KYLE XY: REVELATIONS – THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

“The second season of the popular series features more action, more sci-fi elements and humor.  What an awesome drama series and the exciting second season of ‘KYLE XY’ is even more enjoyable on DVD which comes loaded with special features!  Highly recommended!”

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TITLE: KYLE XY: REVELATIONS – THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON

DURATION: 994 minutes (23 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

Starring:

Matt Dallas (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)

He is not alone.  Prepare for twice the excitement with the mysterious arrival of Jessi XX, in the captivating sci-fi drama’s jaw dropping Second Season.  What is Jessi’s connection to Kyle and might she carry the answer to the ultimate question:  Who is Kyle XY?

Breakout star Matt Dallas reprises his role as KY, the phenomenal young man with an enigmatic past.  Unlock coveted secrets from Season One and delve into a new level of thrills in “Kyle XY: The Complete Second Season”.  Experience 23 episdes on six discs, including a round-the-clock look at the worlds of Kyle and Jessi.  It’s a twisting, turning drama that will have you hooked form the very first episode!

When the first season of “KYLE XY” appeared on television, what a refreshing and unique sci-fi drama series that features a young man who wakes up in the middle of the forest and is taken in by the Trager family despite the guy have no knowledge of his past or who he is.  What is known is that he may be special and the fact that he has no belly button, even makes things a bit more interesting.  Is Kyle an alien?  Why does have this abilities?

The first season ended with Kyle leaving with his parents and leaving the Trager family, the only family that has taught him love and made him feel like’s he’s part of the family.

With the second season of “KYLE XY”, because of the series becoming ABC Family’s highest rated show, the second season jumps from the first season’s ten episodes to a total of 23 episodes.  And what an exciting season it was with the introduction of Jessi XX, Kyle getting to know the secrets of his past and who he is, Josh gets a girlfriend, Kyle and Andi get closer and so much more.

The episodes are as follows:

1. Episode 11 – The Prophet – Kyle learns the truth about himself though Adam Baylin and Lori is taking the loss of Kyle not being there any longer quite badly and it’s affecting the Trager family.
2. Episode 12 – The Homecoming – There appears to be a second creation at ZZYZX, a woman that goes by XX.
3. Episode 13 -  The List is Life – Kyle is grateful to be back at the Trager home but because he needs to go on training with Tom Foss after school, the training is starting to get in the way of his teenage life and life with his family.
4. Episode 14 – Balancing Act – Foss learns about a murder in the forest (near whatever remains of ZZYZX) and thus pushes Kyle to train harder to the point that Kyle doesn’t want to train anymore.   Declan secretly investigates what Kyle is doing after school.
5. Episode 15 – Come to Your Senses – Nicole is back to work and her first patient is Jessi (XX), who has been programmed to get close to the Trager family and Kyle.
6. Episode 16 – Does Kyle Dream of Electric Fish? – Kyle starts having visions that come true, another ability discovered.
7. Episode 17 – Free To Be You And Me – Kyle and Amanda go on their first date.
8. Episode 18 – What’s the Frequency, Kyle? – Stephen’s father suffers a stroke and Kyle’s abilities may help Stephen and his father (who have not seen each other for decades) get close as father and son, one final time.
9. Episode 19 – The Ghost in the Machine – The gang goes camping but somehow the group ends up discovering the ruins of ZZYZX and Kyle starts to see ghosts.
10. Episode 20 – House of Cards – Stephen spends a lot of time at Madacorp and Kyle takes his Latnok ring to the pawn shop in order to get Amanda’s stolen necklace.  But by the time he tries to recover it, it’s too late.
11. Episode 21 – Hands on a Hybrid – Kyle starts to suspect things about Jessi and uses his time during a charity to get closer to her.  Meanwhile, Kyle’s girlriend Amanda is not enjoying it one bit.
12. Episode 22 – Lockdown – Jessi is missing and out-of-control and thus Nicole takes some precautions.
13. Episode 23 – Leap of Faith – The Trager’s are start to question Kyle and what he may be.
14. Episode 24 – To C.I.R., With Love – Kyle tells the Trager’s the truth about him and his abilities and also the truth about Madacorp.
15. Episode 25 – The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades – It’s career week but Jessi gets in trouble by displaying her abilities in front of the students.  Kyle worries that their secret abilities may put him and the family at harm.
16. Episode 26 – Great Expectations – Amanda makes a surprise visit at home and that upsets her mother who prevents her from seeing Kyle.   Amanda is considering not going back to school because of her relationship with Kyle.
17. Episode 27 – Grounded – A social worker (courtesy of Amanda’s mother)  investigates the Trager home to see if Kyle is being taken care of.
18. Episode 28 – Between the Rack and a Hard Place – Amanda gets a job at Josh’s work (The Rack) but tensions mount as Jessi reveals that she is the person responsible for getting Amanda in trouble with her mother.  Meanwhile, Jessi feels that Kyle and the Tragers want nothing to do with her.
19. Episode 29 – The First Cut is the Deepest – Kyle discovers more information on Jessi’s mother, Sarah and takes her to the local university to investigate what may have happened to her.  Also, Kyle starts to learn that perhaps Jessi’s much more farther ability wise than he is.
20. Episode 30 – Primary Colors – After giving Josh’s girlfriend Andy a hug, somehow Andy is in cancer remission and as for Kyle, he is weak and his abilities are out of wack.  The Trager’s have to call in someone close to Kyle to find out what is going on.
21. Episode 31 – Grey Matters – Josh got a great grade in school (after studying intensely) but his counselor doesn’t believe him and accuses Josh and Kyle of cheating.  Meanwhile, Jessi is helping the students cheat and Kyle discovers that someone close to him may have also cheated on their exams.
22. Episode 32 – Hello… – Kyle arranges for Sarah and Jessi to finally meet but it may be too late.
23. Episode 33 – I’ve Had the Time of My Life – It’s prom night and a special night for Kyle and the Tragers, also a special surprise announcement by Jessi.

