DarthBill PLOT: When nice guy family man cop Vince Faraday (David Lyons) is framed for crimes and murders he didn't commit by the criminal known only as Chess, he is forced to go underground, where he joins a rag tag group of circus criminals led by Max Malini (Keith David), who bestows upon him the cape, a mysterious object forged from a time long ago, endowed with magical properties. Determined to bring down the real Chess, Peter Fleming, the evil, corrupt businessman who tore his life apart and get back to his wife and son, Vince becomes the Cape (which incidentally was also the name of his son's favorite comic book superhero), and joins forces with the mysterious computer hacker Orwell (Summer Glau). This series had a lot of potential that was still untapped at the time of its all too early cancellation. True, there were flaws in the execution, which is sometimes to be expected in a debut season. As the lead, David Lyons was good despite not always having the best material to work with (the episodes that aired often had him going on about trying to get back to his family before going off to fight someone - and then talking about his family again afterwards), but he was often upstaged by the supporting cast; in particular veteran character actor Keith David, that burly, baritone voiced force of nature that he is, often devoured Lyons in their scenes together as his mentor. Another problem was some uneven casting in the Faraday family. Lyons definitely had solid chemistry with Jennifer Ferrin, who played his wife Dana, but Ryan Wynott, the child actor chosen to play their son Trip, was a blank. Surely there must have been better child actors who auditioned, because Wynott is incapable of expressing any genuine emotion, which hurt the storyline of Vince trying to get home because his son comes across as so devoid of emotion that he might as well be made of cardboard. That neither the son or wife could recognize Vince as the Cape despite not really changing his voice was also laughable. The introduction of Orwell having feelings for the Cape also came a bit late in the game and, honestly, one has to wonder how it could have gone anywhere when Vince was so steadfastly devoted to his wife. The series did have bright spots though. James Frain was appropriately slimy and chilling as the villain. Summer Glau offered strong support as Orwell the computer whiz. Why this poor woman seems cursed to appear in TV series that don't last is mind boggling. And, as already stated, Keith David brought a much needed breath of zest and panache to his role as Max. The action scenes were generally well done. What's all the more unfortunate is that the series was discontinued just when it was starting to find its groove. The two-part episode "The Lich" in which the Cape must rescue Orwell from a disfigured serial killer was genuinely creepy and kept you on the edge of your seat and showcased Vince's skills as a policeman while giving the 'family is strength' speech a rest. The last aired episode was an engaging undercover story with Vince impersonating an Australian criminal in order to access crucial information from the villains. Alas, it was too little too late, for the series is gone now. An unfortunate waste of a potentially good premise.

justifythegame This show seems like its written by a 12 year old. Its a miracle how it got the green light. As far as superhero shows/movies are concerned, it literally follows every single cliché in the book. Watching the pilot alone you could predict easily what would happen next. There is nothing original in this series. Some of the acting is also questionable but thats the least of the shows problems.What I am utterly confused about is how NBC replaced Heroes with this show. While Heroes might have had its problems, it wasn't unwatchable like this show. These networks are now much more a business than they ever were. Unless their shows rank at the very top in terms of viewers they are prepared to can any show regardless of how good a series is. Replacing a good series with a much worse series is not going to improve their ratings unless they are committed to the preteen demographic.

lulurma I do not know why good shows are given a short period of time to make it on a network and other shows that are corny and have very little value are given not only a whole season but two or more seasons. This is a good entertaining show that anyone in the family can watch. In a time when Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Green Hornet, Green Lantern, Fantastic Four, The Hulk, Wonder Woman, Ironman, and now Captain America, I think we have room for another superhero and this one does a great job of defending the American way. Why is the network talking cancellation when the show has barely had a chance to get started. Most shows don't find their groove until the second season when they have time to work out all the bugs and find out what works and what doesn't. I think NBC needs to give The Cape a reprieve and lets see what the show can with a few more shows under its "cape".

Green_Saturn First of all, to all the people who have made snarky remarks about how lame the idea of a magic cape sounds- IT'S NOT MAGIC! If you take the time to actually WATCH the show you'll see that the character learns to use the cape as a weapon. He's called The Cape. If it was a magic cape he'd be The Magic Cape. Criticize the rest of the show all you want, but please stop complaining about the magic cape when it isn't magic. You could even say that the idea of a guy using a cape as a weapon is dumb- just DON'T call it MAGIC! It's not magic!Anyway, this is truly a remarkable show. Only two episodes have aired so far, so the acting is still finding its footing, but from what I've seen this is definitely a show worth sticking with. The character Vince Faraday is entertaining. His back story is cool. The origin of The Cape character is creative. David Lyons is an excellent choice to play the character and everything works in harmony with him on this show.The soundtrack is one of my favorite parts of this show. I'm really glad they decided to write their own scores for this- it makes the show feel as full as a full-length film. I can see an award for best original score coming sometime in thus show's future.I'm going to stick with this show for as long as it runs- and I'm betting it's going to run for quite a while. Amidst endless crime shows and dreary medical shows, The Cape is one of those rare diamonds you find in the dust. Please, NBC, do yourselves a favor and keep this show for as long as you can!