The Cape

The Cape is a new series that began earlier this month on NBC. It's the story of a man who is forced to become a vigilante type superhero in order to clear his name and get his family back. With his new mysterious identity, The Cape, he fights the villain and his corrupt police force armed with a fist full of circus secrets that he gets from an underground band of circus thieves? You know those circus types that hide in sewers and rob banks? Never heard of them? Neither have I but that's beside the point. It works for the show and it provides a decent explanation for Vince's secret weapon; his cape. The cape is definitely cool as long as you don't think too hard about all the things he does with it.

Sure, it's all a little far fetched, but I'm not complaining. Superhero movies are all far-fetched if you think about it. Most are much more out there than The Cape. This show tries and succeeds in being a Batman type hero for the small screen.

I watched the first two episodes and my reaction is mostly positive. The show is fun and has enough heart to make me care about the hero and his family. Speaking of his family, I really liked the strong emphasis on Vince's family. One line says it all. Vince tells Max, "My family isn't my weakness, they're my strength."

It's no secret that The Watcher500 is a big fan of Superheroes. I tend to like a little more of the super in my superheroes than is present in The Cape. I prefer Spiderman over Batman because I like the campy spider abilities that Peter Parker has, as opposed to the wiz kid gadgets that Batman uses. My only problem with The Cape is I'd like to see more in the way of real super powers. However, that's more of a personal taste and not an actual critique of the show. Overall, I really liked The Cape. For a television superhero, it's actually one of the best I've ever seen. I think the series has great potential and I'll be watching to see what kind of story lines develop in the future.
My two scores on the Watcher500 scale of 1 to 250 are as follows: 190 for entertainment value, and 210 for moral value. Some of the fighting was a bit gruesome and bloody, but never over-the-top.