'The Cape' - 'Pilot/Tarot': Who was that occasionally masked man?
What did everybody think of the new superhero show?
David Lyons and Summer Glau in "The Cape."
If you read my review of "The Cape," you know I liked the idea of it (straight-forward, unironic, throwback superhero show) much more than the execution of it, particularly in regards to star David Lyons. (My old partner Matt Seitz also made a point I wish I had: the show races through all the familiar beats so quickly that it's hard to enjoy any of them as much as we should.)
I won't be writing about the show much, if at all, going forward, but I'm curious what everyone thought of these first two episodes - and specifically whether you noticed any notable change between the first hour and the second, which were produced many, many months apart.
News From Our Partners
-
Grimm "The Waking Dead" Review: Dead On Arrival
What to Watch Tonight: The Season Finales of Arrow, CSI, and Supernatural
CBS's 2013-2014 Schedule: New Nights for Person of Interest and Hawaii Five-0, More Comedy on Thursdays
-
Reese Witherspoon Joins Paul Thomas Anderson's 'Inherent Vice'
CBS Fall 2013 Trailers: Sarah Michelle Gellar's 'Crazy Ones,' Anna Faris' Mom' and More!
Sony Trademarks Possible PlayStation 4 Slogan "Greatness Awaits"
-
'Riddick' Trailer: Vin Diesel Is Back and Playing for Blood
'Rio 2' Teaser Trailer Has Landed: Let's Dance!
Cannes 2013: Celebs Invade Opening Ceremony (PHOTOS)
-
Shakira Leaving 'The Voice' Next Season
Source Claims Kanye West + Kim Kardashian Will Most Likely Break Up Before the Baby Is Born
Demi Lovato Gets New 'Warrior'-Inspired Tattoo [Pic]
-
Hear This: Connections gives a Guided By Voices-indebted reason to go for the opener
Watch This: The second half of Twilight Zone: The Movie more than makes up for the first
Tolerability Index: This week we're barely putting up with The Killing
-
Why They Went 'Crazy'
30 EPIC Wedding Disasters
'No One Lives Forever'
-
The Telefile - TNT & TBS Upfront 2013: Reaping What Other Networks Sowed
The Telefile - Fall TV 2013: What's On When
The Telefile - New Girl: Wedding Do's and Don'ts
-
Total Recall: Star Trek Movies
Parental Guidance: Star Trek Into Darkness
In Pictures: The Stars of Star Trek Into Darkness
Get Instant Alerts on What's Alan Watching
Latest Posts
-
Some experimenting, but mostly the same old, successful CBSWednesday, May 15, 2013
-
A badger gets loose at Cece's wedding, and Nick and Jess ponder their futureTuesday, May 14, 2013
-
Has the show solved Winston yet? What stories would she redo?Tuesday, May 14, 2013
-
Dan and Alan break down the first batch of fall schedulesTuesday, May 14, 2013
Comments
Option 1
Comment instantly as a guest GuestOption 2
Option 3
Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupEd W
January 10, 2011 at 12:08AM EST Reply to CommentIt's hard for me to have any sympathy for him when he's essentially choosing his career over his family - being a super hero and letting his wife and kid think he's dead. That's just too cruel to go along with, for a light show like this.
Anyway unless this improves fast, it won't last very long. The lead guy went to the Jason O'Mara school of losing charisma when you speak with an American accent.
And yeah that point about racing through the story points too fast is a good one.
James
January 10, 2011 at 12:09AM EST Reply to CommentI actually thought it wasn't that bad at all.
Gregg
January 10, 2011 at 12:13AM EST Reply to CommentExcellent idea, subpar execution. If you accept it as mindless TV, it has a chance to work. If you wanted daring and innovative, well, you should probably look somewhere else.
Razorback
January 10, 2011 at 12:15AM EST Reply to CommentIt wasn't bad but it wasn't good either. It feels like a show that belongs on the CW following SMALLVILLE. The most dramatic moments are related to the family and then it moves to a less dramatic but better performed storyline that deals with everyone who is helping the Cape. AND THEN we move to the super campy super hero stuff that just doesn't play.
A drama needs to know what it wants to be and this show doesn't know if it is a solid drama or a campy hero story. Also, it is never as good as any episode of HEROES or even NO ORDINARY FAMILY.
So, a totally uneven if sometimes entertaining hero story that doesn't live up to the quality or likability of other shows of its type. I won't be watching another episode.
Adam
January 10, 2011 at 12:16AM EST Reply to CommentI believe my comment was that it wasn't well acted or written, but enough fun for NBC to screw it up.
Winner1
January 10, 2011 at 12:20AM EST Reply to CommentI really liked it - honestly, it's very well done version of a modern Superhero show.
sirona7
January 10, 2011 at 12:44AM EST Reply to CommentWhat a waste of Summer Glau. :(
SpyTV
January 10, 2011 at 12:46AM EST Reply to CommentIt was very good, not great. I agree the first hour "origins" story was very rushed---that's usually the most interesting part of a superhero story. However, this is much better than any of the cookie-cutter medical/crime/cop procedurals currently on, so I will be giving this one a chance.
