[K-drama Review] ‘XO, Kitty’ Season 2: Fall in love again with Kitty in Korea
‘XO, Kitty’ is finally back on our screens. Season 2 is ready to steal your heart once again, packing in even more dramatic chaos, family feuds and romantic love-triangles than before!
XO Kitty Season 2 Promotional Poster. Image: Netflix.
The Netflix series XO, Kitty first hit our screens on May 18, 2023, centred around the much loved character of Katherine ‘Kitty’ Song-Covey, played by Anna Cathcart, from the successful teen coming-of-age film series To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. The films, based upon Jenny Han’s New York Times Best Selling book series of the same name, starred Lana Condor as Kitty’s sister, Lara Jean, and Noah Centineo, as her love interest, Peter.
After the Netflix release of the first film back in 2018, the series and its stars gained international recognition and a strong fanbase; however, the one who stole the screen—and many fans’ hearts—was none other than Lara Jean’s little sister, Kitty. From this widespread love of her character and the interest in further exploring the series’ family’s Korean heritage, the spin-off TV series, XO, Kitty, was born.
Chaos Queen
In the show, we follow Kitty as she embarks on a new adventure, following her heart across the globe to an international boarding school in Seoul, South Korea. In Season 1, the Korean Independent School of Seoul (K.I.S.S.) brings Kitty more chaos, drama and hardship than she expected, but we see her grow and learn so much about love, family and herself by the end of her first semester.
Season 2 picks up with Kitty as she makes her way back to Korea after the school break. In a positive turn of events, Kitty is allowed to return to K.I.S.S. on her scholarship, even after her poor grades led to her expulsion at the end of the last semester. She returns to Seoul determined to avoid any drama at all costs, but it quickly becomes clear that this won’t be an easy task.
She’s quickly caught up in a minefield of emotions and relationships. First, there’s Dae (Minyeong Choi), her newly ex-boyfriend, who isn't quite over her yet, then, there’s Yuri (Gia Kim), her best friend, who she developed a crush on last semester. In the midst of this all, there’s Minho (Sang Heon Lee), Dae’s best friend, who Kitty rejected when he confessed his feelings for her on the plane at the end of the last season.
Anna Cathcart as Kitty and Sang Heon Lee as Minho. Image: Netflix.
As always, Q (Anthony Keyvan) is right by Kitty’s side, acting as her biggest confidant and most supportive friend this season. We’re also introduced to a plethora of new faces at K.I.S.S.: there’s Q’s track team rival, Jin (Joshua Lee), Kitty’s new potential love interest, Praveena (Sasha Bhasin), sweet transfer student, Stella (Audrey Huynh), and K-pop star in the making, Eunice (Ryu Han-bi).
There’s the return of Professor Lee (Michael K. Lee), who is now principal of K.I.S.S., with Professor Alex (Peter Thurnwald) by his side, as they build up their father-son relationship. And there’s also a new addition to the teaching staff, as Minho’s father, Young Moon (Philippe Lee), crashes onto the scene as the school’s mysterious donor and director of their new Arts programme.
As the new and old faces of K.I.S.S. collide, a mountain of dramas immediately begin to unfold around Kitty—more often than not with her right at the centre. Despite these challenges, she still continues to focus on her core mission of finding out more about her mother and her time there in Seoul. With the help of many friends along the way, she’s able to learn a lot of new information about her mother’s past, leading her to make a big discovery about her family’s history.
Regan Aliyah as Juliana, Gia Kim as Yuri and Anna Cathcart as Kitty. Image: Netflix.
Whilst some may find the show to be cheesy at times, there’s nothing that has more heart, joy and feel good vibes—things that we all need a little more of these days. For many, the show has become a real comfort and guilty pleasure.
Much of the plot and themes are indeed romantic and fanciful, but it does also hit home with some serious and emotive elements. Many of these surround the storylines involving Kitty’s family and her mother, but there is also something to be said about Kitty’s journey with her sexuality.
Towards the end of Season 1, Kitty discovers her bisexuality. It was a surprise moment for some, but a celebratory moment for many others. Although LGBTQIA+ characters and storylines are becoming much more mainstream—many others featured within XO, Kitty itself—there’s still limited positive bisexual representation across the board in comparison. The show handles Kitty’s discovery and exploration of her sexuality in a wonderfully natural way, and it’s incredibly refreshing to see a main character come out as bisexual without it becoming the defining characteristic of the individual.
Embracing K-pop
This season also really takes hold of its K-pop influences and runs with them. With Young Moon hosting a talent contest as part of his new Arts programme, we enter into the barracks of a K-pop competition, with all the dancing, singing and rivalry to be expected. This storyline brings out Dae to be an exceptionally good singer—something that we are blessed with throughout the season.
Audrey Huynh as Stella, Sang Heon Lee as Minho, Philippe Lee as Young Moon, Anna Cathcart as Kitty and Sasha Bhasin as Praveena. Image: Netflix.
It further pulls on K-pop fans heartstrings with an incredible soundtrack, featuring some brilliant K-pop tracks that perfectly compliment many pivotal moments. Tracklist highlights include: IVE’s “I AM”, (G)I-DLE’s “I DO”, BIBI’s “BIBI Vengeance”, Aimers’ “Fireworks”, aespa’s “Drama”, and ENHYPEN’s “XO (Only If You Say Yes)”. There is even an appearance from a much-admired K-pop idol to really surprise K-pop fans this season.
This season celebrates the culture of Korea in a way that allows it to be accessible for a wider audience. The show does an exceptional job of balancing between appealing to a typical western audience, whilst also incorporating elements that will entertain the K-pop and K-drama fans who watch the show.
It also introduces a different audience to some of the key aspects of Korean culture and many K-pop/K-drama conventions, hopefully sparking a new interest for some viewers.
Although the pacing does feel a tad rushed at times within this eight-episode structure, viewers are certainly in for an unforgettably wild ride. There are so many twists and turns this season, with so many intertwined storylines and relationships to follow. This season of XO, Kitty acts as a little love letter to all with something in it for every hopeless romantic. There is no doubt that this season will have you falling in love once more and hanging onto the edge of your seat up until the very last moment.
Discover more about Korea and fall in love again by binge-watching all eight episodes of XO Kitty, streaming now only on Netflix!
Edited by Chelsea Cheetham.
