Cloak and Dagger Season 2 Episode 5 Review: Alignment Chart

Tyrone and Tandy get into a fight at the worst possible time, just as their hopes and fears come to a head.

This Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger review contains spoilers for Season 2, Episode 5.

Cloak and Dagger Season 2, Episode 5

We’re all stronger when we have others backing us up—a lesson that Tyrone remembers and Tandy forgets (or at least actively rails against) in “Alignment Chart.” 

Following Tandy’s return from the Darkforce dimension, things are already strained between Tyrone and Tandy. Ty is annoyed that Tandy brought Connors back, while Tandy is annoyed (and probably a little bit guilty) that Tyrone is annoyed.

Connors’ return ends up bringing unexpected results for Ty. Apparently, Connors’ time in the Darkforce gave him the space to think about his own actions. A guilt that was probably already there to begin with (I really do believe that all of us have the capacity for good inside of us), grows. Upon Connors’ return to our dimension, he tells Tyrone that he wants to bring him to justice for what he did to Billy and to Ty. (And probably to Fuchs, too.)

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read more: Cloak and Dagger Season 2 Episode Guide

At first, Tyrone is understandably suspicious. Having to watch Connors shoot his brother has been one of the foundational pillars of his identity (though far from who he is). Past that, Tyrone has never been able to trust the police past Brigid. He is a black man in America where, for people who look like him, putting any faith in the police can mean death.

Luckily, Tyrone doesn’t try to make the decision of what he should do alone. Tandy may not be a lot of help, distracted by her own mission, so Ty goes to his mother and father—after all, Billy’s death was their tragedy, too. While Ty’s dad seems disinclined to let his son become a murderer (or, perhaps, even witness Connors’ murder), it’s unclear where Ty’s mom will fall on the “What to do with Connors?” question. The episode ends for Ty with his bringing Connors to his house, implying that he will let his mother have the final judgment on what is just.

read more: Emma Lahana Talks Mayhem

Meanwhile, Tandy continues her mission to find out and take down the group that has been drugging women and whisking them away in ambulances. To do so, she seeks out Lia, the woman who leads the support group she and her mother often attend. In an attempt to manipulate Lia into thinking they have common ground, Tandy manipulates Ty into meeting her in a park so she can make it seem like he is her abusive ex-boyfriend.

Ty is understandably upset when he figures out what is happening. He left Connors so that he could check in with Tandy, only to discover that she is using him for her own, somewhat selfish aims. Tandy seems to know she messed up, but, as Tandy is wont to do, doubles down on her current mission when she is called out on her self-destructive (and sometimes destructive) behavior.

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Tandy’s plan works… or so she thinks. She gets Lia to open up about her own abusive ex-boyfriend, who she says probably knows who has been taking the young women. Tandy goes in by herself, beating up the dudes who are inside, but not getting any answers. Unfortunately, she gets her answer the hard way when Lia shows up and tases her. It turns out that Lia is somehow involved with the abductions—the perfect person to find targets from within her work at the support center.

read more: How Cloak & Dagger Makes the MCU a Better Place

This is why you take backup, Tandy! The episode ends with Tandy drugged inside the back of an ambulance, fallen prey to the operation she was trying to bust. I’m not ready to count Tandy out just yet, but she has no doubt gotten herself into a very precarious position—not to mention pissed off an already distracted Tyrone at a time when she needs her best friend the most.

The whole episode was told via frame tale, as Cloak and Dagger has done before. Throughout most of the episode, we are led through the narrative by a story Tandy is telling about The Farmer and The Viper. Tandy is dressed up and lit by an angelic light that suggests she is not in the real world, but rather her hope-shaped plane of existence.

While the frame tale may not have worked well throughout the episode, often creating confusion rather than thematic clarity, the exploration of Tandy’s hopes in the episode’s final moments were fascinating. In Tandy’s dream, she is surrounded by her own and Tyrone’s families. Tyrone is a police officer, and Tandy is tasked with giving a toast for her best friend.

It is obviously not reality. Not only does Tyrone’s mother greet Tandy like an old friend, but, in this world’s most unsettling detail, Tandy’s father is there. She embraces him without hesitation, totally at peace with the person he is—because this is Tandy’s dream and, in her dream, her father was not abusive, but a source of uncomplicated love and protection. 

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Additional thoughts.

Tyrone pulls off a major heist in this episode, with a little help from Brigid. When Connors tells him about a stash of secrets at the white, rich person club The Promenade, Ty manages to steal the wine bottle (of course it’s a wine bottle!) they’re meant to be in. The files aren’t, implying that Connors lied. Personally, I believe him. He’s been in the Darkforce dimension a while; there’s nothing to say his uncle didn’t move them in that time.

I love the look of encouragement that the employee at The Promenade Club shared with Ty. As someone who has worked in the hospitality industry, knowing looks are sometimes the only way to get through a work day.

Marvel should be allowed to release no other content the week of Avengers: Endgame. That is all.

Kayti Burt is a staff editor covering books, TV, movies, and fan culture at Den of Geek. Read more of her work here or follow her on Twitter @kaytiburt.

Rating:

3 out of 5