Many people dismissed Cloak & Dagger when it first premiered last year, but I was actually a big proponent for it. Sure, I’m happy to admit that it’s not the best superhero show out there, and it’s certainly not the one a casual fan should choose to watch over some of the other better ones out there, but season 1 was really good for people that were looking for a fresh, new superhero show. I thought that the show worked really well as a character study, giving a really interesting look into the lives of its two main protagonists, and the relationship between them that sparks from their connected struggles. Season 1 was kind of an origin story of sorts, and so now in season 2 we move on to what’s next for these characters.

If I’m being honest, season 2 ended up in a much different spot than I was initially expecting. This isn’t all bad, but I think it’s worth mentioning. Season 1 ended with our main detective, Brigid, getting some powers. The showrunners weren’t subtle about the fact that she had become Marvel villain Mayhem, and so the way things were advertised were that Tandy and Tyrone would be up against her in season 2. I was looking forward to this, because Mayhem is a cool villain. However, Mayhem honestly plays a pretty minor role in season 2 as a whole, so this is kind of disappointing.

What we get instead is a “missing girls” storyline. This seems to be a sub-plot in the first few episodes, but it becomes the main focus as the season goes on. This lends itself to a different main villain for the season, who I don’t want to spoil since it kind of is built up as a plot twist. However, while I was disappointed in not getting Mayhem, this villain was actually really great, and was probably the highlight of the season for me.

Despite this, season 2 actually disappointed me a bit overall. The show just seemed to lose some of its individual flavor that made it so unique in season 1, and it winded up falling into familiar territory for me. I think the big problem is that this season winds up losing some of its emphasis on the internal journeys of Tandy and Tyrone. There are certainly glimpses of it, and the relationship between them is definitely explored more, but on the whole their personal storylines just weren’t as strong as they were in season 1.

I felt like the season did get better as it went along though. It starts out strong in its first episode or two, but then it really drags in the middle of the season. However, once the villain is revealed, things pick up again. There are some interesting one-off ideas that explored in certain episodes too, similar to the episode in season 1 where Tandy and Tyrone have to escape the continuous loop of the Roxxon explosion. There are two that stand out in season 2: an episode where Tandy lives out alternate paths that her life could have taken, and another one where Tandy and Tyrone are inside of a video game. These episodes still play into the overall plot of the season, so they’re not filler episodes or anything, but they are really cool diversions.

All in all, I thought season 2 of Cloak & Dagger was good enough to warrant watching if you liked season 1, but that’s about the highest recommendation I can give to it. I tried pushing a bit in my season 1 review for people to give it a chance if they overlooked it, but I can’t quite justify the same level of recommendation for season 2. It’s not bad by any means, it’s just kind of standard by superhero show standards. Give it a try if you’re interested, but otherwise this one is skippable.

3/5