By Jennifer Larson

Life is a rough journey, and you need your family and friends to help you balance it all. That was the life lesson in the latest episode of KYLE XY. Not a bad lesson to learn, when you think about it. Because this show is geared towards families and teens, there has to be a message woven throughout the episode, then spoon-fed to you at the end.

This can be a little tedious for those of us in the older age bracket, but if you can get past the after-school special feel of some of the dialogue, KYLE XY isn’t half bad. In fact, it’s much more sophisticated and less condescending than most other family-friendly television. I say condescending, because most other shows of this genre talk down to their young audience. KYLE XY really does deal with important teen and family issues, but is able to merge them into plots that are intriguing and emotionally engaging, plus they manage to keep you guessing. That’s a pretty big accomplishment for a show that has taken on not just teen angst and family drama, but also sci-fi themes.

This installment of KYLE XY had Kyle (Matt Dallas) dealing with the aftermath of Amanda’s (Kirsten Prout) break-up with Charlie (Cory Monteith), and the anger she still harbors at Kyle for not telling her about Charlie’s philandering ways. I guess finding out your boyfriend was voted biggest slut in the school isn’t the best way to realize you’re with the wrong guy. But, come on, is she really that naive? Every time she turned her back, he was sliding up to another eager and willing participant in humiliation. Wait ... of course she was that naïve, she’s the girl next door; they are always the last to know. Besides, once she gives in to Kyle’s lovelorn puppy eyes, she’ll forget all about Charlie What’s-His-Face. But, Kyle has more than just teen lust on his mind; he has to find a way to balance family and his clone responsibilities.

Tom Foss (Nicholas Lea) just won’t let up on Kyle’s workout schedules. Nor will he let Kyle forget that he must make his body as strong as his mind, or he will die. That’s a little heavy for a teenager, don’t you think? Then again, I probably only use five percent of my own brain, so I’m not really one to judge. Foss is a taskmaster, but it’s clear that he cares; he cares about Kyle and he cares about the mission of the man who created Kyle, which — from what I can gather — is basically trying to find out exactly how much a human being can cram into his/her brain without exploding. Foss has proven useful in protecting the kid — I mean, he blew up that evil corporation that kept Kyle in embryonic goo until he was 16. Of course, it was but one entity of an even bigger and more evil company … Mada Corp.

In this episode, we learn that Kyle is much more important than anyone realized. Apparently, the original company that stored him also implanted information of great importance into his brain, and now Mada Corp is on a desperate search to find him and bring him back before he — or anyone else — figures out what this vital information is.
In order to do this, Mada Corp programmed their newest clone, Jessi XX (Jaimie Alexander), to believe that agent Emily Hollander (Leah Cairns) is her sister — having implanted a lifetime of false memories in her brain to support this lie. Agent Hollander’s mission involves infiltrating the Tragers’ lives, and causing enough of a disruption to allow Jessi to connect with her … brother? I don’t know what to call her relationship with Kyle. Are they brother and sister? Are they meant to be partners in life? These questions have yet to be answered. Kyle and Jessi do have an eerie connection that causes them to feel each other’s presence, so they must be connected in a very deep way.

Meanwhile, Kyle mended fences with Josh (Jean-Luc Bilodeau), who felt rejected and betrayed by Kyle’s absence at his birthday dinner. So, all appears well with the Trager family … at least for now.