XO, Kitty (2023)

XO, Kitty is an American romantic comedy drama television series created by Jenny Han, who also serves as writer and executive producer in addition to being a showrunner, which premiered on Netflix on May 18, 2023. It is a spin-off of the To All the Boys film series (itself an adaptation of Han's book trilogy To All the Boys I've Loved Before), and marks the first Netflix television series to be spun off from a Netflix original film.

The series stars Anna Cathcart, who reprises the title role as Kitty Song-Covey, a high school student and the younger sister of Lara Jean Song-Covey – the central character from the film series. Kitty goes on her own journey to learn about her late mother’s alma mater and experience friendship and romance.

In June 2023, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on January 16, 2025. In February 2025, the series was renewed for a third season, which premiered on April 2, 2026.

Cast and characters

Main

Anna Cathcart as Katherine "Kitty" Song-Covey

Gia Kim as Yuri Han

Sang Heon Lee as Min-ho Moon

Choi Min-yeong as Dae-heon "Dae" Kim

Anthony Keyvan as Quincy "Q" Shabazian

Peter Thurnwald as Professor Alex Finnerty Lee

Regan Aliyah as Juliana Porter (seasons 2–3, recurring season 1)

Philippe Lee as Young Moon (seasons 2–3)

Audrey Huynh as Esther Shim/Stella Cho (season 2)

Sule Thelwell as Marius (season 3)

Hojo Shin as Jiwon Ahn (season 3, recurring season 2)

Recurring

Yunjin Kim as Principal Jina Lim (season 1)

Michael K. Lee as Professor Daniel Lee

Jocelyn Shelfo as Madison Miller

Lee Sung-wook as Mr. Kim

Théo Augier Bonaventure as Florian Simon (season 1)

Lee Hyung-chul as Mr. Han (seasons 1–2)

Sunny Oh as Mihee Yoon

Ryu Han-bi as Eunice Kang

Sasha Bhasin as Praveena Bhakti (seasons 2–3)

Joshua Hyunho Lee as Jintaek "Jin" Lee (seasons 2–3)

Soy Kim as Yisoo (season 3)

Christine Hwang as Gigi Park (season 3)

Guest

John Corbett as Dan Covey (season 1)

Sarayu Blue as Trina Rothschild (season 1)

Han Chae-young as Dami (season 1)

Ok Taec-yeon as Ocean Park (season 1)

Chaerin as Lulu (season 1)

Peniel Shin as Joon-ho Moon (seasons 2–3)

Noah Centineo as Peter Kavinsky (season 2)

Janel Parrish as Margot Song-Covey (season 2)

Lana Condor as Lara Jean Song-Covey (season 3)

Jung Gun-joo as Tae-Oh (season 3)

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2023)

Season 2 (2025)

Season 3 (2026)

Production

In March 2021, it was announced that a series spin-off to To All the Boys was in development, with each episode being a half-hour romantic comedy. The series got developed as a Netflix exclusive, from Awesomeness and ACE Entertainment. The books' original author Jenny Han was reported to be the creator, writer and executive producer as well as writing the script for the pilot with Siobhan Vivian. Anna Cathcart was also reported to be reprising her role as Kitty Song-Covey. Six months later, Netflix ordered ten episodes along with announcing other crew members. Sascha Rothchild and Matt Kaplan joined Han as executive producers while the former is also the showrunner along with Han. On April 5, 2022, Choi Min-yeong, Anthony Keyvan, Gia Kim, Sang Heon Lee, Peter Thurnwald, and Regan Aliyah were cast as series regulars while Yunjin Kim, Michael K. Lee, and Jocelyn Shelfo joined the cast in recurring roles. By that date, production had begun in Seoul. Gia Kim and Sang Heon Lee, the actors who played Yuri and Min Ho, respectively, are siblings in real life.

On June 14, 2023, Netflix renewed the series for a second season. On April 25, 2024, it was announced that the second season had begun production in Seoul. On February 14, 2025, Netflix renewed the series for a third season. The third season began filming in May 2025 in Seoul. Filming for the third season wrapped on July 17, 2025. Three months later when Awesomeness' parent Paramount Global merged with Skydance Media to form Paramount Skydance, Awesomeness had been folded into Paramount Television Studios with them taking over production of the series' third season.

Release

XO, Kitty premiered on Netflix on May 18, 2023. The second season premiered on January 16, 2025. The third season premiered on April 2, 2026.

Reception

For the first season, the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 82% approval rating with an average rating of 5.8/10, based on 28 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "A modest and sweet extension of all the films that fans have loved before, XO, Kitty aims straight for the heart and finds its mark." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 68 out of 100 based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

The second season has an 83% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 18 critic reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Returning with improved form, XO Kitty's second season injects a lovely mix of fun and memorable characters into its exceedingly saccharine proceedings." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 70 out of 100 based on 5 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

The third season has a 61% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 18 critic reviews, with an average rating of 5.8/10. On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 48 out of 100 based on 4 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.

While the series had a high viewership on Netflix in more than 50 countries, it received minimal attention in South Korea, where the show takes place. A reason cited for this was that the global success of South Korean media led to the country's people not caring about its depiction in foreign productions. Another explanation was that thrillers and action shows are more popular than romance shows in South Korea.

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

XO, Kitty on Netflix

XO, Kitty at IMDb