{"id":89813,"date":"2025-01-17T23:45:45","date_gmt":"2025-01-17T23:45:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/17\/xo-kitty-needs-to-just-focus-on-kitty-and-min-ho\/"},"modified":"2025-01-17T23:45:45","modified_gmt":"2025-01-17T23:45:45","slug":"xo-kitty-needs-to-just-focus-on-kitty-and-min-ho","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/17\/xo-kitty-needs-to-just-focus-on-kitty-and-min-ho\/","title":{"rendered":"XO, Kitty Needs to Just Focus on Kitty and Min-Ho"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

Can I let you all in on a little secret?\u00a0<\/p>\n

I watched the entirety of XO, Kitty Season 2<\/a>, and by the time the credits rolled, I had forgotten everything important that had happened.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It genuinely sucks when that happens, but it\u2019s worse when it\u2019s something that happens with a show that genuinely has great potential.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"
(Park Young-Sol\/Netflix)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

XO, Kitty is One of the Few Teen Series in a Disappearing Market<\/h2>\n

One of the biggest takeaways from XO, Kitty is that the season came to a quick end by the time it started to find its rhythm, which sums up the series itself.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kitty is a cute and fun teen protagonist in an age that lacks them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Seriously, not to sound like an old, cranky Millennial, but when I was coming up, I was up to my eyeballs in teen and young adult programming of all calibers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The WB phase of television had me in a chokehold, from Popular and Dawson\u2019s Creek<\/a> to family dramas like 7th Heaven.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"
(Courtesy of Netflix)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I couldn\u2019t relate to a single aspect of Clueless on the surface, but I loved Dionne, and Felicity was the perfect hot mess and a series I couldn\u2019t get enough of watching.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Boy Meets World still scratches the nostalgic part of my brain for all things Shawn Hunter, Angela, and Topanga.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Let me not go on a tangent about Veronica Mars<\/a>, who was the perfect reputation for us teens who casually grew up in households where having burner phones around was handy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There was so much variety in young adult programming, ranging from pre-teens to co-eds.<\/p>\n

But now, I still enjoy watching that genre as an adult, but it\u2019s sorely lacking in that department.\u00a0<\/p>\n

XO, Kitty Has the Bones for a Solid Teen Drama<\/h2>\n
\"XO,\"XO,
(Courtesy of Netflix)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As a result, XO, Kitty is exciting, and its premise should be great.\u00a0It has the bones, as Anna Cathcart is a charismatic leading lady.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kitty is one of the most annoying characters, but it\u2019s endearing and feels authentic for that stage in life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But XO, Kitty can\u2019t solely ride on the laurels of Cathcart and\u00a0Sang Heon Lee\u2019s charisma.\u00a0Or, if they\u2019re going to do so, then the show needs to focus more exclusively on it and take full advantage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

XO, Kitty feels like a great gateway introduction to K-dramas and K-pop.\u00a0It rides on the wave of that popularity, but it doesn\u2019t necessarily do all the work to fully embrace it, making this bizarre, unplaceable Korean-American hybrid.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The second season exposed this to the series\u2019 detriment as it introduced a zillion new characters and focused on them at the expense of the ones we likely find more compelling or without developing others much.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kitty\u2019s coming to grips with her bisexuality <\/a>was a defining moment in the first season, and the second season doesn\u2019t know what to do with it.<\/p>\n

Kitty\u2019s Bisexuality Exploration Missed the Mark<\/h2>\n
\"\"\"\"
(Park Young-Sol\/Netflix)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

XO, Kitty faces two issues in tying Kitty\u2019s newfound attraction to women to Yuri exclusively.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For one, it isn\u2019t the best attempt at allowing Kitty to explore that attraction to women when she\u2019s instantly jumped to being in love with her best friend and pining after her to the exclusion of other possible love interests like the cool but misused Praveena.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And it also dances on the line of the usual problematic tropes of bisexual individuals or queer relationships when it introduces an infidelity <\/a>component with Yuri and Kitty\u2019s behavior resulting in a season of tension and drama amongst Kitty, Yuri, and Juliana.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kitty also had to juggle another family storyline that felt half-baked and didn\u2019t have nearly the same emotion or urgency as the first season. So much so that it barely registered as a plot, even when it concluded with a neat bow in the finale.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the second season teased that Kitty would spend her semester trying to do and be better and improve, and then she mostly got lost in plots with no \u201coomph.\u201d<\/p>\n

