Club Benefits
- Rating: 3/5 Stars
- Verdict: The third season of “XO, Kitty” continues the upbeat storytelling and engaging character dynamics of the previous seasons, with a renewed focus on the setting at an international school in Seoul. There’s plenty of relationship drama for the teen characters, with a likable ensemble led by the charismatic Anna Cathcart as the title character.
- Premiere date/time: April 2
- Where to watch: Stream on Netflix
When I first learned that Netflix was giving “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” supporting character Kitty Song Covey (Anna Cathcart) her own spinoff TV series, I was skeptical that the bubbly kid sister of the movies’ protagonist could support her own show. It didn’t take long for “XO, Kitty” to win me over, though, and over the course of three seasons, it’s proved to be a worthy successor to the popular Netflix rom-com franchise.
After a somewhat disappointing second season that took the focus too far away from the central school setting, “XO, Kitty” rebounds in season 3, sticking to its strengths while introducing plenty of new complications for Kitty and her friends. It’s now Kitty’s senior year at the Korean Independent School of Seoul (KISS), and she and her fellow students are trying to figure out their future plans. Kitty is also trying to figure out her relationship with Min Ho (Sang Heon Lee), after they finally acknowledged their feelings for each other at the end of the previous season.
“XO, Kitty” remains glossy and upbeat, with plenty of soapy teen drama, and this season mostly leaves behind the sometimes convoluted secrets that bogged down the plotting in the past. It’s light and fun and full of likable characters — including the return of Kitty’s sister and “To All the Boys” main character Lara Jean (Lana Condor).
Article continues below‘XO, Kitty’ season 3 finds its groove quickly
The third season begins in a slightly odd place, picking up immediately from the final moments of the second season, when Kitty is asked to spend the summer with Min Ho as he goes on tour with some music acts that his father manages. The first episode awkwardly backtracks from that interaction, as the two characters brush off the seeming declaration of romantic intent and instead spend the summer apart, with Min Ho on tour and Kitty staying in New York City with Lara Jean.
It’s not until the second episode that the story jumps ahead to the beginning of the following school year, making the premiere feel more like part of the season 2 finale.
Aside from that clumsy bit of storytelling, though, the eight-episode season keeps up the narrative momentum, with lively pacing and endearing character development. After cycling through multiple potential love interests over the course of the previous two seasons, Kitty is now all-in on Min Ho, but of course, her previous paramours are all still hanging around. Kitty’s original KISS boyfriend, Dae (Minyeong Choi), gets a bit sidelined for most of the season, although he’s settled in as a sweet and supportive friend.
Kitty’s overall friend group is equally sweet and supportive, including Kitty’s former crush Yuri (Gia Kim), Yuri’s ex-girlfriend Juliana (Regan Aliyah), Kitty’s gay bestie Q (Anthony Keyvan) and Q’s boyfriend Jin (Joshua Hyunho Lee). This season’s interloper is returning student Marius (Sule Thelwell), who has a complicated history with Q and delights in stirring things up, but even he isn’t immune to Kitty’s exuberant friendliness. The writers smartly avoid making him into an outright villain, in contrast to the second season’s tiresome troublemaker Stella (Audrey Huynh).
The show has built up a large ensemble, and the complex character dynamics can sometimes be hard to keep track of, especially within Kitty’s extended family. Kitty’s long-lost cousin Jiwon (Hojo Shin) is now a teacher at KISS, although the adult storylines that were more prominent in the earlier seasons now take a backseat to the teen drama.
Verdict: ‘XO, Kitty’ season 3 is another charming, easy binge
That teen drama progresses briskly, with genial humor and clear stakes in each episode. Kitty stresses over potential college applications and passing her Korean literature class, which is a welcome grounded departure from the music-industry storylines in the second season. The characters still live fairly glamorous lives for high school students, attending music-video shoots and fashion shows as well as visiting amusement parks, but the love triangles and quadrangles are still relatable and engaging.
Cathcart has really come into her own as a lead actor, and Kim brings some heartfelt emotion to Yuri’s riches-to-rags journey this season as she comes to terms with losing her family's money. Min Ho isn’t my top choice among Kitty’s love interests, but Lee and Cathcart have enough chemistry to get past most of my reservations.
After the teases with brief appearances from Noah Centineo and Janel Parrish in previous seasons, I was happy to see Condor stick around for multiple episodes as Lara Jean, offering almost a miniature “To All the Boys” sequel. Even if “XO, Kitty” doesn’t quite capture all the charm of those movies, it comes close enough, and after breezing through all eight episodes this season, I’m ready for more.
"XO, Kitty" season 3 is streaming now on Netflix
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