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With the explosion of networks available on cable and
satellite TV, there's been a greater demand for content
and while cheap content is usually the way that these networks
go, there will occasionally be forays into popular niche
genres such as science fiction and fantasy. "Kyle XY" came
along at just the right time combining "90210" with science
fiction in a unique mix of soap opera that at its best recalls
"Smallville" at its worst just about every cheap dramatic
series on TV. ***
Two things distinguish this Kyle a mysterious teenager
found in the wilds of Seattle without his memory or a belly
button. 1) He's a genius and 2) he's naked and covered in
ooze. Kyle can't speak (a benefit from some teenagers in
parents minds), has no concept how to eat, drink or even
use the bathroom. He's in essence a newborn child with a
hunky physique that will get the girls interested and get
him into trouble with the bullies of the world. ***
A psychologist called in on the case Nicole (Marguerite
MacIntyre) decides to take him home hoping that her family
will spark some memories lingering in the background. Instead,
Kyle just creates tension in the house initially coming
into conflict with her son Josh (Jean-Luc Bilodeau), her
daughter Lori (April Matson). Eventually, they accept him
as part of the family and like Nichole and her husband get
sucked into the search for Kyle's origin and identity. Kyle
soon turns out to be more than they bargained for when he
picks up English and Chinese (from an old Bruce Lee movie)
in less than a day as well as the Kung Fu moves. He remembers
everything that he reads. He also spouts off a series of
numbers none of which make much sense and continues to draw
these strange symbols that are meaningless to everyone else.
Worse yet, an unidentified body is found near where Kyle
was discovered and we're uncertain if Kyle killed him or
if someone else did who was after him. He's also being followed
by Tom Foss (Nicholas Lea from "The X-Files") who may be
friend or foe. Finally there's the mysterious missing university
Professor a man named Kent who is somehow tied into Kyle's
amazing abilities. ***
Sadly all of this set up is left in the dust as the
show quickly evolved into another teen soap opera and "issue
of the week" TV series. For example we get the episode about
why we should lie, etc. The writing is wildly inconsistent
bordering on a bad parody of basic cable soap operas at
times. It's clear that there wasn't a consistent vision
guiding the show during its first season (ABC Family probably
called and said, "Hey, let's do an episode where Kyle goes
to High School to show he's like everyone else" which he
does.and then never goes back). Either way, this inconsistency
usually spells the death of a show indicating that there's
no creative vision or core team that are planning out the
series. The characters are wildly inconsistent to the point
where you wonder if they have schizophrenia. That's strange
even for a sci-fi soap opera. ---
Image & Sound:
Image quality is quite good. Colors are natural and
image quality crisp and sharp. There was occasional issued
with digital artifacts but, on the whole, the image quality
was pleasing and there was nothing distracting. ***
Audio is solid and dialogue clean. The Dolby Digital
Surround 5.1 track isn't anything special but it does have
some nice ambient effects. ---
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