Kyle XY: The Complete Third Season – Final Season (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

January 1, 2010 by Dennis Amith 

With the cancellation of “Kyle XY”, fans were shocked by the cliffhanger series finale.  If you want to know how “Kyle XY” should have ended and a fan expecting some closure, then this final season DVD release is what you’re looking for.  A bittersweet ending to a wonderful sci-fi, drama television series.

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TITLE: KYLE XY: The Complete Third Season – Final Season

DURATION: 436 minutes (10 episodes)

DVD INFORMATION: NTSC, Region 1, Widescreen (1:78:1), NTSC, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, Spanish and French subtitles

RATED: 14 DSLV (Parental Discretion Advised)

COMPANY: abc entertainment

Created by Eric Bress, J. Mackye Gruber

Executive Producers: Eric Tuchman and David Himelfarb

Co-Executive Producer: Julie Flec

Starring:

Matt Dallas (as Kyle)

Jaimie Alexander (as Jessi XX)

Nicholas Lea (as Tom Foss)

April Matson (as Lori Trager)

Bruce Thomas (as Stephan Trager)

Jean-Luc Bilodeau (as Josh Trager)

Marguerite MacIntyre (as Nicole Trager)

Chris Olivero (as Declan McDonough)

Kirsten Prout (as Amanda Bloom)

Action, mystery and suspense reach an all-new level in ten stunning original episodes of Kyle XY. Go to the next stage as Kyle (Matt Dallas) and Jessi (Jaimie Alexander) begin to work as a team and uncover the secrets of their origin. Kyle’s world is turned upside-down when his powers suddenly disappear, and he’s in for another surprise when Amanda (Kirsten Prout) comes home with an unexpected question. As one woman in Kyle’s life arrives, another must say goodbye – though Jessi assures him they will always be connected. Meanwhile, the prom is fast approaching, and Kyle wants his night with Amanda to be perfect. After a dance neither of them will ever forget, Kyle comes face-to-face with the ultimate mystery. Experience every twist and turn on three discs, including never-before-seen bonus features. You don’t know the whole story until you’ve seen Kyle XY: The Complete Third and Final Season.

What a difference a year makes!

“Kyle XY” has been the flagship series for abc family as it was the top rated series for the cable channel from 2006-2008.  After raving about season two of abc Family’s sci-fi teen drama series “Kyle XY” and how I enjoyed the series immensely, the highly anticipated third season was canceled and to make things worse, there was no appropriate ending to the series as it ended with a cliffhanger.  The final episode was meant to be a season finale not a series finale.

Needless to say, fans were upset that the networks didn’t give the executive producers/writers an opportunity to give the series some closure.  With fans hoping an online petition would bring it back online, unfortunately the series has been canceled and for fans, all that they can hope for is some closure with the DVD release of the third and final season.  Fortunately, the executive producers do give closure through “Kyle XY: The Complete Third Season – Final Season” DVD release.

In the second season, Kyle XY learns about his past and learns that he has a female equivalent to him named Jessi XY.  Unlike Kyle who had a family to learn how it feels to be loved and cared for, Jessi XY is the opposite.  Emotionally unstable and almost a killing machine, it’s when she meets Kyle that her life starts to change for the positive.  Unfortunately, Jessi has problems with keeping her emotions in check.

Meanwhile, Zzyzx, the protectors of Kyle were killed by MadaCorp operatives and at the end of season 2, we learn of a new corporation known as Latnok and a mysterious man named Cassidy who is doing his research on Kyle and Jessi.

The Main characters of “Kyle XY” are:

• Kyle XY - A teenager who was created in a laboratory and has superhuman abilities.  With the male experiment known as XY, Kyle was thought as dead during a lab accident but in truth, he escaped and was discovered by the Trager family and taken in as one of their own.  Kyle exhibits superhuman abilities such as super hearing (the ability to listen to heartbeats and tell if someone is lying), levitation, controlling electric currents, superhuman strength and other abilities that he is not quite sure about yet.  Has memories of the past that he is trying to piece and also notices that he lacks a naval.
• Jessi XX - Similar to Kyle, Jessi was created in a laboratory and unlike Kyle who was taken in with a family with a lot of love, Jessi escaped the laboratory and is literally a killing machine.  She eventually gets some needed help from Kyle and the family and feels a close bond with Kyle because they share similar special abilities.  Very unstable and does not know how to utilize her emotions, especially anger.  Similar to Kyle, Jessi also lacks a naval.
• Lori Trager – The older sister of the Trager family, she learns to care for Kyle, especially when her boyfriend Declan learns about Kyle’s abilities.  Your typical teenager who likes to party and have fun.  Often misunderstood by her parents.
• Josh Trager – The younger brother who has become close with Kyle.  Dating Andy Jensen and wants to go further in their relationship.
• Nicole Trager - The loving mother who accepts Kyle like her own son and also feels caring towards Jessi.
• Stephan Trager - The hardworking father of the Trager family and also a mentor for Kyle.
• Declan McDonough – Dating Lori Trager (off-and-on) and finds out about Kyle’s secret abilities.  Tries to help him and gets angered when Kyle tries to prevent him from getting involved.
• Amanda Bloom – Kyle’s girlfriend who has aspirations to become a concert pianist.  Often jealous of Jessi’s attention towards Kyle.
• Andy Jensen – The girlfriend of Josh who has cancer.  Often cynical but is quite mature for her age.

