This is a spoiler-free review of the first two episodes of Marvel's Cloak and Dagger, premiering June 7 on Freeform.

What happens when one moment bonds you to another person for life, meaning that no matter where you are, physically and emotionally, you are forever linked by tragedy? Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger explores this story in a raw and poignant way - presenting a tale that is sometimes heartbreaking, but still gives hope for another promising young adult series for Freeform.

Set in post-Katrina New Orleans, Cloak & Dagger is an adaptation of characters created by Bill Mantlo and artist Ed Hannigan in 1982. Tyrone Johnson/Cloak (Aubrey Joseph) and Tandy Bowen/Dagger (Olivia Holt) are two teenagers who gained their powers as children after a Roxxon Corporation accident (Roxxon is the only real nod to the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far - there are thankfully no heavy-handed nods to "the incident" here). The kids don’t see each other again until years later, but when chance occurrence reunites them, they unexpectedly wake up their superhuman powers when they have hand-to-hand contact.

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The two-hour series premiere features an intoxicating blend of comic origin story and teen angst. Like Grown-ish and its other slate of shows, Freeform provides a great home for this story to explore its drama in a more “adult” way. In the first episode alone, the pilot tackles police brutality, substance abuse, and attempted sexual assault. Director Gina Price-Bythewood handles setting the scene for these heavy subjects with care. Her eye for grounded storytelling, plus showrunner Joe Pokaski’s history of telling stories of heroes - and Heroes - makes for believable situational frustration for these teenagers.

Pokaski carries the writing duties into episode 2, with Alex Garcia Lopez directing (he’s also directing episodes of Daredevil and Luke Cage this year). The second installment continues to delve into Tyrone’s and Tandy’s life post-meeting; they're both unraveling as the story begins - trying to gain control of their personal lives while struggling with control of their newfound powers.

Marvel's Cloak and Dagger Show Images 5 IMAGES

Because the two protagonists have abilities that deal with light and darkness, we get a ton of black and white imagery - which is sometimes a bit too heavy-handed. While it's appreciated for viewers who don't immediately understand the teens’ powers (Dagger can create blades made of light, Cloak can immerse himself and others in a dark dimension, in addition to his teleportation skills), the constant black-white symbolism does feel a little relentless. Rest assured, this is is more of an episode 1, establish-the-universe kind of thing, and it mostly settles down by episode 2.

The premiere leaves viewers with a solid foundation for who these characters are while providing enough intrigue about their backstories and the difficulties they’ve faced since gaining their powers, setting up plenty of territory for the series to explore in its freshman season. The mystery of who was behind the Roxxon Corp accident and why is presented as a season-long narrative, along with two ongoing cop cases tied to our heroes. As Cloak and Dagger try to navigate their powers and their relationship with each other, it's clear they'll need each other to shed light in a lot of dark places.

Cloak & Dagger works because it embraces the constant turmoil of growing up. Strip away the super powers and this is a solid story about struggling through life as a young adult, which should appeal to Freeform's core audience, along with loyal Marvel fans who were charmed by the teen drama of Runaways and Spider-Man: Homecoming.