It’s been a long time since fans have caught up with the enthusiastic teens of KISS — the Korean Independent School of Seoul. With season 2’s focus back on Kitty once again, along with her three potential romantic partners at KISS, here’s a recap of all the important events that took place in season 1 of XO, Kitty.
One of Netflix’s most-watched shows, this To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before spin-off stars Anna Cathcart as teen dreamer Kitty Song Covey and focuses on her adventures in Seoul, South Korea. After its release in 2023, the series recorded 72.1 million hours of viewing within its first week and entered Netflix’s Top 10 Shows list in 90 countries.
Created by Jenny Han, XO, Kitty returns for its second instalment on 16 January 2025.
XO, Kitty recap: The cast and characters of season 1
View this post on Instagram
- Anna Cathcart as Katherine/Kitty Song Covey
- Lee Sang-hoon as Min-ho
- Choi Min-young as Kim Dae-hoon
- Gia Kim as Yuri Han
- Anthony Keyvan as Quincy Shabazian
- Regan Aliyah as Juliana
- Kim Yun-jin as Director Lim Ji-na
- Michael K. Lee as Professor Daniel Lee
- Peter Thurnwald as Professor Alex Finnerty
- Lee Sung-wook as Mr. Kim
Spoilers ahead!
XO, Kitty season 1 recap: Kitty and her adventures at KISS
Kitty shifts to South Korea
View this post on Instagram
The Netflix romantic comedy begins with Portland-based protagonist Kitty shifting to South Korea, after finding it hard to maintain her relationship with her long-distance Korean boyfriend Dae due to different time zones. The opportunity for the same comes when she gets accepted for the scholarship at Dae’s school — the Korean Independent School of Seoul (KISS).
Through a flashback, viewers discover that Kitty had restored a trunk full of keepsakes from her mom’s past at her grandparents’ old attic. Among them was a photo album and school uniform jacket from the year her mom studied abroad on a scholarship at KISS, where she was able to learn more about her Korean roots. That was when Kitty, too, had decided to apply for the same scholarship at KISS, and in a way, connect with her mother.
Kitty’s boyfriend is dating someone else at KISS
View this post on Instagram
After arriving at KISS, Kitty plans to surprise Dae at their school’s big welcome party. However, when Kitty and Dae reunite at the party, fellow KISS student Yuri arrives and introduces herself as Dae’s girlfriend.
Kitty’s first encounter with Yuri was while attempting to cross a street in Seoul on her first day. Later, Yuri offered Kitty a ride to KISS.
Social media star Yuri Han is the daughter of a wealthy Korean businessman and the principal of KISS. However, Yuri has a strained relationship with her parents, especially her mother, Principal Lim. The latter mostly grills Yuri due to her closeness with her friend, Juliana. While Yuri lies to her mother that she is just a friend helping her cover for Dae, her boyfriend, viewers soon learn that Yuri is actually in a relationship with Juliana.
Scared of her parents and society’s judgements, Yuri has not made their bond public. Additionally, she also promised to pay off Dae’s school and tuition fees if he fake-dates her for a semester.
Kitty and her mixed feelings
After learning about Dae and Yuri’s fake relationship, Kitty decides to wait for Dae. In the meantime, she focuses on her studies and starts enjoying her days at KISS. She also befriends Dae’s roommates Q and Min-ho.
Kitty and Q soon become best friends. Kitty and Min-ho, on the other hand, start on a rocky note. But when the initial clashes between the duo die down, Min-ho starts developing feelings for Kitty. Things get more complicated when Kitty bonds with Yuri and later realises that she has romantic feelings for her. Kitty then confesses the same to her family, breaks up with Dae and decides to explore her true self.
Another important event that makes it to our XO Kitty season 1 recap is Min-ho eventually accepting his true feelings for Kitty. As the series ends, viewers find Min-ho just beside Kitty on her flight to America, confessing his love for her, “I think I fell in love with you Kitty. A little bit. Or a lot.”
Kitty is expelled from KISS
It all starts with Kitty getting assigned to the girls’ dorm. Her roommate constantly plays video games and is extremely messy. Kitty finds it unbearable to exist with her and he shifts to Min-ho and Q’s room.
When the first semester ends, Kitty brings in grades good enough to remain at school. Unfortunately, the school officials spot her celebrating in the hallway of the boys’ dorm and discover that she has been living there all semester, which is a violation of KISS’s policy. As a result, she loses her scholarship and is expelled from KISS, which is why she moves back to America at the end of season 1.
XO, Kitty season 1 recap: Who is Alex?
View this post on Instagram
Throughout the first nine episodes of the Netflix Original, viewers almost believe that Professor Alex Finnerty of KISS is Kitty’s brother. However, the finale episode reveals Alex as Yuri’s elder brother.
Yuri’s mother Jina had fallen in love with Professor Daniel Lee during their time at KISS as students and got pregnant with Alex. But because she couldn’t afford to marry Lee or make the pregnancy public, she had put Kitty’s mother’s name on the hospital paperwork. The latter had agreed to it as they were best friends at the time.
What to expect from XO, Kitty season 2?
In season 2, Kitty will be seen exploring her three romantic options — Dae, Yuri and Min-ho.
However, talking to Netflix about the same, Cathcart said, “Kitty doesn’t need a person, obviously. It’s very cool that she doesn’t have a person by the end. She’s essentially choosing herself and choosing the space to figure that out.”
Fans believe that while season 2 will show Kitty exploring her romantic angles with the three potential partners, the series will delve deeper into Kitty’s discovery of her true self, as well as her mother’s Korean roots.
Season 2 will also see the return of Noah Centineo as Peter Kavinsky, the boyfriend of Kitty’s middle sister, Lara Jean.
Speaking to Tudum about his special appearance in the show, Centineo said, “Stepping back into the To All the Boys universe was a true joy, and I hope our incredible audience enjoys seeing Peter again as much as I did.”
(Hero image credit: Netflix; Featured image credit: Photo by Park Young-Sol/Netflix – © 2024 Netflix, Inc. via IMDb)
Frequently Asked Questions
‘XO, Kitty’ is definitely worth watching. The teen rom-com debuted in Netflix’s Top 10 and was viewed for 72.1 million hours in its first week.
‘XO, Kitty’ season 1 starts with Kitty Covey shifting to South Korea to study and be closer to her boyfriend. It ends with Kitty breaking up with her boyfriend and getting expelled from KISS, her school in South Korea.
As of 2025, the show has two seasons.
Reportedly, season 1 was filmed in 2022.
Tags
Written by
Sushmita Mahanta
Digital Writer (Growth) - Entertainment
Sushmita is a writer with a passion for crafting engaging and informative stories. An avid fan of K-pop and K-dramas, Sushmita mostly writes about Korean culture and entertainment. When not writing, you can find Sushmita dancing, reading, collecting books, learning about fashion, art, motion pictures, and appreciating BTS.
