By Lucky Felder
On April 2nd, the highly anticipated third season of XO, Kitty was finally released. A spinoff of Jenny Han’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before movies, it’s popular among lovers of cringeworthy romcom shows. With so much time to wait for the new chapter, and so many untied plot points, fans shared countless theories online, predicting all of the drama and romantic “ships.” As a fan of the show since it came out, I have never been more excited for a release, and after binging the four-hour season in a day, I’m here to share my thoughts. Warning, there will be mild spoilers.
As a reminder, season two kind of ended with a cliffhanger where Kitty asked Min Ho if she could join him on his father’s world tour, Yuri’s family faced a lawsuit that ended in them losing most of their money, and Stella, who was the “villain” of the season, was kicked out of the school. Because of the close friendship and tension that Kitty and Min Ho shared throughout the entirety of season two, many fans were hopeful that they would get together in the new season, dubbing them with the ship name “Mooncovey.”
First of all, this season absolutely had to be the cringiest one yet… like, I frequently had to look away from the TV type of cringy. While, in my opinion, this is exactly what makes the show perfect, unfortunately I was starting to understand why some people hate on it. Kitty was just a constant source of problems and awkwardness, which is her thing, but I thought it was especially bad this time around. Also, a few characters that were likable in the previous seasons became really problematic, especially Q, who had a generational fall off. Not to mention, Kitty wasn’t just chaotic this season, she was straight up toxic. I definitely enjoyed it just because I like the characters and the drama, but I did feel after I finished watching that nothing really happened the whole season. The only sideplot I found mildly interesting was Eunice and Dae, and the rest of them were not entertaining whatsoever. Most importantly, the new character, Marius, was INSANELY insufferable, and from the moment he showed up, I already knew he had to go. He did add to the drama, but I don’t think his character served any purpose other than to annoy the audience.
However, as a “Mooncovey” shipper myself, nothing made me happier than the ship becoming a reality in the FIRST episode?? I will never doubt Jenny Han again, because she always knows what the fans want and she adds little details that make the show really fun. The first three or four episodes were so perfect and cute, but of course, there was still another half of the season for things to go wrong. I actually had a once-in-a-lifetime crashout because Kitty destroyed their relationship so badly that I didn’t even want them to get back together, which is when I started to question my hopes for the season. Obviously, everything turned out fine, because this isn’t the type of show that ends sad, but I was very stressed until the last five minutes.
One of my favorite things about the season was the dynamic of it being their senior year, and how they all wanted to spend their last months of high school together. I saw so many parallels with the To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before movies, and the whole season just felt a little more emotional and sentimental than the previous ones. Additionally, I was really looking forward to the soundtrack, since Jenny Han is sort of known for her perfect song selections, and this season was no exception.
Overall, I really enjoyed the season as a whole, despite there being quite a few parts that annoyed me. There’s just something about XO, Kitty that makes it so addicting to watch, and even though a lot of people find it ridiculous, for me it’s a comfort show that I could rewatch 100 times and still not get bored. If this was the final season, I think the ending was acceptable, but I’ll still be hoping for a potential season four!