Editor’s Note: This article contains spoilers for “XO, Kitty.”
After a love proclamation that sent fans reeling at the end of the first season, Netflix’s original series “XO, Kitty” released its second season on Jan. 16, with even more drama, love triangles and stories of self-discovery.
After her expulsion in season one, Kitty Song-Covey (Anna Cathcart) returns to the Korean Independent School of Seoul (KISS) with the help of her friend and newfound crush Yuri Han (Gia Kim). Since the last season’s love triangles and never-ending drama, Kitty is determined to put aside her feelings for Yuri and focus on school while discovering more about her mother’s journey in Korea. Unfortunately for Kitty, drama follows her into the new season anyway, creating cracks with the people in her friend group and breaking up relationships.
This new season is acceptable, to say the least, even with the many moments that give viewers second-hand embarrassment. Seeing Kitty find out more about her mom and even herself is enjoyable.
For fans who have known the actress since “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before,” watching this character grow up and go through all of life’s messy challenges is a delight. As Kitty begins to learn what it really means to be vulnerable and in love, we can see how much she resembles her older sister, Lara Jean (Lana Condor), but still remains her own person.
Despite its best efforts, though, season two does not live up to the high standards created by the previous season. While the story and plot are consistent and intriguing, there are too many storylines going on simultaneously with each character. The season begins with Kitty on her journey to find out more about her mom when she was attending KISS at Kitty’s age. While learning about her mom, Kitty also navigates the feelings she catches for at least three different people.
To top it all off, there are individual storylines focusing on what happens in the lives of her friends Yuri, Min Ho (Sang Heon Lee), Dae (Choi Min-yeong), Q (Anthony Keyvan) and her new roommate Stella (Audrey Huynh). In many ways, it feels like the focus is often divided by all of these characters into plots that aren’t explored as in-depth as they should have been, ultimately taking away from the main story.
At times, it was infuriating to watch as characters like Yuri’s girlfriend, Juliana (Regan Aliyah), consistently appear as a main character for the majority of the season. After episode five, she disappears after breaking up with Yuri, and doesn’t come back until the season finale with a whole new relationship with someone else that had been skipped over and had zero screen time to show how it all happened.
A plot device that ends up lost in the wind is Kitty’s initial determination to put focus towards school. The concept of academic classes, aside from her performing arts management class, is not mentioned, leaving a plot hole when she miraculously passes all of her classes despite the difficulty she had in the last season. Does she learn more Korean like she said she was going to? How does she even pass her classes when all of her focus is set on her love life and discovering more about her family? The answers seem to be lost in translation, much like the concept of school in this new season.
One of season two’s saving graces is the growing relationship between Min Ho and Kitty. As many fans know and love, the first season’s final episode ended with Min Ho’s love confession to Kitty. Their friendship seems pretty rocky after Kitty rejects Min Ho on the plane as seen from a flashback during the first episode of season two. The show’s most popular ship does not disappoint as the two characters learn to navigate their friendship after the confession. In the end, their friendship grows a lot stronger as both Kitty and Min Ho are able to lean on each other for support when things get harder. The banter between the two is amazing, adding even more reasons as to why they need to end up together.
Other than the relationship between Kitty and Min Ho, fans were ecstatic to learn that one of their favorite characters from “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before,” Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo), makes a positive guest appearance. It’s nice seeing the character again as well as the big-brother-little-sister dynamic between Peter and Kitty that was introduced to viewers through the original movie trilogy.
As “XO, Kitty” is a spin-off of the original movies, there are many easter eggs throughout this season, tying it back to the “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” movie. Callbacks, such as Kitty falling on a track like Lara Jean did and Min Ho and Kitty being in the hot tub together like Peter and Lara Jean, are enjoyable and bittersweet to watch.
However, even with the cameo, the growth and relationship dynamics with all the characters can’t save season two from being anything more than an average season. It isn’t bad, but it also isn’t entirely good. With each plot device that is introduced, it becomes harder and harder to watch, and the rushed pacing does nothing to help its chances. The ending feels anti-climatic and disappointing, as it doesn’t leave viewers on any new cliffhanger other than another plot device that can be made into a season three.
There are good moments, such as Kitty finding out more about her family, which helps make the season a little less painful to watch. However, it is still overshadowed by the number of different storylines there are to decipher. If there is a season three, as is hinted at in the final episode, it will need to do a lot better than this season to leave viewers feeling satisfied with the time they’ve spent watching this show since its original release in 2023.
Jocelyn Cosgrove is an Arts & Entertainment Intern for the winter 2025 quarter. She can be reached at jmcosgro@uci.edu.
Edited by Corinna Chin and Mia Noergaard