This New Friend May Be The Key To Avenging Tandy’s Father’s Death On ‘Cloak & Dagger’

Major spoilers ahead for the “Princeton Offense” episode of Cloak & Dagger. Tandy and Tyrone are back to pursuing their individual goals in the June 28 episode. Tyrone is focused on his upcoming basketball game and burgeoning relationship with Evita (Noëlle Renée Bercy), but Tandy is honing her powers and combining them with street smarts to discover why Roxxon framed her father (Andy Dylan) for an oil-rigging accident. In Episode 5, Tandy runs into a woman named Mina Hess (played by Ally Maki) while investigating at a Roxxon gala.

Mina is later revealed to be the daughter of Ivan Hess who worked with Tandy’s father as an engineering research partner. Mina and Tandy are currently on opposite sides, but they have a common goal in mind.

In this episode, Tandy continues to look through Roxxon files and looks into several executives in the company. She unexpectedly pops up on Tyrone at his school to do some computer research and reveals her newfound skill of producing daggers on demand. Tandy tells Tyrone that she will use her ability to see others' hopes to find out more information about a mysterious man at the center of Roxxon.

Her cunning skills land her a gig as a social media personality and “sugar baby,” which gains her access to a Roxxon event. While working the room, Tandy notices the same man in every executive’s hopes. Of course, this affects Tyrone in the middle of his big game, causing him to suddenly appear at the event. They discover that the mystery man is Peter Scarborough (Wayne Pére), the Chief Executive of Risk Management. Tyrone recalls seeing him in Tandy’s fears as the man in charge of torturing her father. And, Tandy realizes Scarborough took documents from her home shortly after her father’s death.

Tandy soon meets Mina, who claims she is nervous with stage fright. They don’t exchange names, but Tandy wishes her good luck. Viewers discover the new character’s name when she is announced as the speaker of the event, but only a small snippet of her barely-audible speech is heard. Tandy later connects the dots about Mina after locating and touching Scarborough. In his hopes, Scarborough is seen taking bundles of money off of several dead employees’ bodies. One of the men is alive and tries to attack him, but he drowns him and takes the money.

The employee’s hardhat confirms he is Ivan Hess, a Senior Engineer of Fluid Dynamics. The scene is a symbol for Ivan fighting against some injustice in the company and being silenced by Scarborough, presumably via involvement in his death. Tandy goes back to the Roxxon documents to discover Ivan’s name alongside her father’s name on a planning document.

At the end, Tandy watches Mina record a promotional video for Roxxon. Mina reveals that the company took care of her after her father’s undisclosed accident and that she has continued his research work. “My father worked for Roxxon since he was out of college,” she says. “When he had an accident, Roxxon paid my bills, put me through school, and helped me continue Dad’s work of finding energy from under the Earth that was actually good for what was on top of it. My name is Mina Hess and I am working for Roxxon Gulf to save the world.”

Mina may be working for the enemy, but she’s got heroic goals in mind. The character was created for the TV series and is an environmental engineer who wants to circumvent corporate politics to save the world with science, according to EW. She will be a mentor and friend to Tandy, which suggests that Mina has been doing some extensive research about her own father’s death and will help Tandy get answers as well.

Maki spoke with Marvel about her chemistry with Olivia Holt and how it translated into their character’s bond. “Sometimes it takes a minute to get to know someone, but with Olivia, she’s so wonderful, so kind, funny, and gorgeous,” said Maki. “We had this instant girl crush bond thing. We worked together pretty much the whole time, so it’s definitely going to be a strong sisterhood duo that you see up there.” Maki also revealed her shared passion with her character about the environment and climate change. She hopes Mina Hess would inspire and interest girls who don’t get to see young women scientists on TV.

The end of Episode 5 certainly sets up a lot of questions about their future relationship. How much does Mina already know about Roxxon’s shady decisions? Why did the company choose to take care of Mina but not Tandy? What else is hidden in Tandy’s documents for Mina to decode? And, will Tandy trust Mina enough to reveal her powers? It’s not clear how much of a factor Mina will play in the investigation but hopefully she will stick around to help Tandy win her war against Roxxon.