It’s undeniable that Netflix struck gold when it adapted author Jenny Han’s young adult romance trilogy, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. Even though actors Lana Condor and Noah Centineo were the romantic leads in that franchise, Anna Cathcart’s portrayal of Kitty Song-Covey, the nosy but lovable younger sister to Condor’s Lara Jean, was an adorable and quirky presence in the original series. Her sisterly snooping, and desire to see her older sister live her life to the fullest, led to the inciting incident of the first movie.
In her series, XO, Kitty, the youngest Song-Covey daughter, travels across the world to experience her epic romance but quickly realizes that love and growing up aren’t as simple as she’d once thought.
Set four years after the third and final To All The Boys film, Kitty and her long-distance boyfriend, Dae (Choi Min-Young), are still going strong despite being on opposite sides of the world. As her junior year of high school arrives, Kitty arrives at a monumental conclusion: she’d like to attend school with Dae in Seoul, Korea. Lucky for her, she receives a full scholarship to KISS (Korea Independent Seoul School), which Dae attends and is also the school her late mother attended.
As you might guess, connecting with her late mother’s legacy is how she convinces her father (John Corbett) to let her move halfway around the world for her final two years of high school. She arrives planning on surprising Dae, only to discover he has a girlfriend, Yuri (Gia Kim). Yuri is a bitchy queen bee whose family has employed Dae’s father for years. After an embarrassing video of her wealthy family goes viral, her parents decide that inviting a working-class boy into their family will help fix their image. Dae’s tuition at KISS will be paid, and his father will keep his job as long as he agrees to the charade, even at the expense of his relationship with Kitty.
Although the youngest Song-Covey sibling is heartbroken, she won’t give up without a fight and decides to stay at the school to discover her mother’s past and maybe even herself. Along the way, multiple romances, hijinks, and possibly long-lost siblings pop up to cause plenty of drama. The series continues the thematic feel of its predecessor film series while utilizing popular tropes and melodrama the K-drama genre is known for. It is a perfect blend of the American teen drama and K-drama series.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t begin by praising Cathcart for her talent, charisma, and ability to carry a series on her shoulders. She continues to infuse her portrayal of Kitty with quirk and vulnerability and is magnetic on screen. Watching her connect with the material and each of her cast members is genuinely astounding. Her ability to flit between all of Kitty’s states of being: awkward, earnest, vulnerable, and obsessive is highly entertaining.
Cathcart isn’t the only one whose talent does much of the heavy lifting. Gia Kim’s portrayal of Yuri elevates the character beyond the stereotypical mean girl archetype that populates teen dramas. Without giving away too much, Yuri has the secret love that she yearns for. It would be disastrous if her parents ever discovered her secret lover, and to help mask the rumors about her sexuality, she manipulates and controls Dae. The layers are slowly pulled back as the season continues, and we learn that there truly is a heart of gold underneath all that ice queen behavior.
Anthony Keyvan, of Love, Victor fame, portrays Dae’s openly gay friend, Q. He becomes a loyal confidant and friend of Kitty’s and even gets his own romance throughout the season. It is refreshing to see the series side-step the coming out story, at least with this character, and portray him as a young gay man who simply wants to find love. Like his portrayal in Love, Victor, Keyvan brings so much charm, vulnerability, and subtle sweetness to the character that you can’t help but love and root for him.
It’s also nice that his storyline doesn’t deal with dating a guy in the closet. Much of the conflict in his relationship comes from his boyfriend’s overbearing parents and a crossed moral line that threatens to split the two up. It’s different and refreshing.
Sang Heon Lee portrays Dae’s sarcastic and vindictive friend, Min Ho. Min Ho is understandably wary of Kitty’s arrival and initially isn’t moved by her quirky and friendly personality. He begins to soften toward her, and overall, as the show progresses. By the end of the season, he is somewhat likable. Lee does an excellent job of creating a character you love to hate but tolerate because of his loyalty and protectiveness to his friends.
The series includes an intriguing storyline during which Kitty discovers that her mother may have had a child as a teenager. A child who has arrived at the school in the form of Alex, a new professor. He’s determined to find his birth parents, and Kitty sets out to help.
Finally, how the love triangle evolves is impressive and modern and will take viewers by surprise. I was pleased with how the story unfolded; hopefully, viewers will enjoy it too. I also have to mention the fact that Jenny Han herself conceived this spin-off series, and serves as a producer and writer. I imagine that this will become the norm in the future, and we’ll see more young adult authors crossover into Hollywood and have a more hands-on approach to their adaptations and any properties that spring from their original source material.
Overall XO, Kitty is a charming and funny continuation of the To All The Boys universe. It firmly establishes itself as its own thing and clarifies that Kitty’s love life will be infinitely more complicated than her sister’s.
XO, Kitty is streaming now on Netflix.
Overall XO, Kitty is a charming and funny continuation of the To All The Boys universe. It firmly establishes itself as its own thing and clarifies that Kitty's love life will be infinitely more complicated than her sister's.
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GVN Rating 8
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Writer. Video Essayist. Film/TV Critic. Pop Culture Enthusiast.
When he isn’t writing for Geek Vibes Nation or The Cinema Spot, Tristian can be found typing away at one of the novels or screenplays he’s been working on forever.