Cloak & Dagger First Light (2018– ) Online

Okay, so this is my first official review on IMDB. The first episode was good. The acting was actually above average. I do wish this was on Netflix instead of Freeform, but still a great story even without the true grittiness of real life. i am a fan of the comics and have quite a few of this title. Watch this series because if it stays true to the comics, it will be great.

Two young children from different backgrounds find themselves in a fight for their nine (9) year old lives while they are quickly sinking to the bottom of the harbor and then an explosion occurs on the nearby oil rig which resonates with a a bright light that envelopes these two young children who are near to death by drowning.

The two nine (9) year old children reach out in the light and somehow find each other's hand and the next thing we see is that these two children had survived their ordeal under water and are now nineteen (19) year old teenagers struggling in their current lives living flashbacks of that fateful day that changed their lives forever.

Cloak and Dagger has leaped to a terrific start after watching just the first episode. The story line seamlessly intertwines science fiction/adventure and teenage drama with cinematic style landscapes and mystical musical interludes. The two main characters first meet at a very young age around nine (9) years old, while an oil rig explodes in the harbor and the two children appear to be drowning until a bright source of light envelopes the two of them. The two children reach out to hold hands as they float up towards breaking the water surface.

The opening episode then brings the two series stars from the past tense as nine (9) year olds to nineteen (19) year old struggling teenagers named Dagger (Olivia Holt) and Cloak (Aubrey Joseph) who serendipitously run into each other at a teenage booze party in the park. Both Cloak and Dagger have back flashes of that rainy evening that changed not only their lives but the lives of their respective families forever.

As in real life, troubled teens believe they have the weight of the entire world on their shoulders and Cloak and Dagger both carry a certain amount of undeserved guilt and demons within themselves. As a little girl Dagger loved taking ballet lessons and Cloak just wanted to impress his big brother by stealing a car radio when both of their entire worlds fell apart.

When these two troubled teens face off against each other it only takes a simple hand touch to remind them of that fateful night some ten years ago when lighting seems to then strike them twice in their young lifetime. I am genuinely looking forward to watching future episodes to see how the series storyline evolves and how Cloak and Daggers parents and so called "friends" continue to impact their lives.

It is simply an excellent start to a brand new TV series which is showing great potential. I give the series a perfect 10 out of 10 rating for its creativity and fine acting by the series stars Olivia Holt and Aubrey Joseph.

Given the central conceit of the superhero duo in the comics (that Tandy and Tyrone cannot survive without each other), it's frustrating to see the characters kept at arms length for the two-part pilot episode. It's a solid pilot, and the narrative beats make sense for an origin story, but it's superhero fatigue that makes getting through the exposition so cumbersome. It's a lot like Marc Webb's Amazing Spider-Man-totally serviceable and surprisingly well-produced, there are just a lot of narrative beats we've seen before. There's payoff in pretty much every following episode, so it's definitely worth sticking through.

I am binge watching the entire 1st season. Actually, I think it is worth an 8 1/2, rather than just an 8. True, the plot seems to plod along at first, but things begin to speed up during episode 8. There are some sights in the show that make me think the show is written for the 16+ age group. I still shudder at when I remember the lady police officer finding the upper half of her boyfriend's body in the refrigerator.

However, being the father of boys, I feel that the angst/guilt/anger Tyrone feels due to seeing his brother killed is true to life. His mother's hidden anger and his father's still present grief at the loss of their 1st born is also real. Tandy's life and lifestyle, as a result of growing up with a drug addict parent, is also real life.

So far, this is not a cheery program. Yet, I get the feeling that hope exists for the main characters.

I really love this show, but I can't rate over a 7 because of some of the continuity and some of the writing wasn't exactly on par.

At one point a maid of honor is going to pay for something after a reception. The room is empty except them and Cloak and Dagger. C&D leave the room very suddenly and hop into the supposed married couples car (cans dragging and Just Married on the back windshield). Now, in my experience, if the reception room is cleared and all the guests have gone, the happy couple should have been LONG gone.

Just little things like this irk me, but may not annoy others as much as me.