Marquisd
January 10, 2011 at 12:52AM EST Reply to CommentAy yi yi. It's cheesy fun enough to watch again, but man I think I need to exercise my eyes before the episode, my eyes hurt from all the rolling they did.
Especially the second episode. Vince falls from an apartment complex, Orwell pulls up immediately and yet within the 2 minutes max it takes to pick him up and put him in the car Cain manages to make it down there to try and stop them. Did he jump out the window after him?
Plus the poison itself, fast acting enough incapacitate him in seconds, yet it hasn't killed him by the time Orwell drops him off at the carnival the next day? How far away were they the next state?
How about the fact that the kitchen staff of a very busy high class restaurant seems to just disappear in the middle of dinner period.
I wonder if I go to a fancy restaurant and claim to be a blogger of some cuisine website they'll seat me at a table for 6.
(at least let Orwell fake some press credentials or something)
Do I even need to mention letting the snitch go and instead of getting answer in a dark alley where it's less likely someone will hear he goes to a bar without his mask and conveniently dies.
(Can you tell I'm having plot issues?)
It looks like they went all the way back to Batman the TV series for the inspiration for this show.
I'll stick around for Goliath and Cameron. But they really need to fix some of the sloppy sloppy writing they have going on.
JWIII No, they need to run with all the mistakes you've pointed out as running gags. Have all the major people disappear and some small comment referencing it. Only dark alleys. Run with the gag. Screw the drama. It's infected the world of cinema so much people forgot to let loose and go for the hoot and boot.
January 12, 2011 at 2:21AM ESTjdstorm
January 10, 2011 at 2:47AM EST Reply to CommentIm not sure what to make of this show, and i don't think the creators have quite found the balance they want to achieve.
The Cape feels like a cross between the Adam West Batman and Dark Angel staring an unknown jessica alba and that guy from NCIS, but with a cast of familiar if so far unnotable faces.
If this show begins to develop a sense of humor that is more pronounced it will be much better
Tom Galloway
January 10, 2011 at 4:04AM EST Reply to CommentHuge number of plot holes, and what amounted to very obvious "This is happening because the writer wants it to happen, not due to any sensible reason" moments, several of which were mentioned above. Silliest moment was at the end of the second ep; Chess, for some reason despite being told by his tame cop to leave, goes back into the kitchen with no bodyguard. The Cape is there. But instead of attacking the alone Chess, as he's done twice previously by going to the trouble of breaking into his office, he just does a disappearing trick. Wha?
Other thing that had me going "Huh?"; the training montage was apparently shot in real time, as no significant amount of time seems to have elapsed elsewhere (kid is still the same age, wife hasn't been looking for a job, state of the city is still exactly the same). Gee, I'd think it'd take at least a year or two to get all the cape skills, disappearing skills, etc. at an expert level from scratch.
This all could've worked if the show didn't take itself seriously ala the Adam West Batman or the more recent Middleman. As it stands, it's just poorly written.
Chris G
January 10, 2011 at 9:12AM EST Reply to CommentI didn't like it. I made it 3/4 of the way through the first episode and lost interest. Sucks because I thought it would be decent, but it just wasn't for me
Stan
January 10, 2011 at 2:41PM EST Reply to CommentNot to be cold or anything, but they needed to kill off the wife and kid in the pilot. It doesn't seem like they're going to develop those characters beyond being a prop for why Vince becomes the Cape, and the idea of the series going years without Vince getting back with his family (and his wife in particular not moving on from his "death") just seems like a waste of time. But this is me being optimistic. The show probably won't last one season.
OnlyMe
January 10, 2011 at 2:53PM EST Reply to CommentThe wife did need to die in the pilot. As it is, her character is worthless. What is her job, btw? Was that interview for a defense attorney (because of the "I hope you defend your clients like this" line) or a prosecutor (because of the type of building they were in). From what I could tell, she stopped working when the kid was born and has been out of the workforce for 7 years, 8 years? That story makes no sense. (Also, her response to her kid about her professional name made me cringe.) The show would have been better served with a dead wife who makes flashback appearances than whatever they're trying to do with a living one.
I want to know where the restaurant staff went during the fight, in what world do restaurant reviewers announce their presence on walking into a place, what a "director of prisons" who seemingly controls the state, county, and city jail systems is, and why Orwell decides to fight crime in high heels and a miniskirt and why she thinks a DeLorean-like car makes her inconspicuous.
It was bad.
David Wise I prefer the Coon.
January 10, 2011 at 3:56PM ESTOnlyMe excuse me?
