‘XO, Kitty’ Season 2 assessment: Romance and chaos reign supreme in Anna Cathcart’s enjoyable teenage drama

A nonetheless from ‘XO, Kitty’ Season 2

There’s an endearing allure to Anna Cathcart’s Kitty Track-Covey and her model of chaos in XO Kitty that you simply can not get sufficient of. Returning for its second season after two years, XO Kitty is chaotic and messy due to its quite a few love triangles, romantic entanglements, and extra, however it stays true to the spirit of writer Jenny Han’s comforting world of largely tropey teenage drama. 

In season 2, Kitty is again at Korean Unbiased College of Seoul (‘KISS’ – all of the episode names play on this very handy college identify), decided to be a chaos-free queen after the disastrous and sophisticated 12 months she has had. Whereas she nonetheless stays associates together with her ex-boyfriend Dae (Choi Min-young), she finds out a lot to her horror that her roommate for the 12 months is Yuri (Gia Kim), the pal she has a humongous crush on. So as to add to the combo, there’s a good bit of rigidity nonetheless lingering between her and Minho (Sang Heon-lee), the college’s playboy who she gently rejects after he confesses his emotions. There are additionally new college students — Praveena (Sasha Bhasin) a possible romantic curiosity for Kitty, her new roommate Stella Cho (Audrey Huynh), and Yuri’s girlfriend Julianna (Regan Aliyah). There’s a flurry of exercise at KISS this time round as properly. Whereas we seldom see the scholars choose up a e book.

Kitty’s plans of getting a stress-free semester quickly go down the drain and he or she finds herself within the thick of a potential new romance, a saboteur, and the thriller of why her mom’s aspect of the household had a fallout. Having come out as bisexual the earlier semester, Kitty additionally has her new sexual awakening to navigate. Very similar to the primary season, Kitty is set to be taught extra about her mom, and this makes for the extra emotional, layered elements of the present. 

Anna Cathcart and Sang Heon-lee as Kitty and Minho, in a nonetheless from the present

A lot of the pleasurable drama, together with a ridiculously deliberate heist to steal one thing from the college archives, and an impromptu journey searching for a member of the family are all courtesy Kitty and Minho, whose chemistry sparkles on display screen. Kitty-centric chaos is one thing we’re all solely too acquainted with from the primary season of the present, and there’s a reprise of kinds right here. Some parts nonetheless, particularly the battle involving Julianna and Yuri, feels overwrought. 

Nonetheless, Regardless of the setting of South Korea, there may be treasured little that we see of Seoul; the entire drama occurs largely on the KISS campus aside from one ski cabin journey Kitty and her gang go on. There’s a lot that veers into Okay-Drama territory after all, however it’s shocking that the writers don’t exploit this setting higher. There are parallels aplenty to Jenny Han’s To All The Boys I Ever Liked, Together with a scene in a sizzling tub on the Ski Cabin. This features a cameo of the most effective variety as properly, with Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo) making an look simply to infuse the proceedings along with his trademark heat and allure (set to Lauv’s ‘I Like Me Higher’). 

Given the success of the present’s curation of banger Okay-Pop music within the first season, the second season too fortunately doesn’t disappoint within the music division. Be careful for the looks of a Okay-pop idol within the latter half of the present.

A nonetheless from XO Kitty

XO Kitty’s tropey goodness is stored afloat by its immensely likable solid. As Kitty, Anna makes the character her personal. If Sang Heon-lee as fan favorite Minho stood out in season one, he’s again in advantageous kind and fortunately, with much more display screen time as properly. Anthony Keyvan as Q, the voice of purpose for a number of characters on the present, makes for a candy and stable pal, who additionally fortunately has a greater romance monitor this season. 

As Kitty navigates highschool, a number of crushes, her matchmaking expertise and extra chaos and drama largely set off by her,  there’s a fixed churning as she flits from questions on her household to her rising pile of crushes. It helps right here that the characters all are endearing and enjoyable; what’s to not like…or to binge? Season 3, I’m taking a look at you for that lengthy awaited Yuri-Kitty-Minho love triangle.

XO Kitty Season 2 is at present streaming on Netflix