(S02E16) "We need to talk." That statement was key in this week's episode. Still learning about the world, Kyle didn't know what the statement could mean. For him (and Jessi), it meant that the other person wanted to...well, talk! But for the entire Trager family, it meant that Amanda was ready to call it quits. I was sure that she didn't want to break up but I expected her to reveal that something terrible happened to her while in the Big Apple.
Josh "Foss" Trager
Since Foss is MIA, Josh elected himself as Kyle's trainer. It's not surprising considering Josh kept tabs on what Kyle did to prove he was an alien. Now that he knows who/what Kyle really is, Josh needs another project: test Kyle in order to discover all his powers. It looks like Josh is really doing it to help Kyle but somehow I feel like deep down inside Josh likes this project because he gets to see first-hand powers that he only dreamed about when reading comic books. It'll be interesting to see what Josh comes up with next to test...err, help his friend.Spring Cleaning
As Kyle said it at the end of the episode, spring cleaning is a chance to redefine yourself. I'm not surprised Nicole told Stephen to take the teaching job. That couple is so cool and understanding. He needed the little push to tell him that everything would be alright even if he didn't take the corporate job. I'm pretty sure that we will see a changed Stephen in the upcoming episodes.
Josh, who decided last week that he wanted to become a doctor, showed a more serious side this week by studying and actually trying to get extra credit. Of course, don't expect Josh to become a model student instantly: see how he tried to get Lori and Kyle to help him with "Romeo & Juliet" and how he quickly agreed to help them out with the plan to contact Amanda! I like this new Josh but the writers need to have him keep his humor and great lines.
Lori was also doing some spring cleaning. She discovered that she was indeed cynical and tried to fight her urges to be just that. I loved that scene when she explodes in front of Declan! That was a funny scene that well defined who Lori is. Every show needs a cynical character, let's hope Lori stays in that spot.
Amanda and Kyle... and Jessi
When Amanda exited the taxi and told Kyle she was there to surprise her mother, I knew something was iffy. As I've said in the intro, I expected that something bad happened to her. Don't get me wrong, I don't wish for bad things to happen to people but Amanda needed a meatier storyline and a tragedy while in NYC could have provided some of the meat. Amanda saying that she just didn't see herself as a pianist anymore made sense since the episode's theme is self-discovery and deciding what you want to be but that reveal was a let down (at least to me). I'm not sure I like that "I'm on the run" storyline Amanda now finds herself in. Unless Kyle moves her to another location, Amanda will soon have to face the music, go back home and have a good talk with her over-protective mother.As expected, Kyle was quite resourceful in order to talk to Amanda. It always amazes me how he interprets things. When Amanda's mother said that she didn't want him to see or talk to Amanda, I knew it included IMing and emailing. Yet, Kyle studied the semantics and, to him, decided that writing to Amanda was not breaking the rules. But Carol Bloom had a bag of tricks and made sure Kyle couldn't get in touch with her daughter.
Not surprisingly, Jessi's evil self came back when she saw Amanda and Kyle kissing; thus, putting her training in jeopardy. Until we have a definitive new villain to hate, Jessi's evilness needs to resurface here and there. With Brian saying that he has "big plans" for her, you can bet we haven't seen the last of Evil Jessi! What could those plans be? Take over the world like Pinky and the Brain?
Other scenes of interest
It's not a scene per say, but I thought I should mention that Josh's shirt said "Same shirt, different day."- Kyle has quite an arm! Imagine a football team with him and Clark Kent!
- Carol's rant about everything being Kyle's fault.
- The Tragers trying to explain to Kyle that he should stay away from Amanda when they themselves thought he should break the rules.
- Kyle playing a guitar version of Pachelbel's Canon in D in front of Amanda's house.
- Josh disguised as Amanda was hilarious! I would have loved to be a fly on the wall and witness Carol telling Josh to get out of her house!
- Hillary can cook and is a fan of Top Chef. Shh... don't tell!
- Jessi found the "She Could Be You" vinyl under her pillow. Who put it there? Brian as a test? Foss to open Jessi's eyes? I can't wait for her to play it because I suspect something is hidden between the musical notes.
- I would have loved to be grounded at the Tragers because the teens still have access to their computers and the Internet!
- Kyle received an IM with the Latnok logo. Who sent it? Why?
