To All The Boys Spinoff XO, Kitty Is Slammed By Viewers
The "To All the Boys" trilogy may have ended, but after such immense success, it only makes sense for Netflix to try to stretch its storyline a little further. In the streaming platform's latest series, the franchise turns its focus on Kitty Song Covey (Anna Cathcart), who moves to Korea to be with her long-distance boyfriend, Dae (Choi Min-young). Of course, there's a big difference between dating someone remotely and having to see them every day, especially when the culture shock of moving to another country is involved.
The show easily could've been a cash grab, and maybe it is, depending on who you ask. Critics, for the most part, enjoyed the first season. It currently stands at an 82% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But while critics appreciate the series for what it is, fans are surprisingly far more scathing. Numerous Redditors have taken to the platform to express their disdain for the spin-off. Redditor u/yourlocalrach kicked off a lengthy thread, lamenting, "Kitty herself is a pretty annoying character. She is completely ignorant of cultural norms, and she pretty much crosses all personal boundaries with literally every single character."
It becomes a common thread in the discussion that a lot of people find the show to be cringe, with many speculating Netflix simply wanted to cash in with a K-drama-style series.
Some fans think XO, Kitty comes across as 'formulaic' and 'bland'
Normally, general audiences are far more forgiving of these types of projects, so it's interesting critics like the show more than fans. Yasmeen Hamadeh of Mashable wrote, "Come for To All the Boys I've Loved Before lore, and stay for a new story that's more gripping than you might think — it's Kitty's time to shine, and what a bright star she is." However, fans may be more caring for the source material and find "XO, Kitty" to be a cheap imitation of what's come before. A common thread among fans is that there are far too many love triangles going on, and it all comes down to poor communication on the characters' parts, which is a tired romantic trope at this point.
Redditor u/kristin137 stated, "I know this is a teen show but does it really need to be that formulaic and bland?? It's like they don't know any other way to create drama than to have constant bad communication." Another Redditor kicked off a thread that shared pretty much the same sentiment: "What are these love squares?? For a second I thought the teacher was gonna get some action too. And the thing that sparked those crushes?? A dream?? LIKE COME ON." Many viewers seem to think the drama comes across as too manufactured, and it doesn't hit as hard as it could.
Everyone's entitled to their opinions, but it may still be worth it for fans to give the first season of "XO, Kitty" a shot. The Wrap's review points out, "You can see [Jenny] Han laying the groundwork for a richer, denser season two. She's juggling a lot of balls here, enough soapy drama to keep any teen (or young at heart viewer) hooked." Hopefully, Netflix will give the show a chance and invest in a second season that learns from the first season's mistakes.