Kyle XY: What Could Have Been
Over the weekend my sister and I watched the special feature on the season three dvd where the writers talked about what could have happened if the show wasn't cancelled. Some of the things they said really really made me wish the show wasn't cancelled, however; that would mean I couldn't see Jaimie Alexander on the big screen and continue to watch and enjoy Julie Plec and Marguerite MacIntyre's work on The Vampire Diaries.
I watched the first four episodes of this show when it originally aired, but never had the time to catch up until my friend Jose reintroduced me to the series over the summer after season two ended. This show truly had everything I enjoyed as an avid tv viewer. It has complex yet realistic relationships in regards to romance, frienships, and family. It had this whole mythology that would go back to the time of the great thinker Albert Einstein with the formation of Latnock. The mythology was so rich that you would love to know more and witness the time of Adam, Sarah, and Brian era that eventually led up to Kyle and Jessi's era. Interesting enough if they had the time and episodes to do it the writers were going to show us those flashbacks according to the season two dvd boxset. The show also combined the science aspect to explaining things which is something I was fond of while watching Joan of Arcadia.
Here's a rundown of the thoughts I had while watching what could have been featurette:
Micheal Cassidy - When Cassidy revealed to Kyle they were related many people couldn't tell if he was lying to save his life, or if he was merely telling the truth. Watching the entire season you can see hints that there would be a return to the biological family side to Kyle's background. At the time I remember many friends and family of mine believed the student that depised Kyle was related to Kyle in some fashion, but he was merely a red herring. In the end Cassidy was indeed telling the truth. Kyle having a biological family is something that hasn't been touched up since the end of season one and beginning of season two. This time around the people involved weren't decoys or fakes, but actually related to Kyle. What makes it different to Adam's biological relation on the show is that you couldn't trust these people completely. With Adam he was noted as a trusted mentor, father figure, and an older brother. According to the featurette Cassidy would show jealousy of his younger brother Kyle, and that would cause antimosity between to the two brothers. Kyle had these abilities that were amazing, but he also had this incredible heart. He had things Cassidy merely couldn't do or act.
It's something I realize Julie Plec is in the midst of writing on her current show The Vampire Diaries with the brothers Damon and Stefan Salvatore. Watching what Plec can do with this storyline on TVD I became quite curious to see what she could have done with this storyline with Cassidy and Kyle, and you just know that would have caused a ripple effect with Kyle's adopted brother Josh. Kyle has a very trusting nature and finally being related to someone he would thrive to work things out with Cassidy. To become that younger brother and would trust his older brother, but Cassidy would have to struggle with that trust. That would be such an awesome storyline because Cassidy is now a grown adult and is quite smart himself. Hal Ozsan is such an amazing actor where you can't tell which side he is on. I recently watched him on an episode of Supernatural this season, and he still has that knack of making these very complex, vulerable characters where you can't exactly label them as a villian.
Kyle's Biological Family vs Adopted Family - According to the featurette season four would not only concentrate on incorporating Cassidy into Kyle's life, but it would lead up to the big season four finale cliffhanger reveal of Kyle's biological mother Grace Kingsley which I believe is seen in the shadows near the end of season three and directly said by Cassidy in the finale. Just imagine it's the season four finale Nicole Trager opens the door to Grace, and the first thing that comes out of Grace's mouth is that she is Kyle's mother and she will be taking him home. That would have been the big reveal and cliffhanger to the season four finale. To me that would be a bigger cliffhanger compared to the previous two season finales. To me that would equal the emotional intensity of the mid-season two finale where Jessi jumped off the cliff in "Leap of Faith" to make sure no one could get the information in her head.
The featurette also spoke about season five focusing on Kyle's families, and him coming to the universal question of "what makes a family a family?". Will it be the Tragers who brought him in, and no matter what happened they would love him unconditionally? Or does the blood relation to Cassidy and Grace mean you have to love your family despite their unethicial, unmoral, and malipulative ways? The writers never mentioned what Kyle would choose, but that there would be a lot of material to work with. The season one finale "Endgame" and season two premiere "Prophet" foreshadowed how brutally tough it would be on everyone in the Trager household. Man, Marguerite, Jean-Luc, and April would have knock those angsty family moments out of the park. It would also give Matt Dallas some rich material to work with, and further develop Kyle's character.
