So I recently listened to the audiobooks for "To All The Boys I've Loved Before" and "P.S. I Still Love You". And then immediately after, I watched season 2 of "XO Kitty" and let me tell you, there is so much context, provided by the books, you don't necessarily get from the movies / shows. And it makes watching this season more emotional and gut wrenching if you understand Kitty's experience growing up. Her childhood heavily informs you of her motivations as a teenager now.

I think "To All The Boys I've Loved Before" movie falls into the same pit that book-to-movie adaptations often fall into which is that it sanitises the father. If you've just seen the movies, you will come away from it thinking Dr Daniel Covey is just a sweet old dad trying his best as a single parent. Whereas in the books, it's clearer he dropped the ball and enabled the parentification of Margot and Lara Jean. Which means that Kitty's sisters often took on more of a maternal role than a sisterly one to her.

This little fact makes all the difference in understanding who Kitty Song Covey actually is. But we'll get to that.

Peter Kavinsky Is Baaaaack!

Obviously, I can't not gush about this beautiful cameo. And the fact they made Lauv's "I Like Me Better" Peter Kavinsky's theme is perfection. That was the song of the summer when "To All The Boys I've Loved Before" came out and it is so quintessentially Peter Kavinsky. I can't imagine any other song being his theme.

This is what Kitty needed this season. Although I'm a little sad that we didn't get to see Lara Jean visit her too. But beggars can't be choosers.

Kitty Being A Meddler

Now that I've gushed about Peter Kavinsky, let's get to the real substance. Why is Kitty Song Covey such a meddler? Well, it all goes back to her sisters.

As I was saying earlier in the post, Kitty was heavily coddled and didn't really face consequences growing up. Hell, even though her sending out Lara Jean's letters was a horrible thing to do (whether it ended well or not), Lara Jean forgave her in .5 seconds. Because in the eyes of Margot and Lara Jean, Kitty isn't simply their baby sister. Kitty is also their baby. And it all goes back to their mum dying.

You see, when Eve Song died, Margot immediately took on the role of second mum. And whether this was her choice or not, she should've never taken on so much responsibility. She was the one who cooked, cleaned, grocery shopped and looked after her dad and sisters. And when she went away to Scotland, she put Lara Jean in charge of doing all that. It got to the point that when there were bake sales at Kitty's school, it was Lara Jean who baked and decorated cupcakes.

This should never have been the girls' responsibilities. Their father should have immediately stepped in and reminded his daughters to be daughters instead of parents. Because what ended up happening as a result of this parentification is that Lara Jean and Margot felt they could never truly be mad at Kitty.

They weren't her parents, they were her sisters. But because their mum died and Kitty was only three when this happened, Margot and Lara Jean spent her entire childhood trying to make it up to her. So of course they weren't going to reprimand her. Of course they weren't ever truly going to be mad at her for long.

And so when things worked out for Peter and Lara Jean and Kitty got no real consequences, she left that experience feeling that her meddling was correct. And she never grew past this stage.

That's why she sometimes comes across as irritating and overly involved. This is the first time she's actually faced consequences for her actions.

The Kitty And Yuri Of It All

It is a queer right of passage to fall in love with your best friend and to have it go nowhere. So even though I ship Yuri and Kitty, I understand why they didn't end up together. In fact, it's actually really good representation and very true to our lives.

Having been in Kitty's position myself, I can safely say that you definitely make a lot of mistakes when you're going through that experience for the first time. It can almost feel like an out of body experience. And I understand Kitty's simultaneous desire to put distance between her and Yuri and also being lovestruck every time she sees Yuri or Yuri touches her.

But of course, I have never knowingly helped anyone cheat. It's actually a bit disconcerting how often movies and TV shows make the main characters cheaters and homewreckers. It was wrong of Yuri and Kitty to kiss while Yuri was still with Juliana. And Juliana was completely in the right for breaking up with Yuri. There's no universe in which you should ever take a cheater back.

In fact, I'm in the camp of siding with Juliana completely. Sure, it might have been irritating for our main character that Juliana didn't trust her from the start. But she wasn't wrong to not trust Kitty. Kitty singlehandedly caused the destruction of her relationship. If anything, Juliana should be commended for having good intuition.

