I’ve been avoiding writing this review because not only was I not into The Cape, I’m not going to give it a chance beyond the pilot. I wanted to like it. I really did. I was excited to watch this because I love Summer Glau. I didn’t really have any expectations and even with no expectations, The Cape was highly disappointing. The whole production had a ‘UPN circa 2001’ feel and quite frankly isn’t primetime or network quality.

The main problem that I have with The Cape is the lack of chemistry and it’s feeling of clumsiness. The Cape had the talent but the final product was sloppy and just downright painful to watch. I’ve seen mostly all of the supporting characters of The Cape in something else and they were awesome in it. Martin Klebba was amazing in Pirates of the Caribbean. I’ll have to admit that he was the best thing about the pilot. Keith David is awesome in everything like Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick. He gave range to the pilot and made David Lyons look like a noob in every scene. James Frain is always a compelling bad guy in things like Invasion, True Blood and Tron. Here he was sad, campy and not funny which is a combination that never works. His costume was HORRIBLE and god bless him but it felt like he was throwing the whole project a bone by being in it in the first place. Hell, even Summer Glau felt like she was phoning it in. Vinny Jones was his usual awesome self. Too bad he doesn’t have his own show. Finally, how in the hell do you put Richard Schiff from The West Wing in your episode and it not be outstanding? It was then that I knew that The Cape was doomed.

The star of the show, David Lyons doesn’t move me. He doesn’t feel right as a superhero. He looks like a guy that would be good as supporting cast but not someone that could hold a whole series. I feel bad for dogging the man but he was a poor choice as a lead and this show won’t be renewed next year because of it.

Remember that feeling that you got with the characters on the first episode of Heroes? The Cape didn’t even have that. In fact, with the carnival scenes, The Cape reminded me of the worst of Heroes and turned me off. This pilot felt like the writers of the last season of Heroes were transferred to The Cape and picked up where Heroes slithered off and died. There should be a new rule: No superhero TV shows should ever go to a carnival. Because of Heroes, I can’t even go to a carnival or pass one of the freeway without getting creeped out and/or pissed off.

With all of the casting problems that I had with the pilot, I didn’t really get a chance to get into the story. The plot of the show is a theme that we’ve seen before but the acting was so distracting that the story didn’t get a chance to pull me in. The Cape felt like The Event in how they tried too hard to hit the mark but was way off. Time is valuable these days and The Cape is too hard to like from the start.

Ladies and gentlemen, it pains me to say it but we have our first turd of the year.

The Cape airs Mondays at 9/8c on NBC.

Official Website of The Cape