NBC's 'The Cape', while not a bad show by any measure, raced through its first two episodes at such breakneck speed that it was a little difficult to take it all in. There were some awesome ideas, and it was lovely to see a God-honest superhero show that didn't try to dress it up as some sort of 'ability' metaphor (like another recent NBC superhero show did to the point of annoyance).
The first episode alone would have nicely fit a two parter, giving more time to understand who Vince Faraday was, why the city was corrupt and why the carnival has a magic cape that can swipe glasses. Within the first 10 minutes the big chase was on from Ark, and though it was a cool sequence, I had to keep trying to think why they were there in the first place. I'm not saying I need the show to be 'Breaking Bad' slow, because it's not that type of show, but there were many opportunities for the characters to stop and take a breath which were either in the script but got cut or ignored altogether. For instance - I would have much rather seen the relationship between Faraday and his son explored a little longer. In every scene they had a father/son cuddle as a way of saying, 'Look! They love each other!' It felt off though, because I could tell they were using the hugs in place of Faraday actually talking with his son.
We raced through the set up of the big bad (with a rather patronising flashback when Chess appeared three minutes after we met his true identity) and then it was into the action sequence. I liked the action, by the way. Can't fault it. They were choreographed well and I liked the use of the cape itself as a way of disarming enemies.
I'm also not massively fond of David Lyons as Vince himself. He comes across a little bit rigid and that's absolutely not what you need from a leading man of a campy superhero story. Much better was Keith David (who I only recognised as 'The Arbiter' from the Halo series) as Max the ringleader, who provided my favourite bit of the two episodes in Max's disappointment that his inspiring speech weren't actually his last words. Summer Glau as the blogger/crime-fighter Orwell is definitely the most interesting character at this point. I'm a sucker for impossibly barmy technology, notably Orwell's holographic computer (Honestly, I get a semi every time I hear the words 'Zoom and Enhance!'). I was also pleased that though she has some element of mystery to her, that was created through genuine intrigue rather than the lazy option of simply having a character say 'I can't tell you that yet'.
I thought the second episode improved on the first, and gave us a hint of how the show could work on a week to week basis. The 'Tarot' society intrigues me and I'm quite looking forward to seeing how that pans out.
The Cape has the potential to be an excellent show. Right now it has some real growing pains, but I'm willing to stick with it for the time being because I like the premise and most of the cast.
What did everyone else think?
The first episode alone would have nicely fit a two parter, giving more time to understand who Vince Faraday was, why the city was corrupt and why the carnival has a magic cape that can swipe glasses. Within the first 10 minutes the big chase was on from Ark, and though it was a cool sequence, I had to keep trying to think why they were there in the first place. I'm not saying I need the show to be 'Breaking Bad' slow, because it's not that type of show, but there were many opportunities for the characters to stop and take a breath which were either in the script but got cut or ignored altogether. For instance - I would have much rather seen the relationship between Faraday and his son explored a little longer. In every scene they had a father/son cuddle as a way of saying, 'Look! They love each other!' It felt off though, because I could tell they were using the hugs in place of Faraday actually talking with his son.
We raced through the set up of the big bad (with a rather patronising flashback when Chess appeared three minutes after we met his true identity) and then it was into the action sequence. I liked the action, by the way. Can't fault it. They were choreographed well and I liked the use of the cape itself as a way of disarming enemies.
I'm also not massively fond of David Lyons as Vince himself. He comes across a little bit rigid and that's absolutely not what you need from a leading man of a campy superhero story. Much better was Keith David (who I only recognised as 'The Arbiter' from the Halo series) as Max the ringleader, who provided my favourite bit of the two episodes in Max's disappointment that his inspiring speech weren't actually his last words. Summer Glau as the blogger/crime-fighter Orwell is definitely the most interesting character at this point. I'm a sucker for impossibly barmy technology, notably Orwell's holographic computer (Honestly, I get a semi every time I hear the words 'Zoom and Enhance!'). I was also pleased that though she has some element of mystery to her, that was created through genuine intrigue rather than the lazy option of simply having a character say 'I can't tell you that yet'.
I thought the second episode improved on the first, and gave us a hint of how the show could work on a week to week basis. The 'Tarot' society intrigues me and I'm quite looking forward to seeing how that pans out.
The Cape has the potential to be an excellent show. Right now it has some real growing pains, but I'm willing to stick with it for the time being because I like the premise and most of the cast.
What did everyone else think?