“Kyle XY: The Complete Third Season – Final Season” features the final ten episodes on three DVD’s:

DISC 1:

• Episode 34 – It Happened One Night – Kyle needs Jessi’s help in order to find out who kidnapped Amanda.  Kyle learns about his latest nemesis….Latnok.
• Episode 35 – Psychic Friend – Amanda is upset with Kyle due to him keeping the truth hidden from hidden her.  Meanwhile, Kyle goes to talk with a psychic who gives him a startling warning.
• Episode 36 – Electric Kiss – Latnok has installed something inside Amanda’s head and Kyle asks Jessi to help him.
• Episode 37 – The Company of Men – With Kyle depressed about Amanda breaking up with him, Declan and Josh try to make him feel better by taking him to a bar.

Disc 2:

• Episode 38 – Life Support – Kyle and Josh drive Nicole to a psychology conference but when Kyle is distracted, he avoids hitting another car but the Trager’s car ends up crashing into a ravine and Nicole is seriously injured.
• Episode 39 – Welcome to Latnok – With Nicole seriously injured, Latnok ends up saving her and now Kyle has to help them in return.
• Episode 40 – Chemistry 101 – After Jessi confesses her feelings to Kyle, he is now having to deal with Jessi and his jealousy after finding out that Amanda has a new boyfriend.
• Episode 41 – The Tell-Tale Heart – Jessi goes to uncover clues on what has happened to her mother Sarah.

DISC 3:

• Episode 42 – Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner -Kyle and Jessi learn what happened to Sarah and how evil Cassidy truly is.  Kyle comes up with a plan that Jessi is not too enthusiastic about.
• Episode 43 – Bringing Down the House - The series finale.  Kyle and Jessi must put an end to the Kyle XY clones and stop Cassidy, but will they be able too?

VIDEO & AUDIO:

Video is featured in Widescreen (1:78:1), enhanced for 16×9 televisions. There are a lot of outdoor and indoor shots in this series, so the series definitely benefits from the outdoor shots.  Picture quality on DVD is satisfactory compared to other television series on DVD with some compression and also a fine layer of grain can be seen on video.  But for the most part, PQ for this television series is good.

Audio is featured in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, the show is mostly dialogue-driven and audio is mainly coming from the center and front channel speakers.  Dialogue is clear and understandable as with the music for the film.

Subtitles are in English SDH.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Kyle XY: The Complete Third Season – Final Season” comes with the following special features:

Disc 2:

• Audio commentary for “Episode 38 – Life Support” – Optional audio commentary by executive producers David Himelfarb and Eric Tuchman.

Disc 3:

• Kyle XY: Future Revealed - (12:34) For those who wanted to know how “Kyle XY” should have ended, this is the special feature to watch.  Executive producers Eric Tuchman and David Himelfarb and co-executive producer Julie Flec talk about how “Kyle XY” was supposed to end if given a fourth season.
• Deleted Scenes – Featuring twelve deleted scenes with optional commentary by Executive producers Eric Tuchman and David Himelfarb.
• Audio commentary for “Episode 43 – Bringing Down the House” – Optional audio commentary by executive producer David Himelfarb and co-executive producer Julie Flec.

I have to admit that after the series finale, I was shocked about how the final season ended.  What was up with the cliffhanger?  Why didn’t the writers end the series.  And this DVD release explains that the third season was done and was setup for a fourth season but it didn’t happen that way, ABC canceled the series.

So, it does makes sense why the series ended with a cliffhanger and after hearing how the executive producers wanted to end the series, how disappointing that this series could not have been continued.  I was at least hoping the series would be picked up by another cable network and somehow the series would continue to go on.  After all, for three years, this series was the top rated show for abc family.

So, in a way, this final season is kind of bittersweet because it doesn’t give you the feeling of closure.  But at least, the executive producers were able to give us a glimpse of what they wanted through the special feature and also with the audio commentary for the final episode.

I really enjoyed “Kyle XY” and its rather unfortunate that such a wonderful series had to end with a cancellation and also unfortunate that the network couldn’t give them additional episodes to wrap the series up.  May it be through two hour movie or an additional 3-4 episodes, those millions of viewers who enjoyed the series should have been treated with some closure.

As for the DVD release, the second season was a fantastic release with many special features with the cast, many audio commentary tracks but surprisingly, the third and final season only had audio commentary for two episodes and the deleted scenes.  So, I was a little surprised how this final DVD release had less content.

Nevertheless, I’m grateful to executive producers Eric Tuchman and David Himelfarb and co-executive Julie Flec for being so honest with their fans through this DVD release and explaining of what they wanted for the future of “Kyle XY” and also talking about the series cancellation.

So, if you are a big fan of “Kyle XY” and own the previous two seasons, this is the final season to complete your collection and possibly the way to gain closure for those who enjoyed the series.