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sigelphoenix at 01:35pm on 28/01/2011
sigelphoenix at 01:35pm on 28/01/2011I've spent my lunch breaks the past two days watching "The Cape" on Hulu. I've heard mixed reviews about it, so I figured I'd see for myself.
On the one hand, after watching the pilot yesterday, I did not feel moved to watch the next episode as soon as I went home. On the other hand, I easily chose to watch the second episode during today's lunch, so I think that's decent for a new series.
Mostly, I think the pilot suffers from the usual first episode problems - trying to establish baselines for the characters while keeping the plot moving so as to be dramatic and exciting. And the plot requires a lot to set up and move, because it's introduce good-cop Vince! introduce his loving family! introduce Ark Industries buying out the police force! then hiring Vince! then framing Vince as the supervillain Chess! oh yeah and there'sOracleOrwell!
The result is a lot of cliched character moments you can immediately identify the purpose for, like "this is where we show that Vince and Trip have a cute father-son bond." Or plot-device moments like "Orwell carries around incriminating evidence about her own identity while on undercover investigations, just so Vince can find out who she is."
I'm willing to let things like that slide to a certain extent, though, because scene-setting is often awkward, even in good series. There are a few moments where the show seems to get in on the joke on its own melodrama, most notably when Max realizes his own death scene was fake. Also, I appreciated that at the end, when Vince visits his son as The Cape, that he totally blows his secret identity by losing the Batman-esque fake gruff voice and saying, "work on your math homework." That scene was getting squirm-inducing schmaltzy without it.
By the end of the episode, David Lyons as Vince left me feeling "meh" - he's fine, but the combination of first-episode clunkiness and the general awkwardness of live-action superheroing sometimes makes his dramatic acting look silly. Jennifer Ferrin as his wife, Dana, was fine, too; Ryan Wynott as their son, Trip, suffered from too many "let's make them go aww at the kid" moments. James Frain as Chess ... eh. Maybe if they don't give him so many "ends with a villainous chuckle to himself" sequences, I'll feel him more.
The real spark comes from Keith David as Max Malini - and yes, his penchant for theatrics makes me want to say his full name. First of all, it's Keith David - the man can lead you around with his voice like it's a physical leash. Also, he gets the most "the show realizes it's kind of silly" moments, like when he plays the dramatic organ notes when Vince sees the news clip about him being "identified" as Chess. And his lament that no one appreciates showmanship anymore - it's those flashes of flair that keep Max from being yet another dark-skinned (albeit pretty-voiced) sidekick to the white male hero.
Summer Glau is fun, but only has a few scenes in the first episode. Also, she will be inevitably compared to Oracle, since she has a fancy computer and manages information and disguises her identity with male-coded voice manipulation. However, unlike Oracle, her computer skills apparently aren't enough, and she has to do a lot of physical investigation (the aforementioned "meet-cute" with Vince). And she always dresses super-stylishly and wears heels. *shrug* I think the comparison to the savvier, more practically-dressed Oracle is keeping me from really feeling her. I'll have to see more of who the character is supposed to be, rather than the prominent already-established character whom she unfortunately invokes.
Okay, episode 2 opens up with a holdup at a ... hunting supply store or something? Why? Oh yeah, so Vince can show off his superhero-ness while he shops for supplies. This is what I mean about the plot devices.
After he beats up the thugs, Vince gets his purchase comped by the store owner as a thank you ... except, wouldn't the owner now need some money to make up for Vince chucking a thug through the glass store display?
Then we have Vince flouncing off from the circus and building his own Batcave in some abandoned building over the course of ... I don't know how long that was supposed to be. Days? Weeks? And where does he get the money, if everyone assumes he's dead and he presumably can't access his bank account or credit cards? I like how he has a cheap-looking computer to show how he's MacGuyvering it on his own ... except he also manages to afford an internet connection (not sure how that even works), weapons, and samples of various poison (so he can prepare to fight this poisoner, Cain).
I nearly laughed out loud when Max walked by and peeked in - I assume this was to show that Max has been keeping tabs on Vince, and followed him to his new lair, but I just pictured this super-secret building being located right next to Max's circus or something, and Vince being like the kid who pitches a tent in his own backyard and thinks he's camping in the wilderness. (I bet Max let Vince on to his wi-fi network.)
And then Vince beats up people on the street who somehow know about Chess' plans to assassinate a politician. And then he and Orwell have a discussion over the bodies of thugs who are regaining consciousness, all but spelling out "this is Vince Faraday who everyone thinks is dead and he's the Cape and he's out to get Fleming/Chess." Uh.
Okay, all that aside - I do think the second episode was stronger in some ways. We leave behind most of the awkward scene-setting of the pilot, with some (maudlin, but less awkward) flashback scenes instead. Also, we see more of Orwell in action! I think she's less computer-mastermind-Oracle, more rich-kid-with-chutzpah, who improvises lies at the drop of a hat to get where she needs to go. In other words, her highest scores are Investigate, Bluff, and Disguise.
Sadly, we saw less of Max, but I hope his resolution with Vince means he'll be back. I get the impression the "break" between them was to allow Vince to work without being reliant on either Max or Orwell, and now that that's been established we can get Max and the Carnival of Crime back as major characters. I really hope so - however much I like watching Summer Glau be hot and fierce, I hope that Orwell doesn't supplant Max as Vince's primary support, because that would mean the show's two stars are the skinny pretty white people.
The plot development of Tarot didn't completely grab me, but I am glad to see another big player besides Chess. We need sources of antagonism besides the mwahaha-ing CEO. But they do need to stop making all the villains have non-standard-American accents.
