The Cape

In this world of "Smallville," "Heroes," and "No Ordinary Family" type shows, I was excited to see that NBC was producing a superhero series that actually put the protagonist in a costume (even if it is a generic black one). So during the commercial breaks, I'm breaking down my observations of "The Cape."

So far, fifty minutes in I have been treated to an origin story that might be best described as... contrived? I don't know.

Generic family man cop hero meets supervillain (Chess), who kills his boss, the chief of police, which leads to the city privatizing the police force.

Chess then reveals that he's the boss of the private police force and frames generic cop for murder.

Generic cop evades police force, is seemingly killed, and is found by a band of bank-robbing circus performers lead by Keith David and his smooth, smooth voice.

Generic cop exchanges bank security info for training in how to defeat Chess, then goes out to fight crime as "The Cape."

Vinnie Jones shows up wearing snake scales and working for Chess, beats up The Cape, then The Cape meets River from "Firefox" who is a super-secret crime blogger with a lot of tech, and befriends her in like, three seconds.

Then Chess kidnaps Keith David and his smooth, smooth voice and has Vinnie Jones shoot him (Keith David, and his smooth smooth voice, though the actual act of shooting his voice is not depicted).

The Cape goes to rescue Keith David, and discovers that Chess has wired the boat that they're on to explode, but it doesn't and the The Cape chases Chess off of the boat.

Then The Cape goes to his wife's house and tells his son that he'll meet his father again eventually.

More on the second half and my closing thoughts as they develop.