The Bottom Line
With "It Happened One Night," the season 3 premiere, Kyle shows just how far he's come. In the first season, which aired in the summer of 2006, Kyle started out literally as a babe in the woods, and over the course of the first two seasons he struggled to uncover his past in order to understand who he was and what he was capable of.
But all that lies behind him now. Kyle knows who he is, and in this episode the abduction of his true love, Amanda, forces him to harness his abilities to save her. In so doing he begins to shoulder the responsibilities of a hero, turning his back on the past.
Pros
- Jessi's very irritating confused loyalties and selfishness are no longer a central focus
- Kyle, having completed his training, is finally free to use his abilities to protect his friends
- The generically evil threat of Madacorp is replaced with the more complicated designs of Latnok
Cons
- The strongest character on the show, Nicole, is less relevant now that Kyle is standing on his own
- The family problems of the Tragers sometimes seem disconnected from Kyle
- The teen sex angle still feels a little preachy
Description
- After a beautiful prom, Kyle discovers that Amanda has been kidnapped by Latnok.
- Jessi, meanwhile, is ready to leave town and start a new life with Sarah, but realizes she is not ready to leave Kyle.
- At the prom afterparty, Josh and Andy must come to grips with holding to their plan not to have sex.
- First aired: Jan. 12, 2009 on ABC Family.
Guide Review - 'Kyle XY' Season 3 Premiere - "It Happened One Night"
If the first season was a bright-eyed childhood, the second season of Kyle XY was an awkward adolescence: Matt Dallas, who had excelled at playing an naive innocent, seemed less comfortable playing the confused teenager being constantly tested by Tom Foss, a troubled fellow clone, and the evil manipulations of Madacorp. Now, in season 3, Kyle is facing the future with a stern eye and a confident stance, and so, too, is Matt Dallas, who turns in one of his steadiest performances on the show.
Alongside him Jaimie Alexander, as Jessi, still seems--at least potentially--as much a hindrance as a partner. This makes sense for her character, since she lacks the solid foundation that came from being "raised" by the kindly Tragers. But Jessi's lip-quivering hasn't gotten any more pleasant. Still, Jessi has solidified her loyalties, and, though she's more brutal than Kyle, she's determined to stand by him. There's a potential love interest in hunky Cassidy (Hal Ozsen), but he's clearly another future heartbreak for Jessi.
Of course, Kyle XY has always been half about the mundane teen issues being faced by the Trager kids. Josh (Jean-Luc Bilodeau), who started out as the bratty kid brother, has matured as a result of his developing relationship with Andy (Magda Apanowicz), and Bilodeau is developing as an actor as well; but the storyline around Lori (April Matson) has slipped back into well-worn "I'm not dating Declan" territory. There is a twist of sorts related to this in the episode, but the Lori/Declan yes/no/maybe thing is not the freshest subplot on the show.
Ultimately season 3 of Kyle XY will succeed or fail based on what his confrontation with Latnok, and the ensuing troubles that forces on his relationships with Amanda and the Tragers, teach him about being a man and a hero instead of a boy and a hero in training.
