Cast:
- Matt Dallas ... Kyle
- Marguerite MacIntyre ... Nicole Trager
- Bruce Thomas ... Stephen Trager
- April Matson ... Lori Trager
- Jean-Luc Bilodeau ... Josh Trager
- Chris Olivero ... Declan McDonough
- Kirsten Prout ... Amanda Bloom
- Jaimie Alexander ... Jessi XX
- Leah Cairns ... Emily Hollander
- Conrad Coates ... Ballantine
- Teryl Rothery ... Carol Bloom
- Darcy Laurie ... Pawnshop Owner
- Lori Ann Triolo ... Detective Myatt
- Jeff Scrutton ... Hooded Thief
Official Summary:
As Tom Foss tries to teach Kyle how to control his senses to achieve hyper-awareness, everyone else in the town of Beachwood seems to be coming to their senses too. Lori swears off of Declan. Josh decides to give up his recreational experimentation. Stephen gets a job. And Kyle finally has Amanda back as a friend. But the price of her forgiveness has been very steep. To get back Amanda’s "stolen" antique gold bracelet, he pawns a ring Adam Baylin gave him. The next time it’s seen is on the hand of Stephen’s new employer, Ballantine, the CEO of Madacorp.
Key Moments:
Lori rebuffs Declan, and so, as he's on his way out of her house, he hits on Jessi -- while Lori watches from the top of the stairs. Smooth. (This guy's spent too much time around Charlie.) Declan, meanwhile, is such a charmer that Jessi is automatically hooked. The division of supporting characters into positive and negative continues, as Amanda's harridan mom sneaks off to pawn her daughter's bracelet and then lies about it. On the other hand, the fact that Emily and Tom Foss remain hard to categorize does sustain week-to-week interest.
Cute Trager Family Drama of the Week:
The don't-do-pot subplot feels very family-channel obligatory, though at least it's interesting that Josh's source is his own dad.
Biggest Mystery:
So, uh, why did Ballantine buy Adam's ring? Is it some kind of trophy, or does it have a secret decoder built into it? Or did someone just think it would be a really cool episode-ending shot?
Bottom Line: Worth Watching?:
The nice thing about this episode is that it really lays open the practical problems of being a budding superhero: Kyle senses the robbery in progress and runs to Amanda's house, but he doesn't catch the thief because he can't focus his perceptive powers in the right way. A lot of people with special abilities display an instant, gut-level grasp of the nature and use of their abilities; Kyle's trial and error self-training feels more realistic.
