But about midway through the season, something shiftsβ¦the tension between eases and, suddenly, Kitty looks at Yuri with new eyes. The feelings coursing through her body are electric and when Dae comes over, trying desperately to explain the situation, Kitty admits that she gets it now. Television rarely surprises me anymore. I never expected it to take center stage.
That said, I approached season two of XO, Kitty with some trepidation: the show had exceeded my non-existent expectations in its inaugural run but how would the show fare under the weight of expectations?
Kitty returns to KISS following winter break with a new outlook, pledging to focus more on her classes and improving her Korean. She vows to keep her romantic entanglements out of her dorm room β she opts for a single room β and outside their friendship group. XO, Kitty is a saccharine sweet show, sometimes cloyingly so. Everyone within this chosen family genuinely cares about each other and studiously avoids trying to hurt anyone else.
True to her word, Kitty ventures outside the friend group to find a new love interest. Where is the lesbian processing? Last season, Yuri built a solid friendship with Dae and forged a connection with her newly discovered half-brother, Alex, but neither of them are given the opportunity to be the confidante that Yuri so desperately needs.
The tone of it all just feels horribly discordant with the rest of the show. But perhaps the fairer option is to compare XO, Kitty to other K-dramas. By that measure, particularly when it comes to queer representation, XO, Kitty is breaking new ground and, hopefully, pushing an entire genre towards greater inclusivity. XO, Kitty season two is now streaming on Netflix. A black biracial, bisexual girl raised in the South, working hard to restore North Carolina's good name.
