Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger season 1 episode 9 review: Back Breaker

Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger has Tandy and Tyrone falling into their old patterns. Will they rise to the occasion to truly become heroes?

Welcome back to our recaps of Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger! It’s the penultimate episode and we’re heading hard into the finale.

Not-So-Short Summary and Analysis

Welcome back Evita’s auntie! It’s been a handful of episodes since we’ve seen her, and she’s drawing a lot of chalk marks around the city, probably to ward off the coming evil.

The entire episode is framed with snippets of Evita in class sitting through a lecture about heroes. The making of heroes. And the paths they take along the way to really becoming heroes.

Tandy and Tyrone fall back to their old selves. Tandy turns to drugs and seduction and Tyrone turns back to his anger and frustration. We really see Tyrone’s anger, as he loses it on a classmate in the hallway. Heck, we even see his mom lose it at work and it’s nice to see his parents look human.

MARVEL’S CLOAK & DAGGER – “Back Breaker” – This episode of “Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger” airs Thursday, July 26 (8:00 – 9:00 p.m. EDT) on Freeform. (Freeform/Alfonso Bresciani)

MILES MUSSENDEN, GLORIA REUBEN, AUBREY JOSEPH

Mina Hess offers Tandy a job in her department. Instead of accepting, she takes Mina’s hopes and happiness and storms out. It’s a newfound power of Tandy’s, stealing that joy from people. And it leaves a heck of a mark — Mina ends up smushing one of her beloved bees.

Tyrone spends most of the episode in Catholic detention (holding two books, arms out to his sides, palms up). Tandy rescues Liam from jail and tries to make up with him. Tyrone sees his priest’s fear, a car crash entirely his fault due to alcohol. Tandy tries to take away Liam’s happiness, but Tyrone interrupts.

When Tandy goes to confront Tyrone at school, she tries to take Evita’s hopes, but she fights back. That’s when she realizes Tandy is the other half of the “divine pair” her auntie keeps mentioning. Evita runs off to make a voodoo doll of Tandy.

Of course, Cloak and Dagger ends up on bad terms as the episode ends. Until they both realize going back to their old ways does nothing for either of them.

It ends with SWAT coming after Tyrone and Roxxon coming after Tandy.

Badass Moment of the Week

Less badass and more completely blindsiding: Tyrone taking a swing at a Catholic priest.

Best One-Liner

“A little too much whiskey last night,” Tandy explains of her tired state.

“That, my dear, is why I stick to edibles,” Mina tells her, and my husband and I burst out laughing. It just came out so quickly and effortless.

Kudos to the show for that excellent Stan Lee cameo in Tandy’s house.

We won’t get into Detective O’Reilly except that she spends most of the episode drinking away her pain. Connors shows up at the wake for off-brand Avett Brother (Fuchs). O’Reilly tries to take him out (that’s a solid hit to the back of the head), but she’s too drunk. He gains the upper hand and it’s hard to watch her get her butt handed to her.

Next week’s Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger is the season finale! With the cops after Tyrone and Roxxon having Tandy’s mother at gunpoint, everything’s about to hit the fan. We’re going to get Cloak and Dagger finally working in tandem.