Over a year after its first season was released, XO, Kitty’s highly-anticipated second season premiered on January 16, 2025. The All the Boys I’ve Loved Before spin-off featured 10 episodes, with Anna Cathart returning to reprise her role as Kitty Covey. Kitty, a high school student studying at the Korean international school KISS, spends this semester trying to navigate love, friendships, and reconnecting with her cultural roots. 

The show picked up from where it left off after the first season, with Kitty coming to terms with her lingering romantic feelings for her friend Yuri, exploring new relationships after discovering her bisexuality, and continuing to explore her mom’s past. This season also introduced new characters, notably Stella, Kitty’s suspicious new roommate, and Praveena, a new love interest.  

Overall, the show was very quick-paced and easy to binge. The writers were constantly introducing new subplots to the story with loveable and heartwarming moments. For one, I especially appreciated how Kitty was given more time to reconnect with her mom this season, and ultimately find her long-lost family. Noticeably, there was also a lot more LGBTQ representation in this season. 

As always, the XO, Kitty made many nods to Korean pop culture and trends. It incorporated classic characteristics of K-drama romance scenes, soft background music, and an emphasis on pop-y and colorful visual aesthetics. Each character had their own distinct style, from Yuri’s chic Y-2K outfits, to Julianna’s sophisticated and edgy outfits that reflected her artful personality. Dae’s memorable performance in the season finale highlighted K-pop style dances and catchy music. 

However, some parts of the plot were disappointing to watch– for instance, it didn’t make sense to see Yuri kissing Kitty, as she was already in a loving and committed relationship. The showwriters introduced Praveena as a potential love interest for Kitty, but they don’t get the chance to develop a relationship. Praveena’s character later becomes sidelined when Kitty’s unresolved feelings for someone else come up. 

There was an imbalance in the development of different relationships on the show. It felt like the writers were trying to keep the fun, chaotic feeling of the show running– after all, it is targeted toward younger audiences– but they ultimately overdid the complex storylines. The show writers relied on a lot of big, flashy break-ups, misunderstandings and relationship betrayals in the plot, rather than focusing on building depth in the characters and storylines– as a result, many were not explored to their full potential. 

All in all, XO, Kitty was an entertaining watch, but the show’s attempt to juggle too many plotlines at once worsened its overall quality. 3.5/5