I had had this story about a father and son in mind, where the father would become his son’s favorite hero, but I thought it was really important, who the actual hero was...NBC signed on because they loved this emotional story point of the father and his son’s comic book superhero

I think what we are balancing really well is the ability for an audience to drop in on an episode and have a great ride, meet a great villain and touch base with this journey that Vince Faraday is on. And then, if you don’t tune in for a few episodes, you can still come back and have a great adventure. We’re not saying, “Get on the train now, or you’ll never be able to get on the train ever.” We’re mostly an adventure-of-the-week show, but for those who are committed to the show, they’ll see things change.

I’d say that mid-way through our first arc, we have a big two-part episode where we introduce a huge villain of our season and a great cast with Glenn Fitzgerald, Illeana Douglas and Tom Noonan from The X-Files. It’s a really great group of actors. That’s our big mid-season, two-parter. It has huge implications for Summer Glau’s character, Orwell, and sets in motion a storyline that is pretty intense for her character. By the end, that’s when you’ll see a lot of the chickens from the pilot coming home to roost by 13.

I recently saw what will be our seventh episode, and I can say that I’m super-excited for that villain. It’s a big roll-out and it also takes The Cape to a much darker, scarier place than I even thought we could go. It just opened up this whole new arena, genre wise, for us to tackle. It’s our The X-Files episode. It’s cool. It’s really fun. I thick people will like it.

Does that villain have a name?

WHEELER: He’s called The Litch. There’s a legend in Palm City of an almost supernatural crime lord called The Litch, but nobody has ever seen him or heard from him. He just exists in these old police files where you throw these cases of things too weird, creepy, violent or scary. Essentially, someone connected to Rollo’s (Martin Klebba) life dies, but then appears to have climbed out of their coffin and out of their grave. It starts this really tense mystery, and is cloaked in this Palm City family founder legend of this Chandler family. We’ll get to know Palm City better. We’ll get to know the history, and we’ll get to know Rollo’s life a little bit better. It’s fun. It’s cool.

How far are you into the writing? Do you have all of the scripts finished yet?

WHEELER: We’re pretty close. The wind is at my back. I was fairly stressed around October or November because it’s a new kind of experience for me to write like this. There’s a production train coming, so you have to make sure that you’re there. We have scripts written, or almost written, up to the 11th episode, and then we have very clear plans for what the last two will be, which are a big two-parter, in and of themselves, which I’ll be writing. I got a little break. I wrote 109 with my brother, and then I get to oversee the next couple, and then I’ll dive in and do some more writing.

Are there any characters, either hero or villain, that you think audiences will be most shocked to learn the backstory of?

WHEELER: Summer’s character, Orwell, is a real mystery. I would say that hers is the most disturbing journey of self-discovery.

Are you planning to resolve things by the end of this season and then start fresh for Season 2, if there is one, or are you leaving some things open-ended as well?

WHEELER: I’m really sensitive to the fact that audiences deserve resolution in some things. What I would say is that it will be a little bit of both. I think some things will resolve in a pretty surprising way and, at the same time, we throw open the doors to a number of new elements that will require The Cape to dive into. I think we finish off telling one story, and then we set the table for what could be a long, bright future.

Have they given you any indication yet about a Season 2 pick-up?

WHEELER: No. All I know is that they are really happy and they feel really good about it. They have been great partners. I cannot complain about the way they supported the show and promoted the show, and the way they’ve supported me and the stories I want to tell. That’s usually a good sign. I’ve been in different situations than that, but this has been great.

Question: Can you give me info on The Cape — preferably something juicy? —Hector
Ausiello: Things could get a bit circus freaky for Vince when Raia (played by Izabella Miko) grows ever curious about just what lies beneath his cape. “She has a very strong crush on Vince — and there are plans to have that crush tilt into obsession,” series creator Tom Wheeler told TVLine’s Matt Mitovich. “We have big plans for Raia.”