SPOILER WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for "Two Player," the latest episode of Cloak & Dagger.
Freeform's Cloak & Dagger just retold Tandy and Tyrone's comic book origin story like you've never seen it before. In "Two Player," the latest episode, Tyrone got stuck in the world inside his cloak. To get him back, Tandy was forced to play a metaphysical video game that adapted their meet-cute straight from the comics.
Last week, Tyrone collapsed after he rescued Tandy from Andre Deschaine's human trafficking ring. In a desperate bid to save him, Tandy and Brigid O'Reilly entered his cloak to retrieve him. Tandy and Brigid quickly got separated, with Tandy encountering Baron Samedi and Brigid reconciling with her alter ego Mayhem.
Appearing to her as a carnival worker, Baron Samedi informed Tandy she would have to convince Tyrone to come home. In order to do that, she had to play Tyrone's game, which took the form of a literal arcade booth. Tandy accepted and approached as Ty toggled the controls, lost in concentration. When he lost, he invited her to play with him. She accepted, but was surprised at what she found.
The game revolved a 16-bit version of them. In the game, Tyrone wore his hoodie and Tandy wore her ballet practice outfit. The story played out, with the game's version of Tandy stepping off a bus and saying, "Gee! This place is a lot bigger than home!" -- a scene adapted directly from the comics. As in the comics, a thief snatched her bag almost immediately, leading them to chase him down an alley.
Soon, the game's Tandy and Tyrone realized it was a trap. Two men sprung out of the shadows and grabbed them, holding them there until a masked figure appeared at the end of the alley. As the game zoomed in on the figure, text appeared on the screen with Tandy and Tyrone's in-game mission: "You've been injected with radioactive heroin. Find and fight the man who did it!"
This follows Tandy and Tyrone's comic book origin almost exactly. As revealed in Bill Mantlo and Rick Leonardi's Cloak and Dagger #4, our heroes were merely runaway teenagers when they arrived in New York City. When Tandy stepped off the bus, Tyrone considered robbing her, but another thief beat him to it. When Tyrone got it back for her, they became fast friends.
However, they were soon kidnapped and brought to chemist Simon Marshall, who was developing a cheap new brand of heroin for the mob. He experimented on runaways like Tyrone and Tandy, largely with fatal results. Unlike the others in their unfortunate group, they survived the experimentation, with some new powers to boot. This experience leads them to declare war against drugs using their supernatural abilities.
In the show, of course, Tandy and Tyrone got their powers through happenstance. They both happened to be in the right place at the right time when a Roxxon explosion saturated them with Dark Matter, which gave them their abilities. Those powers have continued to grow and adapt through Season 2, with both characters experiencing major changes -- not the least of which is Tyrone's ability to transport people to this other reality in which he found himself trapped.
Fortunately for everyone involved, Tyrone's girlfriend Evita managed to extract him from this place. Unfortunately for Evita, she had to pledge herself forever a loa in exchange.
Airing Thursdays at 8 pm ET/PT on Freeform, Cloak & Dagger stars Olivia Holt as Tandy Bowen/Dagger and Aubrey Joseph as Tyrone Johnson/Cloak, as well as Emma Lahana as Brigid O'Reilly/Mayhem, Andrea Roth as Tandy’s mother Melissa Bowen, Gloria Reuben as Tyrone’s mother Adina Johnson, Miles Mussenden as Tyrone’s father Michael Johnson and J.D. Evermore as Detective Connors.