Netflix spun XO, Kitty out of its own To All the Boys film series, marking the first Netflix television series to be spun off from a Netflix original film. The show premiered on May 18, 2023, with Jenny Han, who wrote the novels behind the films, serving as creator, writer, executive producer and showrunner. Anna Cathcart returns as Kitty Song Covey, the younger sister of Lara Jean, now a high school student chasing a relationship across the world.
Trailer, via Netflix.
Kitty Song Covey Leaves Lara Jean Behind
The setup is simple and a little reckless, which suits a teenager. Kitty moves halfway around the world to reunite with her long-distance boyfriend. She thinks she knows everything there is to know about love. The show exists to prove her wrong.
Cathcart carries that. She played the part in the films, and the spin-off hands her the center of the frame instead of the margins.
Dae, Yuri and the Rest of the Cast
Choi Min-yeong plays Dae-heon “Dae” Kim, the boyfriend Kitty crosses an ocean for. Gia Kim is Yuri Han. Sang Heon Lee is Min-ho Moon. Anthony Keyvan plays Quincy “Q” Shabazian, Regan Aliyah is Juliana Porter, and Peter Thurnwald is Alex Finnerty Lee.
Philippe Lee plays Mr. Moon, Sule Thelwell is Marius, and Shin Hojo is Jiwon Ahn. It is a large cast for a show built on one girl’s confusion, and the series spreads its time across all of them.
Three Seasons and 26 Episodes
Netflix renewed the show for a second season in June 2023, and a third in February 2025. The second premiered on January 16, 2025. The third premiered on April 2, 2026. That is 26 episodes across three seasons.
The Renewal Timeline
| Season | Premiere | Renewed |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | May 18, 2023 | June 2023 |
| 2 | January 16, 2025 | February 2025 |
| 3 | April 2, 2026 | — |
What the Spin-Off Gets Right
The premise does real work. Kitty goes on a journey to learn about her late mother’s alma mater, so the move is about grief as much as romance. That detail keeps the show from floating off into pure matchmaker comedy.
The genre listing says Comedy and Drama, and the show lives in the seam between them. It is a teen romance that occasionally remembers its characters have parents, dead ones included.
Where It Stalls
The problem is the same one that dogs most spin-offs. Kitty was a supporting player with a sharp, funny function in the films. Promoted to lead, she has to sustain 26 episodes, and the writing spreads thin across a cast this size.
The love triangle machinery turns because the show needs it to turn. Dae, Yuri, Min-ho and the rest rotate through misunderstandings that a single honest conversation would end.
The Score
A Metacritic score of 68 and a 6.8 out of 10 is exactly the right read on XO, Kitty. It is a competent, likable extension of a franchise that did not obviously need one, and it never quite justifies its own existence beyond the fact that Netflix could make it.
The mother’s alma mater is the thread worth pulling. The romance is the part that coasts.
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