The Cape is Still Mysterious in its Purpose - Episode 3 Recap

Last night I finally got to watch more than five minutes of the new NBC series 'The Cape'. It was probably a good thing I was hunkered down in bed, experiencing a snowstorm or else I would have gotten something else.

Originally, the previews for The Cape made it look like a man was training to be a superhero in the modern day.

After watching more than five minutes (I’ll admit I missed the first ten), I’m not so sure it is set in the present day. Maybe the near future? The part that threw me off was the whole Circus situation and the supporting cast of characters. Why is there a midget, a trapeze woman and an African American ring leader? The whole crime at the circus that took place is what made me think it is set in the future – what person would sit by and watch a man almost drown in water? Strange.

NBC took a leap with the show, since it is much darker than what they have tried in a while. The superhero aspect is a darker spin on what Heroes did for them, and I think they are hoping to capitalize on that again. Will they be successful? Not sure.

The villain Gregor in last night’s episode managed to murder four people, yet lived to see another day. Why?

I ended up watching the whole episode, but it seems there are a lot of story lines. The assistant who has a lot of issues, but we aren’t sure what they are, the hero who can’t see his family anymore (why?) and then a leader who appears to be bad, but isn’t?

Overall, it was confusing if you didn’t see the first episode in its entirety. Not good for a show’s future if you can’t sit down and understand what is happening 45 minutes later. But, that is also what made Lost work for abc. Is The Cape a winner – too early to tell.