Powers

They are going to have to bring in something new or I'm not going to get through this. The first few episodes were good and it seems to have legs but the cheesy special effects and silliness are starting to wear on me. We've seen it before in HEROES and others ... powers walk among us. There is a police force that deals with them. I'm interested in seeing how it plays out but am I 20 hours of my life interested?

While not perfect, powers offers the best take on super powered beings thus far. Why? Because it actually focuses on heroes making real choices, not supermodels running around with teen angst, or layers of conspiracies that detract from characters.

The acting is great and the interaction between powers and ordinary people is believable. That is what makes the show special. When a power is confronted, there is real tension. The show plays on that interaction well, and often to great effect. The powers in the show know they are above the law and the non power know there is little they can do about it.

The dialogue is a bit rough and the show only plays with being a procedural, something I think they should focus more on. Solving crimes in a super powered world would be interesting However, not committing to being a cop show or a show strictly about powers is the shows greatest weakness. It is a show stuck between two genres and not developing or committing to either.

The writing is so disappointing considering the bones of the plot are already put together since it is based on an existing graphic novel. As well, the performances are unbalanced. So many wonderful actors (Izzard, Taylor, Forbes, Copley to name a few) are trying their best to give some depth to crap dialogue and playing against some truly awful acting by the main characters. Direction seems non- existent...it's painfully clumsy in all respects. As well, will someone shape Walker's eyebrow? That and his oddly manicured perma- 5 o'clock shadow make him look like a muppet which makes it that much harder to take him seriously. God, and the wardrobe....completely uninspired.

The dialogue and acting in that scene in the 2nd episode when the 2 main cop characters Walker and Pilgrim are watching a TV news report in his living room is an example of everything that is wrong with this show.

I don't know why so many user reviews for this show are so negative, but I like it. I will agree with others that the story starts out a little wobbly, but the more you watch and actually pay attention, the better it gets. This isn't a mind numbing superhero show.

Instead of the usual good vs evil shtick, there is this gray area that people with powers reside in making the actual concept of good and evil a bit hazy. As for the whole people having powers and everyone knowing about it, as a fan of superhero flicks like The Avengers, it wasn't hard for me to believe and accept the concept. Cheesy superhero names? Sure. Cliché costumes? Of course. Rip-off of some other superhero flick? Every superhero flick rips off of other superhero flicks in some way or another, should be used to it by now.

All in all, I say give it a chance. Watch the first few episodes. If you still don't like it, then obviously this show isn't for you. However, if you find yourself wanting to know what happens next episode, then you and I are in the same basket.

As other reviewers have pointed out, the first couple episodes are lousy (like I'm-kind-of-embarrassed-for-these-actors level of lousiness). BUT the rest of the season more than makes up for the rocky start. While the whole superheroes thing has been done to death, Powers has definitely made the theme their own. With characters that aren't flatly just "good" or "evil" but rather more realistic humans, superb acting, and good dialogue and plots, this show is a must-see for any sci-fi/superheroes fans. There is so much potential for development of this universe; you can really see they have planted seeds for this to go so far above and beyond what we see in the first season. The PlayStation logo alone almost turned me away but I'm so glad I listened to the other reviewers and gave it a shot. Sure it's not perfect - the special effects could definitely use more work, and the writing and sets could be better, but I have a feeling they will really catch their stride in the second season - and I for one can't wait for it!