One of the strengths of “KYLE XY” are the characters.  In fact, I was saying to myself how this series has that bond of friends that reminded me of series like the Scoobie Gang of the popular “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” series and sure enough, the “KYLE XY” gang are talking about them being the Scoobie Gang and which character would they be?  So, that was quite ironic but at the same time, the character dynamics and the time put into developing the characters of the Trager family, KYLE, Jessi and friends is well done.

I was quite impressed with each episode which season 2, there were no clunky/boring episodes and found each of the 23 episodes were well done.  Each episode had a good balance of sci-fi drama, teen drama and witty humor and the episodes were well-written as well.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

Video is featured in Widescreen (1:78:1), enhanced for 16×9 televisions.  There are a lot of outdoor and indoor shots with typical cloudiness that you would see from a television series.  Audio is featured in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, the show is mostly dialogue-based but there are quite a bit of music featured in the episodes, which actually comes clear through your front speakers.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

I was quite surprised with the amount of special features included on this DVD set.  There are a lot!  In fact, nearly each disc contains special features.  Here is what you can find on each of the discs:

• Disc 1: Audio commentary by Supervising Producer Julie Plec and Executive Producer Eruc Tuchman for “The Prophet” and audio commentary by Producers Chad Fiveash and James Stoteraux for “The Homecoming”.    Four deleted scenes with optional commentary plus sneak peeks.
• Disc 2: Audio commentary for “Ghost in the Machine” with actor Matt Dallas, Supervising Producers Julie Plec, Chris Hollier and Rudy Gaborno.  Six deleted scenes with optional commentary.
• Disc 3: Features a good number of special features.  This disc contains a 12-minute featurette titled “Livin’ with the X’s”.  This was an interesting featurette as it shows both Matt Dallas and Jaime Alexander waking up early in the morning and the things they do before they get to the set and a very amusing timeline of how the two get ready from the morning at home, getting makeup and then shooting their scenes.  And how busy their schedule is throughout the day.

The second feature is “Facing the Future” which is a 7-minute featurette which includes interviews with the producers and the talent in regards to the second season.

Along with these two featurettes are two commentaries, “Leap of Faith” with commentary by actor Matt Dallas, Executive Producer Eric Tuchman and Supervising Producer Julie Plec.  “House of Cards” features commentary by Producers Chad Fiveash and James Stoteraux.  Plus two deleted scenes with optional commentary.

Also, featured is an alternate ending to one of the episodes.   A surprising alternate ending that would have changed the relationship dynamics of the whole series between the Kyle and the people very close to him.

• Disc 4: This disc features two audio commentaries for “To C.I.R., With Love” with Producers Julie Plec, Eric Tuchman and writer Bryan Holdman.  Also, commentary for “Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades” with writers Steven Lilien, Bryan Wynbrandt and director Chris Grismer.
• Disc 6: This disc features 14 deleted scenes with optional commentary by producer Julie Plec, audio commentary by Producer Julie Plec, writers Chris Hollier and Rudy Gaborno for “I’ve Had the Time of My Life”.  Also, a featurette in regards to “The Science of KYLE XY” which comes from Albert Einstein’s gestation in the womb may have led to him being a genius, so the concept of what if a person gestated for 16 years rather than nine months?

“KYLE: XY” is a fantastic series and I was very impressed by the second season from the characters to the enjoyable storylines but most importantly, how much they included on the DVD set.

It’s one thing to get a television series box set with commentary but for this second season, they really go all out with commentary by actor Matt Dallas, the producers, the writers and you learn so much about the shows filming process through the commentary.  From awkward scenes and even some talent disagreements, the producers were very straightforward in their commentary and know what they wanted to accomplish in each episode.

And the deleted scenes, of course, so much is filmed each episode and scenes longer than the 40 minutes allowed, thus it was good to hear the commentary of why certain things were cut out and not included in the final cut.  And of course, additional featurettes that really go into the series and the talent behind the series which was great to see.

As mentioned earlier, I really enjoyed the character dynamics and how everyone just really works well with each other.  I don’t think I’ve been this giddy by a youthful sci-fi drama series since “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and it was one of those series on which I couldn’t stop watching each episode on DVD one after the other.  It’s that good!

Overall, a fantastic series on DVD.  This DVD set of “KYLE XY” is loaded with special features that I’m sure fans of the series will definitely be thrilled about.  Highly recommended!