Even though I was bursting at the seams to watch the second season of XO, Kitty, I knew that I needed to refamiliarize myself with all of the details from the first season to be better prepared for the mayhem to come.
So that’s what I did! And man, what a joy it was to watch the first season again. Kitty really learned a lot about herself even though she was at the center of a lot of drama. I appreciate her honesty with herself and not dragging Dae along. Which, respect to Dae for keeping the friendship code, threat or not, but come on, if you love Kitty as much as you claim, I think you could have confided in her with what was going on. And in the end, it was too little too late. But at the very end of the season, we found our main cast of characters all in a bit of a crossroads.
Q found out his boyfriend took the top academic spot at the school through cheating, thus threatening Dae’s ability to keep his scholarship and stay at KISS. Yuri finally got Julianna back in her life after finding out about a half brother and her mother’s past. And Minho found Kitty in coach to confess that he fell in love with her. While you could sense the spark there, her feelings for Yuri were too strong to reciprocate anything back. And what good would it have done since she was pretty sure she was never allowed back at KISS for all of the transgressions she took part in her first semester.
But that’s where we pick up. Yuri was able to convince her mother that Kitty should be allowed back, since the boys were all equally to blame for the dupe. Minho has “moved on” from Kitty’s rejection, while Dae is still clearly hurting, and Kitty’s crush on Yuri is stronger than ever. It doesn’t help that she gets roomed with her and Julianna! They’ve also got a new, alien roommate in Ohioan, Esther. You can tell pretty early on that something is not right with her, but as the season goes on, her motives for being at KISS and with Minho are quite sinister.
Kitty finds herself in the most tangled relationship web I may have ever encountered in a series, and rather than just cutting ties with all of them, which is really impossible, especially to teenagers, she just throws herself more into their drama. But aside from all that’s going on with her friends, she’s bound and determined to figure out who Simon was to her mother. This leads to some clunky sleuthing, but the results by the final episode are tear-jerking for sure. From a high level it felt almost like way too much was going on this season, but I realize that two fewer episodes with no guarantee of another season doesn’t help matters. Still, lots was resolved, but there is plenty more to be explored!
And we will get that because a third season was announced earlier this month! I would love to see more with Yuri and her family dynamics. Unfortunately, the actress who played her mother was totally absent this season, and we didn’t get nearly enough of Professor Lee. There’s something about that guy that I could watch for hours on end. Plus, Alex is such a cutie! Their interactions should have been plentiful this season, but I felt we were robbed. Another new addition that I was here for was Q’s new rival/boyfriend, Jin. I hope they go the distance (if you know, you know). But all the criticism aside, I was still so, so happy with this new season. I feel so lucky!