Having had so little faith in The Cape as to order only 13 episodes of this year's requisite superhero series, and then postpone the run till mid-season as if to add insult to injury, news has just hit of a final, irrevocable twist of the knife: NBC has reduced their order to a paltry 10 episodes. Presumably roughly as many the showrunners have in the can as is.
The Cape, in short, is doomed.
Long live The Cape!
There can be precious surprise, I suppose, about the dire fortunes of this silly little series. I'd be surprised to see the network even dignify The Cape with an outright cancellation. It hasn't been a ratings smash, nor anything approaching a success with the critics; in fact the only thing The Cape seems to have had going for it is the notion that it's "so bad it's good" - a nonsense made exponentially less meaningful (if it ever had any meaning at all) with every repetition.
What am I getting at, exactly? Well, at the risk of annoying anyone who's ever enjoyed a comic book, I tend to think that statement's a steaming load: The Cape isn't exactly great television, not by any stretch of the imagination, but it's far and away the most faithful superhero comic book show I've ever seen - in tone and spirit and execution. It's silly, frivolous and off-kilter in exactly the same way the vast majority of superhero comic books are silly, frivolous and off-kiler - and for that reason, I've enjoyed it a great deal.
If you're going to say it's "so bad it's good," internet, at least be truthful about what you're trashing: if The Cape is bad, it's bad only in the sense so many of the comic books I presume we all adore are bad. Let's not be dicks about a show which consciously embraces the same gleeful, madcap silliness we all do week in, week out - every Wednesday without complaint.
I for one will be watching The Cape to the bitter end, and I'll make no apologies for my fondness. Will you?