Postmortem Spring 2011 - The Cape, The Event

Okay, I'll admit it.  I actually liked "The Cape" on NBC.  It was fun and campy with plenty of corny jokes.  I probably would have watched it for as long as they showed it.  (After all, I stayed with Heroes to the end.)  Then again, I can't say I haven't missed it too much--not like "Firefly."

This show was canceled before it came to an end, so of course the last televised episode didn't provide closure.  But wait!  There's one more episode online.  You can watch it here, embedded from NBC.com, until 9/17/2011.

<Video no longer valid>

---

"The Event," on the other hand, was given a full season's run.  I enjoyed this show despite a few annoyances.  The second half of the season really picked up, and each Monday, I looked forward to the evening to see what happened next.

The "24"-like scenes did get on my nerves.  After having watched that for eight seasons, I didn't really need any more dramatic zooms and ridiculously contrived scenarios.  (The President has been drugged, but wait!  There's an antidote, and it will take us 10 episodes to get it to him!)

The characters were a little inconsistent, especially Sophia.  One moment she's "I'm just trying to help," and then next moment she's Crazy Chick.  Also, James Dempsey (Hal Holbrook) is supposed to be the good guy, but then why was he torturing innocent alien girls and having his people kill others?

At least Jason Ritter and Sarah Roemer were consistent.  "Look at us!  We can stare into the camera!"  I know--not the best directing.

But it was all fun to watch.

The season closer did make for a good series closer.  We finally learned what "The Event" is.  A whole planet appears.  (Seems to be a popular motive recently.)  I would have liked to have seen Season 2, as the stage was set for some interesting stories.  It ended in a good place, and we can easily imagine what happens next.