Marvel's Cloak & Dagger

Ty and Tandy have real depth. Throw in an evil corporation, an air of mystery and surprisingly dark content on a network that used to be called ABC Family, and you have a fascinating show that focuses on story, not special effects.

A refreshingly unpredictable and smart take on the usual caped-crusader fare.

The moments when Tandy and Tyrone do share the screen in the first episodes are relatively few and far between, but “Cloak & Dagger” makes them count. By the time they come back together, years after that fateful night in the lake, the show has given us a deeper window into the people they both became so that their meeting and the truth of their powers have even more impact. “Cloak & Dagger” takes its stories and itself seriously, and is hoping you do the same.

The actors are compelling and the writing is tight enough to make the show addictive, even if the first couple of episodes feel a bit like grim porn you have to slog through.

Like most other Marvel shows these connections are likely to be only surface-level for the foreseeable future, but it still speaks to the tricky balancing act all these shows have to achieve: exist in their own universe, yet walk their own path. Cloak and Dagger hasn’t escaped the problems that plague its brethren, but it has introduced some fresh components that make the latter feel like a real possibility.

It’s a rocky start, but once the series leans into its more formally audacious structures and brings its two leads together, Cloak & Dagger finds its identity and gives viewers a reason to invest.

Some of the larger narrative elements of season 1’s big mystery feel familiar (with a parent-killing Big Evil Company at the center of it all). But Cloak & Dagger finds a new groove when Tyrone and Tandy start talking. ... So there’s real potential here. Joseph and Holt have a nice rhythm, when the show lets them hang out.

Through its initial four episodes, the real star of Cloak & Dagger is the structure and editing and overall environment more than any individual actor. Every role has considerable potential, as does the show's superhero setup. Might I have liked to see more of that potential advanced and realized? Yes. But there's plenty to keep me watching with some enthusiasm.

While the show’s first hour doesn’t inspire much confidence in the series, save for a poignant scene between Tyrone and his mother (Gloria Reuben), the second episode gives the characters more depth and allows for a little more light to sneak into the generally dark (tonally and visually) proceedings.

Since Cloak & Dagger is about building expectations, it’s hard to know exactly how it’ll fare based on these early installments. But it’s evident that showrunner Joe Pokanski is trying to craft something pretty substantial and timely for his young audiences, and there’s reason to believe it’ll make a great impact for those who follow it. For now, though, it’s best to let it air its remaining episodes and hope it’s going to be among the better contributions from the MCU.

Ms. Holt and Mr. Joseph both give prickly, believable performances, but they have to spend a lot of time in the early going arguing, explaining and having prophetic visions. It will be nice to see what they can do when the action kicks in.

Their journey should be thrilling, fascinating. It’s a chore. The young leads do the best with what the scripts give them, even as they are forced to run over the same story beats.

A drama for sister ABC network Freeform that isn't sharp enough to draw blood.