It’s happening you guys: The To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before spinoff series is almost here! On March 22, Netflix dropped the first look at the series XO, Kitty, set to premiere May 18, and it’s one of my most anticipated releases this year. The new show will follow Lara-Jean’s veracious younger sister Kitty (Anna Cathcart), on her own quest for love. Over the course of 10 half-hour episodes, the meddling matchmaker will continue to develop her relationship with Dae (Choi Min-young), which was teased in the third installment of To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before series, Always and Forever.
In case you don’t remember the meet-cute, I’ll catch you up. At the beginning of Always and Forever, Lara-Jean’s entire family travels to South Korea on a quest to find a heart-shaped lock on the famous “Love Lock Bridge.” Couples would inscribe messages on the locks before throwing away the key, symbolizing everlasting love. Their mother, Eve, had left one before the girls were born, but never revealed the message inscribed. It’s revealed to be a note to their father, who she hopes to love “for the rest of her life.” It’s one of the most poignant sequences in the series that brings closure to Lara-Jean.
The family gathers for a picture, and Kitty asks a cute boy to take it for them. Suddenly overtaken and flustered, she stumbles through the introductions as the spark between them develops. I think what her dad says next sums up what all of us were thinking: “Katherine Song Covey has discovered boys? God help them.”
She and Dae exchange contact info off-screen, and throughout the rest of the movie, we follow her teenage melodrama as the two argue over movies like Harry Potter. This storyline gets largely neglected in the second half of the movie, a decision that brought me some initial disappointment. However, this new trailer gives us some great new details on what to expect in the upcoming series! Here’s what we know so far.
What is XO, Kitty’s release date, and where can I watch it?
The 10-episode series will premiere on May 18 on Netflix.
The plot promises to take viewers back to South Korea.
In the first look clip, Kitty discovers a box belonging to her mother, which contains everything she took from a year as a foreign exchange student at the Korean Independent School of Seoul, or KISS. She becomes frustrated that she remembers so little about her mother, and decides to connect both with her and her neglected Korean heritage by applying to the school herself. Conveniently, it’s the school her online boyfriend, Dae, also happens to attend. She gets in on the same scholarship as her mom, and from there, I can only assume complete chaos will ensue.
The cast features some new and familiar faces.
Anna Cathcart will be reprising her role as a now 16-year-old Kitty, alongside Choi Min-young as Dae, her love interest. It’s unknown if Lara Jean (Lana Condor) or Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo) will be making any cameo appearances. We’re expecting some new characters as well, who will be playing Kitty’s classmates. The group posed together for an Instagram photo on the show’s official account.
According to the cast list on IMDb, Anthony Keyvan, known for his role in Love, Victor, a spinoff series based on Love, Simon, will be playing the role of Q. Gia Kim will play Yuri, and Sang Heon Lee will play Min Ho. We don’t yet know the role these characters will play in the plot, since the series isn’t based on a book by Jenny Han. To me, that just makes the anticipation and excitement even greater!
Do I need to read the book?
XO, Kitty is actually not based on any of Jenny Han’s series, although she did write the pilot episode for the season and remains involved in the production as co-showrunner and executive producer. It’s actually the first Netflix spinoff to be based on one of their original films!
This series is sure to be a fun and heartfelt deep dive into young love while still following Kitty on her journey of self-discovery. I, for one, am already in love!