The season also fell apart because she had to spend so much time with other characters spinning their own tales.\u00a0<\/p>\n

XO, Kitty Doesn\u2019t Know What to Do with Half Its Characters While Focusing on New Ones<\/h2>\n
\"\"\"\"
(Park Young-Sol\/Netflix)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The season quickly reveals that XO, Kitty doesn\u2019t know what to do with characters like Dae and Q. Yet, they attached Eunice and Jin to them, only one of whom should\u2019ve had more development and had spark (Eunice).\u00a0<\/p>\n

All those characters get lost in the shuffle of seemingly meaningless plots that swallow them whole.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t actually tell you much about their storylines because of the previously mentioned forgetting them once the credits rolled thing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So much of the season also hinges on Stella. Over time, investing in this new character despite her vital role becomes difficult.<\/p>\n

A vibrant and genuinely alluring character like Yuri, who was one of the finest aspects of the first season, is dull in comparison and simply fades away throughout the second season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"
(Park Young-Sol\/Netflix)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She spends so much of her sophomore season slinking after Juliana.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I understand why they wanted to expand Juliana\u2019s role and even appreciate it on some level, but given that it resulted in a more muted Yuri, here we are.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Min Ho is the only character who survives the second season with actual character development and a decent plot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Once they placed Alex, Professor Lee, and the family arcs surrounding Dae and Yuri in the background, Min Ho had to carry it, and he did that well.<\/p>\n

Min Ho Carries Character Development and Consistent Plot<\/h2>\n
\"\"\"\"
(Park Young-Sol\/Netflix)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Min Ho and Moon\u2019s father\/son relationship<\/a> evolution from the start of the season to its end is satisfying and authentic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Many teens, especially young men, struggle with things like living in their older siblings\u2019 shadows or not feeling they meet their parents\u2019 expectations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Min Ho balances this ongoing arc well with the others he partakes in, including assisting Dae and being a great friend to Kitty during her latest family mission while keeping their spark alive.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The fact that Kitty and Min Ho\u2019s connection is yet again the best aspect of the second season shows that the series would do wise to center that and them more moving forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n

My attention was piqued during those final moments of the season when they teased an adventure between the two, and I only wish the entire season had that same energy in the first place.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At XO, Kitty\u2019s center is Kitty herself as she grapples with identity, high school, friendship, and \u201cfound family.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s best when the series leans into those aspects of Kitty more, grounding that focus rather than sending Kitty on random sidequests or going off on tangents with other, often newer characters.<\/p>\n

If XO, Kitty Continues, It\u2019ll Benefit in Centering Kitty and Min-Ho\u00a0<\/h2>\n
\"\"\"\"
(Park Young-Sol\/Netflix)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Min-Ho often walks away with the strongest and most developed story arcs, and his chemistry with Kitty carries so much of the series.\u00a0<\/p>\n

XO, Kitty needs to restructure, focusing more on those two characters, individually and together, and then expanding to other key figures as supporting characters and roles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

XO, Kitty can be something truly special with proper outlines and focus. Anna Cathcart and Sang Heon Lee could save it whenever the series gives them quality storylines and writing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We wouldn\u2019t have to resort to gimmicks like random and meaningless Noah Centineo cameos<\/a> meant only to capitalize on the To All the Boys franchise and nostalgia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Come on, Netflix, you guys are better than this!\u00a0<\/p>\n

How do you rate XO, Kitty Season 2? Let\u2019s hear all of your thoughts below.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Watch XO, Kitty Online<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\"JustWatch\"\"JustWatch\"
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Can I let you all in on a little secret?\u00a0 I watched the entirety of XO, Kitty Season 2, and by the time the credits<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":89814,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[175],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-shows"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89813\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}