Kyle XY: Season One

Perhaps the most flexible of all the genres in literary, film and television is science fiction. It runs the gamut from simple stories of space exploration to use as the backdrop for complex morality plays. The ABC Family Channel has taken Sci-Fi to the teen market with Kyle XY. While obviously targeted towards the early to mid teen demographic it does have enough going for it that we jaded adults can actually get into it and enjoy. The series has everything needed to draw in the teens. This naturally includes a community made up of extremely beautiful people, over sex teenagers and lingering shots of young bosoms. Fortunately, the show does not linger on these superficial aspects nor does it rely on the soap opera plots that series like the OC or its many clones employ. Instead this series has taken the high road using the main character to examine the complexities of our society and with what it means to be human.

Kyle (Matt Dallas) looks like a normal, handsome boy of sixteen or so. His first memories are waking up in a forest covered with a strange, viscous liquid over his body. His first encounter is with a rattle snake but he is fast enough to grab it as it strikes. He wanders into town, naked and is soon arrested and taken to a juvenile detention center run by Lou Daniels (Darian Haywood). Kyle is apparently unable to communicate with the other kids which lead to some embarrassing moments with the local bully. Lou calls on a colleague, Nicole Trager (Marguerite MacIntyre), a child psychologist. She lives in a quiet home with her husband Stephen (Bruce Thomas) and their two teenaged children, Lori (April Matson) and her younger brother Josh (Jean-Luc Bilodeau). It is little surprise that the family is not very happy about mom taking in Kyle. All Josh wants is for Kyle to leave his stuff alone and the only thing on Lori’s mind is how far she will go with her boyfriend of the week, Declan (Chris Olivero). Kyle is a medical oddity. He is faster than an average human, far more agile. He also has an incredible aptitude for math. His teeth are not worn at all and he doesn’t sleep. The strangest thing is he doesn’t have a belly button.

Since Kyle has no family and there are no reports of him being missing the Trager family decides to take him in. During his first few days Trager kids recent Kyle. Josh hates sharing his room and Lori all but ignores him. Then, one by one he wins them over. When Lori sneaks out to go to a party Kyle follows her. She drinks too much and is about to be arrested by a home security guard. Kyle is able to save her, using his amazing agility to avoid the nightstick. He carries Lori home to safety. He then finds the girlie magazine that Josh lost and is able to recover picture Stephen lost when his computer crashed. Kyle was able to recover the picture after seeing the machine code of the computer. In one minute he was able to speak the computer’s language. Josh becomes convinced that Kyle is an alien. A girlfriend of Lori’s uses Kyle to get Lori’s boyfriend jealous. Kyle is also the object of a crush himself. When he hears music coming from next store he follows it. It turns out that a neighbor, Amanda (Kirsten Prout) is playing the piano. He describes it as the combination of math and ecstasy. The first season has to lay the ground work for the story so there are several scenes in hospitals. It turns out that Kyle uses more of his brain than should be possible He also not only sleep he is unaffected by the medication given to him.

I know it sounds corny but this series has real heart. Since I am not part of the target audience and my own daughter has past her teens years ago it never occurred to me to watch this series. I see now that I was missing something of quality. This series could have been a cheap X-Files rip off or a one note song but instead it builds the story carefully. The premise may be simple but the execution is wonderfully done. There is the underlying mystery of who Kyle is and where he came from but that is only the start. It is how he views the world that makes the series. He is literally a new born in the body of a sixteen year old boy. His mind and body are perfect, just beyond the normal range for most of humanity. The series goes into the changes in the family dynamic that the appearance of Kyle brings. Real world problems like job pressures come in when Nicole and Stephen get in trouble at work do to all the time they are spending with Kyle. The Tragers are a normal enough family and the take to Kyle slowly but surely. There is also attention to little details that move this series above the pack of teen shows. When he draws he uses the technique of Pointillism. For Kyle this makes sense. He remembers an image like a digital photograph and reproduces it one pixel at a time. This becomes a key plot element when Nicole has him draw any memory he might have. The result is a series of drawing that just add to the mystery.

The cast is well done here. Matt Dallas is just perfect as Kyle. He has the looks to keep the young female viewers watching and the talent that everyone can appreciate. It has to be difficult to play a character so detached from the everyday things we all take for granted. He has the wide eyed innocence that sells his character. Marguerite MacIntyre plays the mom with resolve. She makes Nicole into a woman who loves her family and has an incredible amount of empathy. It may just be that I’m a father of a daughter but I found April Matson’s role a bit too oversexed. While it is implied that she doesn’t go ‘all the way’ (this is on the Family channel after all) but she certainly is a tease. It’s a good performance and I’m most likely just in denial. Jean-Luc Bilodeau provides much of the comic relief with his little notebook where he writes down all the reasons he is sure Kyle is an alien.

Buena Vista brings this series to DVD with its usual flair. The technical aspects of the release are excellent. The anamorphic 1.78:1 video is crisp and clear with a true to life color balance. The audio is presented in a rich Dolby 5.1. The series does not follow the usual course of other teen oriented series with one rock song after another. Instead this is very much a dialogue oriented series. The soundtrack is robust even giving some bottom with the sub woofer. There are also some interesting extras provided in this first season set. There is an alternate cut of the pilot episode and an extended version of the last episode of the season. There are commentary tracks of select episodes featuring Matt Dallas, April Matson and Writer Julie Plec. Lastly there is a behind the scenes featurette that gives a little insight into the mystery. This is actually a series that not only can the whole family watch together everyone is certain to enjoy it.

Posted 05/18/07