NBC wants me to like The Cape. Although the show airs on NBC, they are also piping it out to many of their affiliate stations including Syfy, USA, and Sleuth. I’ve seen it on the program guide more times than I can remember. That said, I want to like The Cape. I’m really liking David Lyons in the role of Vince Faraday (a.k.a. The Cape). My first problem is that the name Faraday reminds me of the crazy, nasty character from Lost. You know, the only one on a deserted island who actually looked like he smelled bad and pretty much hijacked the main cast to make way for stupid things that lead to the show being ridiculous…. Anyway, yeah, I do like the main character.

Toward the end of its run, Heroes took to the carnival to infuse some oddness into its storyline. It was only moderately successful. The use of the Carnival of Crime (hahaha) in The Cape, however, is awesome. The small band of talented oddities didn’t feel too contrived and I really liked watching Vince’s progression with them. This couldn’t have been made any better; excellent job!

Every hero needs a villain to fight, and who better than James Frain?!? If you’re not familiar with his work on True Blood, you just need to take a moment to get caught up. He is amazing. Fact. I still don’t know what’s going on with him, but I like it. A lot. I like nearly everyone on the show a lot. Vinnie Jones as Scales is just perfect.

Now comes my biggest problem with The Cape. Summer Glau. In what could have been a mysterious, important role–possibly the most important role– of Orwell, Summer Glau looks chromosomally challenged as always. The casting of Summer Glau tips the balance from serious drama to Sweet Valley High and will be the reason I don’t add The Cape to my list of fandoms.

It’s a shame really, because with the exception of one poorly cast character, I could have loved this show.