'Cause according to the writers Grace Kingsley was suppose to be utterly without a doubt evil. To show the ironic parallels between Kyle and Grace. That Kyle can be such a beautiful person inside and out while his biological mother can be the complete opposite. It also further states what a positive influence Nicole had on her adopted son. As we seen with Jessi or cultural psychology points out that life experiences can influence the person you become. Jessi was brought into this world in a very harsh way compared to Kyle, and was constantly malipulated by people around her. Whereas Kyle was brought into goodness, light, and love. So while I agree with the writers that Kyle is this wonderful person and part of that comes from the goodness of Adam and Kyle's personalities, however; I can't help note that another variable is the Trager household influence. Season five would have been quite interesting to watch, and the writers do not mention what would become of Grace. It would have been a very angsty and emotionally intense season. Man, I would have loved to watch that season too.
The Love Triangle - If anyone has been in online fandoms or read tv show articles, then one knows if a show has romantic relationships then ship wars would surely follow. Since season 2 "Leap of Faith" I have always been a Kessi shipper. The chemistry between Jaimie's Jessi and Matt's Kyle were so natural, smooth, and hot. They had everything from comedic moments to very loving moments. Watching the special feature they pointed out that each writer had their own point of view of the ships. One writer, who came off very Kessi, said Amanda and Kyle were "puppy love" but Kessie were "real love". Something along those lines, and it just made my Kessi's heart squeel. That said head-woman Julie Plec confirmed that Kessi would try very hard to be together all the while having Jessi continue to fight her demons. Later on Kessi would no longer be a couple, and later on Amanda and Kyle would hook up. Thinking about it I hope the writers wouldn't make Jessi into the "villian" or the bad person out of it to keep Kyle on a higher scale. While Kyle is a good person the show has always pointed out he isn't perfect. He does make the wrong choices despite his good intentions.
So I hope that Kessi would have ended or at least put aside their differences to keep that connection bond. I believe Julie Plec confirmed in a post-series finale interview that Kessi would have kept that strong friendship bond because it was so strong, and that these are two people that truly understood their own complex rarities. With tv shows these days you just have to go in and think majority of the time couples will constantly break up and renuite. What I loved about this portion of the feature is that Kyle, when it is all said and done, would end up alone. That his destiny was beyond Amanda, the Tragers, and etc. That ending of the triangle I could definitely live with as long as Kyle was content and didn't have that lonely feeling of being all by himself that superheroes can get. 'Cause hey if Superman can find a soulmate in the iconic Lois Lane, then so can Kyle Trager. I hope the same can be said for Jessi's character because after all that she has been through she truly does deserve happiness or at least peace of mind.
Latnock & Kyle's Public Reveal - Just like Superman Kyle would later reveal himself to the world to expose the unethnical aspects of Latnock according to the writers. Kyle would have to face what it is like to have these such great gifts in the midst of the most hardest realities of the world. Something Superman or in fact any hero has to face. It's an universal theme I have always enjoyed because it's a hard lesson to face, and I think it would give Matt a lot of material to work with. Put a little of Caroline media ways into there (come on you gotta have Caroline still on the show). While Kyle and Superman have a ton of things in common there is some obivious differences. According to the writers Kyle would be more of a spiritual leader whose teachings would be passed down for centuries to come.
Granted Superman also carries this same legacy (i.e. Legion comics for instance), however; Kyle has always been more of a spiritual superhero just like Joan from Joan of Arcadia (minus the powers). Kyle has so many abilities, the boy was starting to increase his superjump in the series finale afterall, but the strongest ability IMO has always been his heart. He can touch people by relating to them, and what I loved about season two and three is that they made sure he made mistakes. He wasn't utterly perfection. When he screwed up he royally screwed up. This series storyline of Kyle coming of age to superherodom would be great to watch. According to the writers once the show got somewhere in season five or six Kyle will not be seen doing his good deeds, but only later to reveal himself to the world to protect the world from his family business -- Latnock (remember Adam and Grace practically helped formed that organization and the writers said that Latnock was technically the family business from Kyle's point of view). This is a storyline I love to read and watch in all my heroes/heroines' adventures, so it makes me sad not to see Kyle Trager be able to go onto that greatness in his adult life.
The dvd featurette was pretty cool to watch and made me sad not to see these storylines flourish on-screen. This was such a great little show, but like I said earlier I would have to give up Jaimie's movies and the great experience of watching The Vampire Diaries lol. One thing that bugged me about the featurette is that the writers or whoever edited the featurette together didn't discuss what the endings would be for the characters of Josh, Andi, Lori, Declan, Caroline, and Jessi. They discussed a bit about Amanda and Jessi's series arcs, but they didn't talk about their endings. That's one thing I wished was on the featurette, but other than that I realized once again how much I miss my little show.....