'Marvel's Runaways' Episode 8 review: 'Devil's Torture Chamber' brings Cloak & Dagger to LA for a return to the Dark Dimension
Throughout the season, one of the recurring themes has been the battle between light and dark, and the different forms that battle can take. Nico (Lyrica Okano) is dealing with more darkness in her life than ever before to save Alex (Rhenzy Feliz) and her friends, and who better to help her out than the masters of light and dark themselves? The long-awaited crossover has arrived, and it’s time for Cloak & Dagger to meet the Runaways.
Apparently casting a gateway to the Dark Dimension using a spell from the Darkhold is enough dark magic for Tyrone Johnson/Cloak(Aubrey Joseph) to feel all the way in New Orleans. Cloak and Dagger (Olivia Holt) teleport themselves to the Hostel to see what's going on. Thankfully skipping over the traditional battle-first, team-up later part of most superhero crossovers, the duo agree to help out - first rescuing the captured Runaways and the Pride, and then bringing the Runways into the Dark Dimension. Cloak's teleportation powers (or, as the rest of the Runaways keep referring to it as, his "magic hoodie') are pretty handy to have around, even if its limitations feel somewhat arbitrary.
Tyrone and Tandy are a natural fit with the cast - enough so that, had there been a Season 4 to look forward to, it wouldn’t be too hard to imagine the duo joining the team. There’d be an adjustment period - there’s a decent amount of humor that’s mined from all the strangeness that Cloak & Dagger and the Runaways bring to the table, seen through fresh eyes. It’s still very definitely feels like a Runaways episode, and for most of it, it feels like Cloak and Dagger are just along for the ride.
Cloak and Dagger’s less combative powers are a useful narrative shortcut - being able to reveal people’s greatest hopes and fears creates an opportunity for great shots that cuts straight to the heart of a character. Cloak and Dagger bring in their trademark subversiveness from their series, as it’s Gert’s (Ariela Barer) greatest fear that helps her realize just who her family is and reconcile with Chase (Gregg Sulkin). On the flip side, Dagger’s peek into Alex’s greatest hope is an ominous look into his ambitions.
It turns out that the character who’s on the darkest path wasn’t Nico after all, but Alex. In the time Alex has been trapped in the Dark Dimension, the spirits within it have been trying to break him of his morality. Alex has been holding out, but when the time comes to stick to his values or save his friends' life, Alex chooses the darkness, killing the spectral version of his mother to stop the attack on his friends. It’s a moment that foreshadows a darker future for Alex. Dagger’s glimpse into his hopes show him hoarding the powers of the other Runaways for himself, in a moment that perfectly homages his betrayal of the team from the comics. The Gibborim may be gone, but it turns out that the Runaways might just have a traitor on their team regardless.
With Alex saved, Cloak and Dagger say their goodbyes and return home. Their departure is bittersweet, as they tease a future crossover that is never going to happen. With Alex now saved, the Runaways now have the biggest challenge of their lives ahead of them - saving the world from the machinations of Morgan Le Fay (Elizabeth Hurley), who has kidnapped Molly (Allegra Acosta), and now has the team’s most powerful member under her spell.