'XO, Kitty' Season 2 Review: Anna Cathcart's 'To All the Boys' Spin-Off Finally Finds Its Own Identity

Spin-off series tend to go one of two ways — they can either elevate the story that audiences are already familiar with, or they completely fumble their own premise by being too dependent on the mothership. In Season 1, XO, Kitty proved that it could be its own thing outside the To All The Boys I've Loved Before universe, but in Season 2, this becomes even more obvious. Now, the show has found its own identity, and despite its issues, it still makes for fun, carefree entertainment.

That's not to say that Season 2 of XO, Kitty is free of problems. It's still hard to buy that the show's South Korean characters would choose to speak English when they are among themselves, even though the show does try to strike a balance between the two languages. However, it's impossible to ignore the fact that the series is K-drama-adjacent — so, if it becomes the gateway title that leads fans to several other stories that South Korea has to offer, it's more than worth the experience.

What Is 'XO, Kitty' Season 2 About?

After having a decisive moment with Min Ho (Sang Heon Lee) and dealing with her feelings for Yuri (Gia Kim), Kitty (Anna Cathcart) has returned for another year at KISS — and this time, she is determined to have a drama-free academic life. The problem is, she's now roommates with Yuri and Julianna (Regan Aliyah), not to mention still in the process of discovering whatever happened to her mother and their connection to South Korea.

The best thing about XO, Kitty is still Cathcart, whose performance remains the driving force of the series. Her energy keeps us invested in the story, even in the less interesting moments. Good thing that XO, Kitty gives its lead things to do and many friends to interact with; this creates the impression that there's always something going on and that some compelling plot point will jump out at the viewer at any given moment.

It's also smart that the show doesn't make the mistake of siding with Kitty in every situation. In a particularly pivotal moment of Season 2, Julianna gets angry with Kitty and Yuri, and the show makes it absolutely clear that she has every right to. Even when a character is not that entitled to feel the way they do, it's easy to understand why they'd be angry and act on their feelings — like Dae (Minyeong Choi) does a little later in the season, without going into major spoilers.

'XO, Kitty' Season 2 Knows How To Use Noah Centineo

XO, Kitty Season 2 also, wisely, doesn't center its story around Noah Centineo (The Recruit) when his character comes for a visit. Peter Kavinsky's cameo is certainly a high point of the season and a massive draw for To All The Boys fans who haven't given XO, Kitty a chance yet. But in his episode, he's basically paying Kitty a quick visit while passing through South Korea. He neither gets in the way of the narrative nor feels irrelevant to it — in fact, the show uses Peter to advance the story of Kitty's family, as well as introduce a relevant element that helps Kitty understand her mother's past.

However, XO, Kitty's problems become more apparent when the show leans away from the main characters to dedicate a little time to everyone else. At first, new principal Professor Lee (Michael K. Lee) seems like an adult figure that will add some conflict to Kitty's academic life and the consequences that she might face if she doesn't buckle down and study — but that's quickly abandoned, and the character is somewhat forgotten about for most of the season, as is Lee's relationship with his son, Alex (Peter Thurnwald).

Similar treatment is given to Stella (Audrey Huynh), the new exchange student from Ohio. A few episodes in, it becomes clear that XO, Kitty is just looking for a bit of drama from her side of things, but the show doesn't put in the work to make Stella a compelling character. She's neither intelligent nor evil enough, which ends with her character stuck in an in-between state, one that would be pretty much irrelevant if her storyline was removed from the season altogether.

It's Love Triangles All The Way Down on 'XO, Kitty' Season 2

Even though XO Kitty has wielded rom-com tropes to exhaustion at this point, the spin-off series manages to keep them fresh by adding its lead's bisexual woes to the story in Season 2. And it never feels gratuitous: Kitty is both facing the messy stage that is young adulthood and dealing with the fact that she can fall in love with boys and girls. Her conflict feels sincere, as do her doubts about who she really loves; Kitty's angst would be the same regardless of her orientation.

At the same time, it's fascinating — and maybe Season 2's biggest win — that XO, Kitty is concerned with trying to make its characters as emotionally healthy as possible. Relationships are always messy and hearts will always be broken, but XO, Kitty's characters at least try to minimize the damage they cause — or, at the very least, take accountability for their actions. Q (Anthony Keyvan), for example, knows fully well at the beginning of the season that he could be entering a problematic relationship. Meanwhile, Kitty herself knows that her airplane moment with Min Ho might entail a disaster, so she practically spends all season debating whether she should act on it. When she finally makes a decision in the final episode, it doesn't feel like a repetition of a cliffhanger, but rather a world of new possibilities that could make a potential Season 3 even more fun to watch.

XO, Kitty Season 2 is available to stream on Netflix now.