What I’m Watching: The Cape

The Cape: Season 1, Episode 8 “The Lich, Part 2” (F)

I do wonder why it is that I keep watching this show, but then I remember that, like the shows that formerly held this timeslot, “The Event” and “Heroes,” it’s the kind of series that I should technically like. It’s not much of a surprise that an episode which features the best character (or at least the best actress) paralyzed and about to be married to a murderous psychopath the whole time isn’t going to be the best showcase of quality. Still, did it have to be this bad? The device of hallucinated people appearing to be trustworthy in dreams has been done before and far better in the past, including an unimpressive example in last week’s installment of “Smallville.” The preposterous image that I’m the having the most trouble getting out of my head is the shot of Vince holding and talking on a cell phone as the Cape as “The Cape Calling” comes up on Orwell’s cell phone screen. I’d ordinarily be celebrating an episode that, aside from a hallucination by Orwell, Peter Fleming doesn’t appear in, but the Lich is a fairly uninteresting villain. Vince’s newfound contact as the Cape with both his wife and his wife’s boss is entirely cartoonish, as is the highly unbelievable language (“that’s so rad”) uttered by his obnoxious son. Marty continuing to work with the Cape also doesn’t make sense, akin to Nikita’s parternships every episode with her sworn enemies. Admittedly, it’s hard to put logic and magic together, so clearly this show has chosen just one of those routes.