Daily Musing: New Shows for Winter

The Cape

Detective (David Lyons) is framed for being a prominent local villain called Chess by an apparently evil corporation taking over control of the city's security (police force, etc) ... looks to have died in an explosion while being apprehended ... but was in fact taken in by a group of circus freaks (literally) who supplement their income by committing armed robbery ... is trained by said circus freaks and comes into possession of a specially made cape ... and uses such new abilities and the near-magical super-stretchy-but-sturdy cape to create his superhero identity ... to spy (out of love of course) on his son and wife (Jennifer Ferrin - ex-Jennifer, As the World Turns [RIP]) and exact his revenge.

So far, the action has been interesting, and I am a fan of Summer Glau (Firefly/Serenity ftw!), aka Orville, the anti-evil-corporation-blogger/computer wiz turned accomplice to our hero.  The villain in the story (James Frain), the head of evil-corporation and also the real Chess, is a deliciously brilliant and ruthless psycho with a potential soft-spot for a missing daughter who may turn out to be not quite on his side.  Still, the show, which tries to insert some comic book styles, is not grabbing me as I hoped it would.  I don't feel attached to any of the characters yet, and the general plots have been somewhat bland.

Verdict:  jury's still out - will give it a few more episodes.

Off the Map

I'm conflicted.  On one hand, I reeally miss Lost, and seeing the gorgeous Hawaii tropical setting on this show (especially now that I have HD) provides a strange sort of satisfaction.  Otoh, this show is all over the place.  I like all the newbies at the clinic, especially Meryl Streep's daughter (but that may be because she was entertaining on The Good Wife and that I just found out she was MS' daughter ... Meryl Streep!) and the girl played by the actress who got unceremoniously replaced on Twilight not that that should be a big loss (maybe because her character is the only one that seems to actually speak Spanish).  I don't feel the love for any of the attending doctors though.  I did appreciate learning that coconut water can serve as a substitute for blood plasma (apparently not a myth - might come in useful someday), but some of the other situations are just way over-the-top.

Verdict: thisclose to giving up.

Fairly Legal

The main actress (Sarah Shahi) is gorgeous and has got loads of spunk.  And there's an ex-Battlestar Galactica actor (Michael Trucco) in the mix to boot - never a bad thing.  The relationships between the main character (Kate), her stepmother/sort-of-boss, her brother, and her ex-husband is dysfunctional yet oddly rootable.  Props to whoever thought of the Wizard of Oz ringtones complete with Oz caller ID pics (cute!).  The show does tend to preach "justice" a little too much though, and Kate is almost too smug and snarky for her own good.  The storylines so far have also struggled with trying to be heartstring-tugging/gritty-real vs. happy/sappy and never really fully succeeded on either end.

Verdict: won't go out of my way to watch but on my list of "keep on in the background" titles.