Eunice And Dae Are So Cool

I will never get over the fact that Eunice's heel broke midway through her performance and she just kept dancing. That is popstar energy. Although I am a little sad for Dae. He just wanted to help out his dad. And I'm happy they reconciled and stay together in the end.

Outside of a few territorial outbursts and his initial messups with Kitty, he's actually a sweet guy. He's just trying his best through hard situations. Because honestly, a lot of his transgressions go back to him needing money and trying his best to help out his family and maintain his education. And I can't really be mad at him for being desperate in those circumstances.

So I'm happy that Eunice and Dae are a couple. They genuinely deserve each other. Eunice is confident and outspoken. She's not afraid to go after what she wants. Dae is a little more reserved and shy. They're a perfect balance for each other.

Kitty's Persistence Was Needed

My favourite parts about this season were 1. the greater focus on Kitty's mum and long lost family and 2. characters speaking Korean. It's been a while since I've seen season 1 but I do remember a huge part of the reason why Kitty wanted to come to Korea was to learn more about her mum and get more connected with her Korean heritage.

So it gives me a lot of joy to see them actually following through with this. The love story is great but at the end of the day, you can't give us a character who lost their mother at a young age and not focus on that mother.

Losing her mum is such a huge part of her identity. And it's the reason why any time there's a falling out between a parent and a child, Kitty is always the first person to recommend for the child to reconcile with their parent. And while that isn't always the right answer, I think it worked out for the characters in this show. Because here's the thing, Kitty will always fight to help fix a parent-child relationship because she will never be able to reconnect with her own mum.

Kitty vowed not to get in trouble this semester, knowing she was expelled the previous semester. And she actually tries quite hard to maintain this. It's honestly external forces that seem to constantly pull her into conflicts. But when it came to seeing a part of her mum, she didn't even hesitate to break into her school and steal the time capsule. And I don't think we spent enough time on her crying after seeing the VCR tape of her mum.

So yes, she was absolutely in the right for fighting so hard to reconnect with her cousin and great aunt. Because regardless of what happened in the past, that is her family. They cannot take out their anger over situations that have nothing to do with her on her.

Perspective Makes All The Difference

I stand by my opinion that if Stella was the main character and if this was a revenge story, we'd root for her. Because yes, while she did hurt innocent people to get her revenge and I hate her, I can't help but admire her persistence and ingenuity.

Imagine being a talented singer. Imagine putting yourself out there and being publicly humiliated by a celebrity. And then for your valid point "But beauty comes from within" to become a viral meme that you get tormented for? I would want vengeance too in her situation.

And I still want an explanation for how she managed to pull it all off. She got rhinoplasty, moved to a different country, got into quite a good school, had spy software and was able to sabotage most of the performers at the showcase. That takes skill and money. Is she rich? Are her parents paying for all of this? Because we briefly see they don't support what she's doing.

So yeah, I think if she was the main character, a lot more people would forgive her. And she would've succeeded. But she ended up messing with characters we love and that put her in our bad books.

Why You Never Want Kitty On Your Bad Side

As much as this girl looks like a sweet cinnamon roll, if there's a problem, you want to make sure she's on your side. Because while Minho was agonising over Stella blackmailing him, his friends immediately realised he was in trouble. And Kitty, who was the first person to realise Stella was bad news, immediately guessed what the issue was.

And she swooped in and saved his family's reputation. And while doing this, she also saved Dae from public humiliation. Say what you will about her being meddlesome or overinvolved but she is always ready with a plan. You tell her about a problem and she'll already have a five step plan ready before you even catch your breath. She is who you want in your corner when there's a fire.

And I honestly love her. I don't understand the amount of hate she gets. Sure, there were moments in the books I wanted to hit her. But as she is now in the show, she's the most endearing character of them all.

Final Thoughts

I really liked season 2 of XO Kitty and I hope there's a season 3. Because you know I'm going to keep watching this show until it finishes. There's just something about Jenny Han's stories and characters that draw you in. But please, let me know what you think. My comments section is always open. And there's nothing I'd love more than to engage in friendly discourse.