Let's not quibble over whether these shows are actually science fiction or fantasy. They both spring from a comic book tradition, and that makes them speculative enough for me. So. . .
Human Target is the wittiest, funniest show about ex-assassins you will ever see. Each episode, Christopher Chance and his team save someone from being assassinated, in an action-packed plot with as many gunfights, heists, explosions, and clever deceptions as a person could want. But what makes this show shine is the banter between the characters and the great comic acting. Jackie Earl Haley (as Guerro) manages to be creepy and hilarious at the same time, and Chi McBride (as Winston) does fed up and funny like no one else. Luckily, these talented character actors have intelligent, sparkling dialogue to work with. Catch this undervalued show before it disappears!
I haven't been able to bring myself to watch the third episode of The Cape. There were moments when the first two episodes were watchable: action sequences when no one was talking; times the dialogue got so bad the characters themselves successfully made fun of it; opportunities to gaze at Summer Glau. But I spent most of the time groaning at the awful writing and discussing pacing problems with my husband. If this script had been submitted to my writer's group, it would have had "awkward, awkward" scribbled all over the dialogue. As for pacing, the pilot tried to do an entire superhero origin story, something that took eight years on Smallville, and two hours in Spiderman and other superhero action films. Cramming that many stages and concepts into forty minutes ironically made the pilot slow, in the same way that flipping through a book is more boring than actually reading a chapter. And did no one notice that the first scene with the circus performers was completely inconsistent with the characters as they were later established? Personally, I don't have time for a show this bad, but feel free to comment if it gets better!