January 11, 2011 at 12:32AM ESTJake
January 10, 2011 at 3:55PM EST Reply to CommentSummer Glau seems to have gotten a minor update to her emoting software since the pilot. Nothing against the actor who plays him, but Trip is one obnoxious little kid.
asdf
January 10, 2011 at 5:41PM EST Reply to CommentThe City Hall in the pilot is clearly the City Hall from Parks and Rec. I hope this means there will be a crossover between the two best comedies on NBC!
sepinwall Extremely minor Parks & Rec casting spoiler: the police chief of Pawnee will appear in an episode this season, and will be played by the same actor who was the assassinated Palm City PD chief here.
January 10, 2011 at 5:44PM ESTKansasDan
January 10, 2011 at 7:01PM EST Reply to CommentPoor Summer. She deserves to have her own kick @ss spy chick series ala Alias. She is too good for this show.
srpad
January 10, 2011 at 11:17PM EST Reply to CommentI was surprised how much I liked this. It was fun, entertaining and I am sick of the whole post modern "wink" every show has but this didn't. Looking forward to next week's episode.
Eric
January 11, 2011 at 12:13AM EST Reply to CommentOf all the many, many things that bugged me during these episodes, was the fact that in the first one the bad guy uses what looks like an ancient Nokia cellphone from 1999 as a bomb trigger. Seriously, a monochrome-screen cellphone?
January 11, 2011 at 2:27AM EST Reply to CommentI liked it enough to watch again, though I can't say I'm completely sold. Huge, gaping plot holes don't bother me in the least, I just want to be entertained.
I liked the occasional funny moments that let us know they aren't taking it too seriously, either. They do need to lose the family, though. Those were the most excruciating scenes. Wasn't that the annoying kid from FlashForward? Keith David is always worth watching, so I hope they keep him, but I have my fears. If I was unkind, I'd say this show should've been called Batman. But considering it's NBC, it could've been soooo much worse. I'm afraid it won't get much in the way of ratings, though.
January 11, 2011 at 11:24AM EST Reply to CommentI enjoyed it a lot. It had the giddy feel of a comic book; cheesy in the right ways. David Lyons, though, has minimal control over his accent, which is pretty annoying.
Tracey
January 11, 2011 at 6:58PM EST Reply to CommentI've only seen the first one so far. I'm not overwhelmed, but I'll probably watch the second one. I love Keith David's voice -- fell in love with it in the Gargoyles cartoon so many years ago -- and I think I could listen to him reading the phone book.
But I have a real problem with an ex-cop joining up with a group of bank robbers. I don't care how corrupt the police force has become; that doesn't justify robbing a bank. How far out of alignment is our hero's moral compass if he thinks that's OK?
Kayemgi
January 12, 2011 at 1:15AM EST Reply to CommentWere there two episodes? I only got one on my dvr and hulu only shows one, but people are talking about scenes that I didn't see!
JWIII
January 12, 2011 at 2:17AM EST Reply to CommentThey need to just let go and completely go for "over-the-top comic book."
1) Loose the curse words. The usage of "Bitch" was jarring. Not because I have soft words but because it did not fit the general vibe of the show. Adopt some lame series of words so characters come off even more buffoonish.
2) Don't depend on moments we're emotional acting is crucial. A: You're actors aren't great. B: Nobody cares because your scripts suck. C: You're set up for the show is small scenes in which the necessary time for great drama is strictly limited.
Solution: step up the action. Improve comedic elements. GREAT ENEMIES. Keep creating.
Think TICK meets KICKASS.
lis
January 14, 2011 at 1:10AM EST Reply to CommentTried to like The Cape, just as I tried to like The Event -- supporting Chuck as a lead-in.
It makes me sad that the moment I had of pure glee was in recognizing Uncle Bernie from Chuck vs the First Kill (Ken Davitian) was the store owner at the close of the pilot.
chris
January 14, 2011 at 6:00PM EST Reply to Commenti was conflicted. i agree that they went too fast with the fun parts, like lyon's character learning how to use the cape. that's usually my favourite part of any superhero show or movie, when the normal guy realizes he's got powers and tries them out, or when the normal guy uses real technology/sci-fi tech to develop power-like abilities and then has a blast trying them out. to be honest, the first hour bored me. i thought it had a great concept and i was excited about it, but it bored me. but i thought the second hour was a little better.
and i don't hate lyon's character. he's not the funnest, charismatic guy, but he's got a great supporting cast to make up for him. and i thought glau was pretty great.
Alden
January 15, 2011 at 12:59AM EST Reply to CommentAs a kid of the nineties, this one really started to grow on my halfway through the pilot proper. Lyons seemed more boring than a painting of a polar bear in a snowstorm at first, but he definitely showed a bit of charisma in the back half (particularly during the training montage). He feels very much like Anna Torv did in Fringe season 1, before everyone noticed she was awesome. I expect Lyons will grow on you, Alan, just as she did. There's little hints of something greater.