TV
Cloak & Dagger
One of the last of the 2017–2018 TV series to premier is Cloak & Dagger based on the Marvel comic of the same name on Freeform.
I could be wrong but I think that the comic book Cloak and Dagger was one of the books where there was a lot of talk about turning it into a movie in the 1980s and 1990s. And I can see why, the story centers around two teens and at that time teen oriented movies and TV series were very popular. So Cloak and Dagger on the big screen was a no-brainer. But for whatever reason that also kept other comics making their way to the big screen like X-Men and Spider-Man kept Cloak and Dagger off the big screen too.
Honestly, I come at this series without a lot of knowledge of the source material. I know that the essence of the Cloak and Dagger story is that there’s one character who’s a girl “Dagger” who can create powerful daggers of light while guy “Cloak” can absorb the bad guys into a darkness that surrounds him. And that’s about it. I never collected a Cloak and Dagger comic nor did the characters ever pop up in comics I did collect. So it’s interesting to come at something comic book related that I’m not already familiar with.
This TV Cloak & Dagger — yes, it uses an ampersand while the comic went with an “and” — stars Olivia Holt (Kickin’ It) as Tandy Bowen aka “Dagger” and Aubrey Joseph (The Night Of) as Tyrone Johnson aka “Cloak.”
The TV version takes place in modern day New Orleans where, as young children, Tandy and Tyrone meet after an oil rig explodes causing an accident that sends the car Tandy’s riding in crashing into a bay while Tyrone’s brother is shot by police, falls into the same water with Tyrone diving in after him. This explosion causes a big “something” that somehow gives both Tandy and Tyrone their powers.
Honestly this whole sequence had my “coincidence meter” pegged at “unbelievable” since all the different things that had to happen to put both Tandy and Tyrone in the same place was a little much. But thankfully the rest of the episode doesn’t rely on coincidence to this extent.
The rest of the first episode takes place in modern day where Tandy has become a grifter, using her good looks to get into people’s houses and steal from them. Tyrone is a high school student and basketball player so when the two meet at a party and Tandy steals Tyrone’s wallet and he gives chase and grabs her their powers suddenly manifest. Later on Tandy stabs a would-be rapist while Tyrone uses his power to travel around and hunt the cop who got away with killing his brother.
I thought Cloak & Dagger was interesting, if it seemed to be directed towards teens and twenty-somethings. Which is fine. I was just surprised that the episode contained sex, an attempted rape, drug use and alcohol use on Freeform, which used to be the old ABC Family and still airs The 700 Club from when the channel used to be The Family Channel.
Condor
Based on the 1975 movie Three Days of the Condor which was based on the 1974 novel Six Days of the Condor — guess they didn’t have the budget to do all six days in the film or any days apparently in the TV series, the new ATT/DIRECTV series simply titled Condor premiered last week on Audience. Starring Max Irons as Joe Turner, Robert Redford in the film, this new version updates the story a bit. The film had CIA analyst Turner go on the run when everyone at the office he works with is murdered after they uncovered something of import — Turner’s not sure what, only that it was worth killing everyone in the office to keep it a secret.
In this new version, Turner’s employers are more a silicon valley tech group working in DC for the CIA when an algorithm he created is used to uncover a terrorist about to release a deadly bio-toxin in the US. But when the group begins looking at who funded the creation of this weapon Turner gets too close to the truth so someone sends in two assassins to kill everyone there. Turner only escapes because he was out on a fire escape sharing a smoke with a co-worker who was killed when she turned left instead of right so Turner’s forced to go on the run alone.
I thought Condor was good if it had a bit too many plot-holes for my taste. The smoking section on the fire escape of a building so protected it has layers of security in order to get in with armed guards has got to be the biggest. But there’s also one of the assassins sleeping with Turner the night before the hit that strains credulity since who wants to leave DNA evidence at the guy’s apartment you’re going to try and kill?
Still, the whole “who can you trust” angle of the Condor story is interesting, so I’ll probably end up sticking around to see where this one goes. Even if the movie version of this told the same story in much less time than the ten episode TV series is set to.
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