Best lines of the week
- "You're supposed to bring home the bacon, Dad. And I can eat a lot of bacon!" - Josh to Stephen
- "Take it slow. One bulb at a time." - Josh to Kyle
- "All this for puppy love?!" - Lori
- "You are 'Miss possible, but not likely." - Declan to Lori
- "If you cared about my future, you wouldn't have sold my piano in the first place!" - Amanda to Carol
- "I have big plans for you, Jessi." - Brian
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-29-2008 @ 10:12PM
Oreo said...
This show has one big weakness. The season premieres and finales are always great and so is the lead up. However the lead up is short, and in between we get these most bad episodes.
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1-30-2008 @ 12:06AM
Joey Geraci said...
Oh, come on! This was a great episode! It is great to see how the actors have really settled into their roles, and the writing has really improved over the sometimes cringe-inducing dialogue last season. I definitely think that they need to find a definite villain and antagonist, but they have two good potential ones set up, either Madacorp under new leadership, or Jessi/Brian.
1-30-2008 @ 12:41AM
manpan said...
Obviously Jessi sent Kyle the IM with the Latnok logo and that strange music. Remember she found the vinyl record for "She could be you" that was removed from the juxebox at the diner she and Kyle visited (see A Leap of Faith) in the end of this episode titled "Great Expectations" but it probably had the Latnok image inside the record -- who else could have sent it to Kyle? There was mysterous audio with it -- maybe the song "She could be you" from the vinyl record was recorded over with this new disturbing melody and the Latnok logo inserted.
I am sure Brian knew the record was there but he didn't expect Jessi to find it. As soon as Jessi found it she took out the photo of Adam and Sarah and the envelope she had written D4 on from the diner juxebox and compared it to the label of the vinyl record -- the record also said D4 so she knew it had to be the missing record. She must have tried to play it without Taylor knowing she even found it and then Jessi discovered the strange audio and thought it best to inform Kyle but not wanting to draw attention to herself and thinking it wasn't safe to risk Brian finding out she had gotten the record she logged on anonymously to IM Kyle and sent him the recording from the record.
I bet the next time they get to talk and they have time to sit and chat -- as soon as Jessi thinks its safe to do so she'll tell Kyle about the record and that she had sent him the IM. Remember Jessi found that record. It makes perfect sense -- try to imagine what else would she do with it after finding it -- even if she didn't get to play it herself she thought she should send it to Kyle to hear.
It couldn't have been Foss he would have had to have obtained that image and audio file to send it to him. Jessi had that record she wanted to help Kyle -- she's good now kind of -- she thought it best to let Kyle know as indiscreetly as possible -- just send him the audio and picture -- it was a shock and a total surprise. Ballantine would never help Kyle and he's gone for good -- at least for the foreseeable future I don't see him coming back any time soon if ever.
Brian didn't send it -- he didn't even know Jessi found the record -- Adam Baylin is still in a coma or vegetated state even though the last time we left him (see the ending of A Leap of Faith) we find out he is really alive but Kyle was led to believe he had died after being shot.
Why would Brian Taylor help Kyle? After the betrayal he committed. Yes he tried convincingly to win back Kyle's trust in "The Future's So Bright I've Got To Wear Shades" when he purportedly returned Kyle's Latnok ring to him but even if he told the truth then there are still some things about him that are shady. Why didn't he tell Jessi about the record behind her pillow? Why even leave it there -- did he not assume she would eventually find it behind her pillow? How did it end up in his house? Did he remove it from the juxebox at the diner and if so when and why? After this episode I am doubting Taylor again a whole lot more.
The way he tells Jessi he has big plans for her -- he is untrustworthy. Jessi found that record and managed to transfer the audio from the record to her computer along with the encrypted image hidden inside that vinyl record and send it to Kyle over IM but she did it anonymously.
We actually see Jessi with the record and studying it after she finds it and comparing it to the writing on the envelope that says D4 to find the record has the same track number as the missing record from the juxebox -- the missing record was D4 at the diner and the record she finds behind her pillow also says D4 -- what's more the name of that song at the diner was "She could be you" and that's what the title of the song on the record she finds is but it could have been recorded over.
When she finds the record she immediately starts studying it to find its the same record that was missing. With this knowledge (they don't show her listening to it but she may have listened first and then sent to Kyle or right away tried to inform Kyle) who else could have sent Kyle that Latnok logo over IM? Taylor I think not -- that image came from the record Jessi found -- what Kyle was asked to listen to when IMing Jessi by an anonymous user was the audio on the record Jessi found. Maybe the original audio on the record was "She could be you" but it was replaced with this Latnok music and Latnok symbol.
Assuming it came from the record Jessi found she had to be the one to send that anonymous IM asking Kyle to listen.
