Warning: This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for XO, Kitty season 2!
The rift in Kitty Song-Covey’s extended family is central toXO, Kitty season 2, raising questions about how it started and how Kitty mends old wounds. As a spinoff of the To All The Boys movies, XO, Kitty was always going to have a rom-com tone, focusing on the titular main character’s relationships. Even though Kitty says she’s trying to learn about her mom, she spends most of the first season worrying about romance.
Kitty even acknowledges that she didn’t learn much about Eve Song when returning to KISS at the start of XO, Kitty season 2. Though the show doesn’t abandon its roots, the second season pays more attention to Kitty’s mom and her Korean lineage.XO, Kitty’s Korea setting is used much better this season. After learning about a secret family and a two-generation-old rift, the Korean-American teenager sets out to find her grandmother’s hometown and bring her family together.
Kitty Learns About Her Secret Family In XO, Kitty Season 2
At the end of XO, Kitty season 1, Kitty learns that her mom, Eve Song, was close to a boy named Simon while she attended KISS. Kitty initially assumes that Simon is a secret boyfriend, a theory furthered when Principal Lee tells her that Kitty followed a boy to the school against her mother’s wishes. However, Simon ends up being Eve’s cousin, who reached out to her when she lived in the United States. Before this, Eve wasn’t aware that her mother had a sister and she had cousins.
Because Eve passed when Kitty was too young to remember, she did not know about her extended family in Korea. It’s unclear whether Kitty’s dad or sisters knew, but it seems like someone would have mentioned it to her if they were aware. After learning about Simon, she searches for him and discovers that her family lives in a nearby town. Simon’s mother, Soon Ja, and his daughter, Jiwan, have lived together since Simon passed away.
Unfortunately, Kitty’s grandmother, Young Ja, refuses to acknowledge the existence of Soon Ja, Simon, and Jiwan. She gets upset the one time that Kitty tries to talk to her about Simon. On the other hand, Jiwan informs Kitty that Soon Ja says negative things about Young Ja, Eve, and the Song-Coveys. However, both of them are simply trying to cope with the pain of their lost sister in the best way they know how.
Why Young Ja & Soon Ja Don't Speak
For most of the season, Kitty perceives Soon Ja’s and Jiwan’s rejection as being about her. However, she learns the truth about her family rift from Soon Ja in XO, Kitty season 2, episode 7, “Kiss of Death.” The feud started when Young Ja and Soon Ja were young adults. Like the older sister, Soon Ja tried to care for and protect Young Ja, but the younger sister was rebellious. Because of their family matchmaking business and previous Korean tradition, their parents arranged a marriage for Young Ja.
The parents disowned Young Ja for what they perceived as a betrayal, so she and her boyfriend married and moved to the United States.
However, Young Ja snuck around with a man whom she loved. When Soon Ja learned what Young Ja was doing, she told her parents, which was the one time she sided with them over her younger sister. The parents disowned Young Ja for what they perceived as a betrayal, so she and her boyfriend married and moved to the United States. There, they made a home and had children. After the move, Young Ja and Soon Ja never spoke again, so the older sister assumed that the younger one had completely forgotten about her.
Eve Song & Simon Set Out To Heal The Family
Image via Netflix
Most of Eve Song’s journey is revealed thanks to the letters that Peter Kavinsky delivers during his XO, Kitty cameo. When Simon reached out to Eve Song, she was overjoyed to find out about her extended family. Kitty learns, through the time capsule VHS, that Eve wanted to get to know her extended family, applying for a heritage scholarship at the KISS so that she can spend time with her cousin, Simon. The letters reveal that Eve’s mother didn’t speak to her for six months after because she was angry.
Netflix's delightful romantic dramedy XO, Kitty returned for its long-awaited second season, but will Kitty return to KISS for another semester?
After she returned to the United States, Eve and Simon wrote back and forth about everything, including the feud. The two hoped to reunite the family, despite resistance from Soon Ja and Young Ja. One of the last letters before Eve’s death reveals that Young Ja agreed to fly with Eve and Kitty to Korea to see Soon Ja, Simon, and Jiwan. Unfortunately, this would never come to fruition due to Eve’s untimely death.
How Kitty Brings Everyone Back Together
Although Kitty is the driving force of the family’s reunification, she needs the help of many individuals to make the idea a reality in XO, Kitty season 2. When Jiwan ghosts Kitty, Yuri takes it upon herself to show up at Jiwan’s door, convincing her to hear Kitty out. Kitty and Jiwan create a plan that wins over Soon Ja.
Then, they need Margot Song-Covey’s help. She goes to her grandmother, Young Ja, to convince her to go visit Soon Ja. Kitty and Margot’s grandfather gives Young Ja the push she needs to agree. They book the flight to Korea, but it gets canceled at the last minute, which is where Min Ho comes in. He convinces his dad to use their private jet to fly Margot and Young Ja to Seoul.
Members Of Kitty's Family
Relationship
Young Ja
Grandmother
Daniel Covey
Father
Eve Song-Covey
Mother
Trina Covey
Stepmother
Margot Song-Covey
Sister
Lara Jean Song-Covey
Sister
Soon Ja
Great Aunt
Simon
1st Cousin Once Removed
Jiwan
2nd Cousin
Ultimately, the number of people involved in bringing Kitty’s family together shows how influential and likeable she is. Not just anyone can bring together people across three continents to work on a common goal. Moreover, the characters in XO, Kitty who help with the goal are symbolic of the younger generation’s tendency to heal generational trauma. Except for the grandfather, every person involved is a young adult or teenager.
The Significance Of Soon Ja's Jesa Ritual For Eve Song
At the end of XO, Kitty season 2, Young Ja travels with Margot to South Korea to reunite with Soon Ja for the first time since moving away to the United States. When the family arrives at Soon Ja’s house, they go inside to find a Jesa ritual for Eve Song. Viewers who aren’t Korean may not recognize the significance of this gesture.
Kitty was just a kid in To All Of The Boys I've Loved Before, and she has grown up a lot in the time between the trilogy and XO, Kitty.
According to Korean tradition, the ancestors do not move on for multiple generations, lingering among their successors. Jesa is a way to strengthen the familial bond between the dead and the living and honor loved ones. As shown in XO, Kitty, family sets a ritual table with three rows of food with fruits and desserts in the first row, fish and vegetables in the second row, and rice and soup in the third row. Either a paper with an ancestor’s name or a photo of the ancestor is placed on the table. In front, incense and Cheongju are on a smaller table.
Throughout the ritual, the person leading the jesa calls to the ancestors, greets them, serves them food and drink, grants them silence, and says farewell. While this tradition is typically led by the eldest male heir, XO, Kitty shows the women in the family leading the ritual, which reflects the changing traditions in Korean culture. The jesa ritual in the Netflix show brings a close to the journey of Eve, Simon, and Kitty to bring everyone back together. Although she’s in the spiritual realm, Eve Song is finally getting to see her family mended, as she once hoped.
Release Date
May 18, 2023
Cast
Anna Cathcart
, Sang Heon Lee
, Choi Min-young
, Anthony Keyvan
, Gia Kim
, Peter Thurnwald
, Regan Aliya
Seasons
2
Story By
Jenny Han
Writers
Jenny Han
Directors
Jennifer Arnold
, Jeff Chan
, Katina Medina Mora
, Pamela Romanowsky
English (US) ·