hotel room that housed all of the abused women. But all of this ultimately revolves around the need to pull Tyrone back to reality. Now, it's a very stylistic and visual story. It's fun to see Tyrone and Tandy descend into the world of an arcade two player game. It presents a simplistic view of the world where they just have to defeat the enemies standing right in front of them. These bad guys are non-specific as well. There is no fear over the morality of using lethal violence against them. It's all just an idealistic goal of the perfect way to use their powers. It's the world that Tyrone wants to live in. He doesn't want the reality where all of his actions only seem to make things worse. He doesn't even know that the girls he and Tandy have just rescued are being charged with prostitution instead of being treated as the victims of human trafficking. That is absolutely horrifying. Tandy, Tyrone and Brigid are the only people fighting to get justice for them. They are all just completely distracted here. Tandy lashes out against how unfair the game is. She tries to reason with Tyrone about how she needs him in his life. Both of their minds have been messed with by Andre who tried to use their fears and absence of hope against them. They have to remain strong. It's just ultimately Evita's decision to replace her aunt and marry a Loa that saves Tyrone. She makes a deal which allows him to come back to life. That too may be too simplistic of an ending. There is no real sense of what this will do to the relationship between Evita and Tyrone. She accepts it because of her love for her aunt who she sees celebrating with all the other spirits. She has the potential to fill this role well. But there is always the fear that people are one bad decision away from completely destroying their lives. Throughout all of this, Adina is fighting to get justice for Tyrone. But she is also more than willing to kill Connors to get her revenge for what he did to Billy as well. Plus, Melissa has fallen off the wagon again which is absolutely devastating to Tandy. But at least she has Tyrone to comfort her.
