Cloak and Dagger, “Shadow Selves”, Review!

The last episodes of Cloak and Dagger had them tracking down the ambulance driver taking away girls.  This also unleashed Mayhem!  It opens to a white mouse tested by Mina Hess (Ally Maki) exposed to the Terror.  She also mentions that he was tested on humans.  The power shorts out.  It comes back on and there are two mice!   One is vicious and kills the other!  We get the title, “242 Days Ago”, it is night, and figure claws out of the lake.  It is Brigid O’Reilly.  She returns to her apartment, on her tv is news reports of the Terror, notices her dark green fingernatils, and drinks from her kitchen fawcett.   Brigid starts to lash out and throws her refrigerator down.  She hears that Detective O’Reilly is taken to the hospital.  We get “240 Days Ago”, O’Reilly is taken on a gurney and her counterpart who looks just like her checks her hair.  She brings up a pillow, to snuff her out, then hears voices.  An officer enters the room to check it and the O’Reilly double drops from a vent.  It shifts to “Now” with the bloody hand of the dark O’Reilly.     

CLOAK AND DAGGER -- “Shadow Selves” -- AUBREY JOSEPH, OLIVIA HOLT, EMMA LAHANA -- Photo Credit: Freeform/Alfonso Bresciani.

Tyrone, Tandy, and O’Reilly stare at the dark O’Reilly.  He knows she killed the gang members at the club.  Dark O’Reilly draws her gun, but Tyrone cloaks them away.  Tyrone is out of breath using his power.  Tandy has questions O’Reilly about her dark half.  Tyrone calms her down.  Mina checks out Tyrone.  She tells them mice number eleven split.  This is what happened to O’Reilly.  She shares everything with her double up to the division.  Mina says the double only has anger.  O’Reilly says, “Mayhem.”  I love this twist!  The comic book had O’Reilly transform into Mayhem and this Jekyll meeting Hyde works with the Divine Pairing.  “236 Days Ago”, Mayhem O’Reilly takes some cigarettes to an apartment.  “Now”, Brigid says she can’t shoot anymore, Tandy says that she will know where Mayhem is going.  She takes them to S.R.O. a hotel for the desperate, the clerk is fearful, but O’Reilly gets the keys to “her” room.  Inside, they see pictures on the wall, Mayhem has taken her suspects to kill them!  At the church, Father Delgado (Jaime Zevallos) puts his things into a box except a cross, it’s “200 Days Ago.”  He walks out with the box, but is questioned by Dark O’Reilly asking about Tyrone Johnson.  She says she’s no longer a police officer.  He has given up being a priest.  

He walks off, “Now”, they are studying the wall of Mayhem.  Tyrone opens a case with guns.  O’Reilly is putting together the next steps.  Tandy says the ambulance driver says that there was another job.  Tyrone takes out Tandy who is getting upset.  He wonders if Tandy thinks he is like Mayhem.  She says he is a protector.  O’Reilly finds the cards that Mayhem was using to sort out people.  It is strange, but the dark double also reminds me of the movie Us.  She shows them the playing cards that she uses as a police officer.  O’Reilly has found that she is following the New Orleans sex trade.  A man, I did not recognize this was Father Delgado!, is spouting out rants about sin, drinking on a street corner. Then, he collapses.  She tells him that she is about to sin.  Then, we see the sign of the “Glitter Gutter Strip Club.”  We see “122 Days Ago”, the Connors card is placed by Mayhem on her wall, the first one.  She writes on another card ,”Who is his partner?”  She enters a police car and begins using a computer search taking a picture with her cell phone.  Wyatt, an officer, asks why she is in his patrol car.  She says his car was unlocked so he should get her a coffee.  O’Reilly goes to her chief (Andrea Frankle) to ask about Connors.  Her chief says she might have a “dark streak”, then Wyatt gives her the coffee.  “Now”, the group is headed to the next strip club, Tyrone is hesistant.  O’Reilly waits outside with her gun while the duo enters.  

CLOAK AND DAGGER -- “Shadow Selves” -- EMMA LAHANA -- Photo Credit: Freeform/Alfonso Bresciani.

Tandy passes a dancer, the lights flash, and Mayhem holds up a man.  Tandy throws her Light Dagger and Mayhem catches it!  She runs at Mayhem, but is thrown down.  O’Reilly pulls a gun at her double!  Mayhem tells her to shoot.  There was no hesitation in Us.  O’Reilly lowers her gun and Mayhem walks away.  Mayhem puts up more pictures on the wall, “113 Days Ago”, she attends a city hall meeting in glasses and baseball cap.  A vote is made for an investigation on violence towards a woman.  The last member to vote is Adina Johnson who looks at a man and votes no upsetting the entire room.  The man leaves and his car stalls.  He opens the hood to check it when Mayhem talks to him.  He is a former police officer.  She slams him into the car and chokes him.  He had defended Connors.  She slashes his neck.  It is “102 Days Ago”, Mayhem walks up to a man on the street.  She tells the street preacher about her victim.  Mayhem gives him a drink.  She walks away and stumbles on a flyer for a missing girl.  She sees others.  It is again “Now” with the trio looking for Mayhem.  They see crying girls who say Mayhem saved them.  There is a dead body of a man and O’Reilly’s badge.  It is strange in the chaos after the Terror that the only justice is the brutal “justice” of a killer.  

Tandy is frustrated over the size of the slave trade.  Mayhem puts up the missing posters on her wall, “48 Hours Ago”, she enters the club and begins taking down the gang members.  “Now”, Tandy and Tyrone get from O’Reilly that the girls are too fearful, Tandy takes hold of one girl’s hand with her Dagger glow.  Darkness, she sees the girl is alone and crying.  She has no hope Tandy says.  He thinks back and sees the girl in the ambulance gurney falling out, she is the same girl he saw cloaking in, he sees a building.  Delgado preaches and throws down the bottle.  The duo return to the building.  I love the connection with Tyrone that was seemingly random, but becomes important.  “36 Hours Ago”, O’Reilly on the street, the reflection was actually Mayhem!  “Now”, Tyrone has scouted the place, he Cloaks in, to see gang members hanging out.  One walks as a guard with a gun past rooms.  He returns to tell Tandy what he saw.  Tyrone doesn’t want to wait for Mayhem like Tandy wants because his brother died playing things Mayhem’s way.  Dagger forms the light globe and throws it into the building blinding the gang.  Tyrone Cloaks two girls to O’Reilly.  The gang members return to find the girls are gone.  Tandy stands up with a gun pulled on her!  The gang member is run over by a truck.  Mayhem walks out of the truck.  She takes the gang members gun and fires on the gang members, Tandy stands behind her.  Cloak takes away the boy he saw stunned at his powers.  Then, he brings Mayhem into his cloak!  He looks at Tandy, their partnership is in trouble! In Cloak's world, Mayhem walks to a gas station.  She opens a refrigerator to see Fuchs’ body.  He smiles at her and tells her about pancakes.  This episode is intense, brings together so many threads, and powerful acting by the characters.  I think the best episode of the series! 

Five Light Daggers out of Five!      

#CloakandDagger, #ShadowSelves, #AllyMaki, #JaimeZevallos