So, overall I like it, don't love it, and I'm definitely going to watch the next episode.
On the one hand, after watching the pilot yesterday, I did not feel moved to watch the next episode as soon as I went home. On the other hand, I easily chose to watch the second episode during today's lunch, so I think that's decent for a new series.
Mostly, I think the pilot suffers from the usual first episode problems - trying to establish baselines for the characters while keeping the plot moving so as to be dramatic and exciting. And the plot requires a lot to set up and move, because it's introduce good-cop Vince! introduce his loving family! introduce Ark Industries buying out the police force! then hiring Vince! then framing Vince as the supervillain Chess! oh yeah and there's
The result is a lot of cliched character moments you can immediately identify the purpose for, like "this is where we show that Vince and Trip have a cute father-son bond." Or plot-device moments like "Orwell carries around incriminating evidence about her own identity while on undercover investigations, just so Vince can find out who she is."
I'm willing to let things like that slide to a certain extent, though, because scene-setting is often awkward, even in good series. There are a few moments where the show seems to get in on the joke on its own melodrama, most notably when Max realizes his own death scene was fake. Also, I appreciated that at the end, when Vince visits his son as The Cape, that he totally blows his secret identity by losing the Batman-esque fake gruff voice and saying, "work on your math homework." That scene was getting squirm-inducing schmaltzy without it.
By the end of the episode, David Lyons as Vince left me feeling "meh" - he's fine, but the combination of first-episode clunkiness and the general awkwardness of live-action superheroing sometimes makes his dramatic acting look silly. Jennifer Ferrin as his wife, Dana, was fine, too; Ryan Wynott as their son, Trip, suffered from too many "let's make them go aww at the kid" moments. James Frain as Chess ... eh. Maybe if they don't give him so many "ends with a villainous chuckle to himself" sequences, I'll feel him more.
The real spark comes from Keith David as Max Malini - and yes, his penchant for theatrics makes me want to say his full name. First of all, it's Keith David - the man can lead you around with his voice like it's a physical leash. Also, he gets the most "the show realizes it's kind of silly" moments, like when he plays the dramatic organ notes when Vince sees the news clip about him being "identified" as Chess. And his lament that no one appreciates showmanship anymore - it's those flashes of flair that keep Max from being yet another dark-skinned (albeit pretty-voiced) sidekick to the white male hero.
Summer Glau is fun, but only has a few scenes in the first episode. Also, she will be inevitably compared to Oracle, since she has a fancy computer and manages information and disguises her identity with male-coded voice manipulation. However, unlike Oracle, her computer skills apparently aren't enough, and she has to do a lot of physical investigation (the aforementioned "meet-cute" with Vince). And she always dresses super-stylishly and wears heels. *shrug* I think the comparison to the savvier, more practically-dressed Oracle is keeping me from really feeling her. I'll have to see more of who the character is supposed to be, rather than the prominent already-established character whom she unfortunately invokes.
Okay, episode 2 opens up with a holdup at a ... hunting supply store or something? Why? Oh yeah, so Vince can show off his superhero-ness while he shops for supplies. This is what I mean about the plot devices.
After he beats up the thugs, Vince gets his purchase comped by the store owner as a thank you ... except, wouldn't the owner now need some money to make up for Vince chucking a thug through the glass store display?
Then we have Vince flouncing off from the circus and building his own Batcave in some abandoned building over the course of ... I don't know how long that was supposed to be. Days? Weeks? And where does he get the money, if everyone assumes he's dead and he presumably can't access his bank account or credit cards? I like how he has a cheap-looking computer to show how he's MacGuyvering it on his own ... except he also manages to afford an internet connection (not sure how that even works), weapons, and samples of various poison (so he can prepare to fight this poisoner, Cain).
I nearly laughed out loud when Max walked by and peeked in - I assume this was to show that Max has been keeping tabs on Vince, and followed him to his new lair, but I just pictured this super-secret building being located right next to Max's circus or something, and Vince being like the kid who pitches a tent in his own backyard and thinks he's camping in the wilderness. (I bet Max let Vince on to his wi-fi network.)
And then Vince beats up people on the street who somehow know about Chess' plans to assassinate a politician. And then he and Orwell have a discussion over the bodies of thugs who are regaining consciousness, all but spelling out "this is Vince Faraday who everyone thinks is dead and he's the Cape and he's out to get Fleming/Chess." Uh.
Okay, all that aside - I do think the second episode was stronger in some ways. We leave behind most of the awkward scene-setting of the pilot, with some (maudlin, but less awkward) flashback scenes instead. Also, we see more of Orwell in action! I think she's less computer-mastermind-Oracle, more rich-kid-with-chutzpah, who improvises lies at the drop of a hat to get where she needs to go. In other words, her highest scores are Investigate, Bluff, and Disguise.
Sadly, we saw less of Max, but I hope his resolution with Vince means he'll be back. I get the impression the "break" between them was to allow Vince to work without being reliant on either Max or Orwell, and now that that's been established we can get Max and the Carnival of Crime back as major characters. I really hope so - however much I like watching Summer Glau be hot and fierce, I hope that Orwell doesn't supplant Max as Vince's primary support, because that would mean the show's two stars are the skinny pretty white people.
The plot development of Tarot didn't completely grab me, but I am glad to see another big player besides Chess. We need sources of antagonism besides the mwahaha-ing CEO. But they do need to stop making all the villains have non-standard-American accents.
So, overall I like it, don't love it, and I'm definitely going to watch the next episode.