“After so much K-drama, things could not be more perfect,” Kitty says toward the end of “XO, Kitty” Season 1 before things, of course, implode again in her love life, friendships and high school classes. After all, it’s this never-ending drama that acts as the universal thread, binding Korean dramas and American teen soaps together.
“XO, Kitty” is a Netflix spinoff based on the characters that Jenny Han created in her trilogy “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before,” also adapted into three Netflix movies. The show is about Lara Jean’s youngest sister, Kitty Song-Covey (Anna Cathcart). Unlike those books, which bring K-drama tropes to America, “XO, Kitty” follows the youngest Song sister to Korea where she attends KISS, the Korean International School of Seoul.
Just based on the boarding school’s name, it’s obvious that “XO, Kitty” will follow in the footsteps of “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” to tell a story of first loves and growing up with the trademark sincerity that Han has become known for in both “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” and “The Summer I Turned Pretty.” However, unlike its predecessors, “XO, Kitty” incorporates more elements of Korean TV.
It’s this blending of K-drama tropes and American teen soap campiness that makes “XO, Kitty” different from other young adult shows. This completely unserious but fresh fusion of genres is also what makes it fun to watch, as does the never-ending drama.
That’s why, from the opening minutes of Season 2, it’s clear that Kitty doth protest too much when she insists that this new semester will be different. Season 1 ended with her being kicked out of KISS for living in the boys’ dorm, breaking up with her first love Dae (Minyeong Choi), discovering that she’s bisexual when she falls for her friend Yuri (Gia Kim), learning that her mom helped Yuri’s mom when she was pregnant in high school, and discovering that Dae’s best friend Min Ho (Sang Heon Lee) is in love with her.
Season 2 begins with Kitty trying to abdicate her title as the school’s “chaos queen” so she can be single, live in a single dorm room, and use whatever time she’s not studying to learn more about her Korean mother, who attended KISS for her junior year of high school.
While the plot in the first season incorporates lots of K-drama tropes (think Dae’s fake relationship with Yuri to bolster her parents’ hotel empire), the plot of the second season makes those tropes even more overt when Min Ho’s dad, one of the biggest talent managers in all of Asia, shows up to add a K-pop subplot. He teaches a new arts course at KISS and hosts a student talent showcase at the end of the semester in which students can compete for a cash prize and to open for Min Ho’s half-brother who is a K-pop star.
Without spoiling anything, there is also a generational family secret and revenge plot to up the stakes for the K-drama as well. And there are new main characters to flesh out these storylines. Praveena (Sasha Bhasin), Stella (Audrey Huynh), Jin (Joshua Hyunho Lee) and Eunice (Han Bi Ryu) are all love interests and add conflict to Kitty’s core friend group. Fans of “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” will also be excited to know that two characters from that franchise make appearances in this season of “XO, Kitty.”
Overall, the sophomore season of “XO, Kitty” is a fun watch. It’s neither significantly better nor worse than last season. Instead, it’s very on brand for what the show is, an American teen soap on Korean soil.
As someone who never outgrew my love of a good teen show, I will say that “XO, Kitty” skews its storyline toward younger audiences. It’s not one of those teen shows that is also made for an adult audience, like Han’s “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” in which the adults in the show are given space for their own storylines and growth.
The romance in “XO Kitty” is also more in line with traditional Korean K-dramas, so it’s goofier and much less sexually explicit. This makes it feel more Disney Channel than The CW (think “Lizzie McGuire” instead of “One Tree Hill” or “Gossip Girl”). However, the show also incorporates identity storylines around sexuality that are more progressive than most Korean television and more in line with American television.
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Ultimately, “XO, Kitty” feels like the kind of show you’d watch if you are in middle or high school and eventually grow up to remember nostalgically. Or, maybe it’s the kind of coming-of-age show that you watch as an adult because it helps you remember what it was like to experience love and friendship and travel for the first time.
Either way, it’s a fun show that weaves together two genres that work well together, and, without spoiling the ending, this Korean American storyline will probably be continued in a third season, which, if you watch the show, you’ll definitely want to see.