The Cape

What is it about Superheroes and television, why don't they seem to gel? Heroes run out of steam after one season, No Ordinary Family didn't get to a second, and (although long running) Smallvillle has become tiresome and is probably only watched by Tom Welling and his mum.

So into that morass comes The Cape. I'd love to say it has wiped away all the mistakes and misfires of previous superhero shows. But, well, you've probably seen it by now and know, I can't.

There was nothing original about The Cape. The opener had echoes of Batman Begins, Batman Returns, Robocop and Hong Kong Phooey, plus there was enough schmaltz to flood Dawson's Creek. Another gripe is that it all moved at an unfeasibly fast pace. No sooner had our hero been framed and blown up, he was than kidnapped and swiftly trained by wayward circus folk. This is what happens when you don't put music over a montage, sad as we are, we get no sense of time passing. Where are Survivor when you really need them?

The script was pretty poor and, at times, made Torchwood seem like Casablanca. The real tragedy is that there are some fine actors mixed up in this mess. Keith David as the Cape's mentor was better than the show, James Frain just about managed to avoid looking embarrassed as the vaguely ridiculous super villain Chess, and then there is Summer Glau, every geek on the planet loves Summer Glau.

It flopped in America, so another one season wonder graces our lives and fades into immediate obscurity. I, for one, won't miss The Cape.

Over