It could not have been Brian Taylor, Tom Foss, Adam Baylin or Ballantine.
It was Jessi I am 100% sure. The only nagging question I still have is in Does Kyle Dream of Electric Fish we found out when Kyle decrypted Baylin's message that was tampered with to say Don't trust Foss but was really Don't trust Taylor and Foss left to take care of Baylin for 2 weeks and in that time didn't communicate with Kyle at all (remember the cabin by route 12 Kyle goes to in A Leap of Faith) well Emily Hollander leaves her apartment almost at the same time telling Jessi to stay in the apartment -- after Emily freaked seeing a photo of Kyle and Foss together -- we still don't know where Emily went that day in such a hurry and why exactly did she act the way she did! She was fine looking at the photos of Kyle with the Tragers but seeing the photo of Foss freaked her out -- leading to speculation that she was secretly Erica -- who was supposed to be the dead wife of Tom Foss. Some of that speculation has died down but in Lockdown I saw another sign suggesting she is/was the husband of Tom Foss when talking to Kyle and says that if Kyle doesn't find Jessi they'll hurt her family and she looks at Foss on the chair worried. Then she says to Kyle that he's in danger too and everyone who matters to him and looks worried again turning to Foss after disconnecting the call.
The way she compassionately decides to let Foss go in A Leap of Faith added to all these actions suggests that to me that she was Erica. Unless on the record an episode comes out covering this possibility and it is revealed specifically whether she is or isn't (obviously in House of Cards she was not going to identify Foss as her ex husband after bumping into him when talking to Ballantine -- she said that guard is Kyle's handler.
She doesn't even want Foss to know she survived -- she is keeping the truth about her past secret even from Madacorp and everyone else.
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2-01-2008 @ 5:42PM
David said...
(ducks under the world's longest comment)
Welcome back, Isabelle.
This show is starting to lose me. Its first season was captivating for me. I loved the mysterious storylines and characters, I loved the discovery of a new family (from both Kyle's POV and the Tragers' POV). I liked the Americana innocence of the show.
But Kyle XY has morphed from a Science Fiction - Family Drama into a little-bit-gimmicky teenage angst soap opera. :(
And any episode with Andy is an episode wasted.
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2-01-2008 @ 5:42PM
David said...
er, withOUT Andy ...
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2-01-2008 @ 11:46PM
manpan said...
I just wanted to say again I'm sure Taylor removed the vinyl from the diner himself and placed it at some point behind Jessi's pillow.
When Jessi finds the vinyl she somehow manages to play it (but they don't show her playing it) just her looking at it and comparing the D4 printed on the vinyl label with the D4 from the diner juxebox -- and the writing on the record "She could be you" to realize this must be the missing record from the diner's juxebox that was missing (when Kyle and Jessi went to the diner in "A Leap of Faith" they tried to play the song "She could be you" but the record wasn't there) however, she stumbles upon the recording of the message -- and since she and Kyle both knew since the ending of "A Leap of Faith" when Kyle asks Amanda to play it for them (so they can open the locked door in the Route 12 cabin where they find Baylin on life support) how the song plays -- and the recording she finds on the record is different than what should be on it -- she decides to send it to Kyle over an IM. She asks him to listen to the audio and Kyle also sees the Latnok logo.
Foss was not even in the episode -- we know where he is he is with Baylin -- since the end of To CIR With Love he left but said he would come back -- and he will although he hasn't as of yet.
Why would Foss have taken the record and put it behind Jessi's pillow? He doesn't have a key to Taylor's house and if he did why would he go there to do such a thing. Remember, Taylor is the traitor from Adam Baylin's message not Foss. Brian Taylor tampered with the message to make Kyle think Tom Foss was untrustworthy.
While he appeared to apologize to Kyle in "The Future's So Bright and I've Got To Wear Shades" for what he did I still don't think he is trustworthy. It is no surprise to me that the record turned up at Taylor's house. Although the way Jessi discovered it behind her pillow was surprising. Why didn't she discover it sooner -- she had been at his house for at least a week maybe 2 by the time "Great Expectations" had aired. Also why did Jessi betray Kyle again in this episode? I expected Carol Bloom to find out the truth eventually -- that Amanda had snuck out to see Kyle but not because Jessi told on them. She betrayed Kyle once in the ending of "A Leap of Faith" but since then has been cleared of any and all wrongdoing by Kyle -- everything she did wrong up till now she did because Madacorp forced her into it. How come once freed from Madacorp's control and that of Ballantine she still goes and betrays Kyle in this episode by telling Amanda's mother.
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