this scene of kira and yumeko dancing and kira pulls yumeko close and she squeals and is smirking the whole time. yeah yumeko LOVES how rough kira is. im just the messenger yall but we all knew it.
how and why XO, Kitty’s writers changed their initial plan for Season 2
spoilers below
Minho’s prominence in Season 2, particularly the latter half, was a decision made late in production due to pressure from fans, and the series suffered greatly as a result. Here’s why I think this:
1. Changing the role/purpose of new characters
Prior to production of Season 2, these descriptions were included in the casting call for new characters:
From these, it’s easy to figure out that “Sophie” was changed to Stella, and “Mr. Choi” was changed to be Mr. Moon. This second choice was likely to integrate Minho into the main plotline, since his only real connection to Kitty and her story in season 1 was by being her boyfriend’s roommate.
Stella’s name change may seem like a minor adjustment, but it struck me as odd when first announced. It would be extremely uncommon for a Korean American to be named Stella. When choosing American names for their children, Koreans traditionally pick lesser-known biblical names such as Esther, Eunice, Priscilla, or Sophia — which is where we get “Sophie.”
I suspect Stella/Sophie’s religious background had a much more prominent role in the original outline for Season 2. Even among Protestant churches around the world, Korean churches are noted as aggressively authoritative and holding strict, literal interpretations of religious texts. I was looking forward to seeing how XO, Kitty would tackle this difficult subject. But strangely, religion hardly plays a role in the final version of Stella we see in the show. Sure, it makes her off-putting and a little suspect, but if this part of her past was removed from the story, would anything about her motivation really change? The casting call also mentions Stella’s church’s exchange program, but it’s never brought up in the show either. It’s odd for her religious background to be the central point of her character description when it’s barely present in the show.
Since “Sophie” is a very common name for Korean American Christians, I also doubt that the whole “hidden identity” plotline was part of her original story. This would also line up with changing Mr. Choi to be Minho’s father, since both of these changes are part of the same subplot. Stella’s one-dimensional villainization and the introduction of Minho’s father were most likely introduced later in order to integrate Minho into the main plot and orchestrate a romance between him and Kitty.
Minho aside, changing the religious Sophie to the cartoonishly evil Stella is a very poor choice on multiple levels, which I go over in another post about the hurtful portrayal of ex-Christian Korean Americans.
2. Elimination of historical storyline
Season 2 lacks the casual inclusion of Korean culture that Season 1 presents with ease. The show benefited from small moments such as the Chuseok celebrations and the fan-dancing performance because they help portray a Korea that exists beyond its pop-culture facade.
There are several unaddressed plot threads and circumstances that suggest an important storyline about Korean cultural history was removed. For instance: Alex sadly announces the discontinuation of the time capsule program due to funds being redirected to the idol contest, but the students ignore him or appear bored. It’s only when Mr. Moon returns to the stage that they visibly cheer up. The message is clear: k-pop stardom entices the students, but they are sacrificing the opportunity to study the city’s cultural history. The message is further emphasized when Mr. Moon sets up the blinding stage for his competition within Gyeongbok Palace, essentially co-opting a precious national landmark for his selfish purposes.
But this message never actually goes anywhere. After Kitty successfully steals her mother’s time capsule and opens it early, that program is never mentioned again by Alex or anyone else. In fact, hardly anyone even mentions the fact that the competition takes place at Gyeongbok Palace, despite the fact that this would be a very big deal for Mr. Moon to secure, not to mention a big deal for the producers of XO, Kitty! Visitors of Gyeongbok Palace are encouraged to dress in traditional Korean hanbok on the grounds to maintain its historical ambiance. Holding a noisy, flashy k-pop competition in the palace courtyard without a single character commenting on it feels off-putting.
Unresolved plotlines are the most obvious signs of last-minute shuffling around with the script. While XO, Kitty has always delighted in its twists and turns, the messiness at the latter half of season 2 felt more disorganized than its usual endearing chaos.
3. Minho’s monopolization of plotlines
Minho has been a fan favorite from the start despite not being central to Kitty’s story in Season 1. Dae is connected to Kitty by being her first love and part of the reason she came to KISS. Yuri, Alex, and Jina are connected to Kitty thanks to her mom’s past — the other reason she came to KISS. That isn’t to say he adds no value to the story — he’s certainly charmed the majority of viewers with his banter, even if he reminds me too much of the prissy Korean boys I attended school with to find likable. But Minho is only present in Kitty’s life by virtue of being her boyfriend’s roommate, and even if the two develop a friendship beyond that, he doesn’t play a role in the self-discovery she embarks on throughout Season 1.
This changes rather abruptly, and without sufficient explanation, in Season 2. Suddenly he’s completely invested in Kitty’s journey to discover more about her family, even though he didn’t show interest in Season 1. What’s truly changed besides him wanting to win her heart? The explanations for his involvement are ridiculous. He joins the heist on the archives — because he’s tall enough to reach the shelf? He joins Kitty on the trip to meet Jiwon — because he can speak Korean? Don’t Dae, Yuri, and Praveena all speak Korean, and have shown interest in helping her with this before? Minho is often presented as the only choice, and the awkwardness of his constant inclusion feels as if the writers were insistent on giving him as much screen time as possible.
It was Yuri, having made promises to Kitty in both seasons to go on this journey, and being inherently connected to this discovery by virtue of Jina, who should have been present in these moments with Kitty. It was Praveena, who suggested the heist to the archives in the first place, who should have been hiding with her in the dark and tagged along on the adventures that followed this discovery. I’d go so far as to argue that scenes from sapphic characters, especially Yuri, were co-opted by Minho late in the game. The notorious dance scene, in which Chappell Roan’s Picture You is played over Kitty realizing she is in love with Minho, is the most obvious example. The production likely acquired the licensing for the famously lesbian song while planning for a romantic scene with Yuri, only to change their plans and struggle to find an appropriate scene to use it for. Enter Minho.
Not even Kitty is safe from Minho’s monopolization of the writers’ attention. In Season 2, what did Kitty really discover about herself that didn’t directly involve Minho? In Season 1, Kitty discovered her sexuality, uncovered Alex’s identity, survived her first semester abroad — helped along the way by various characters, but often times alone. Her choices and agency have a real effect on the plot. But in Season 2, everything becomes about Minho: his relationship with his dad sets up the majority of the season’s premises, and he is somehow involved in every other character’s individual storyline. Many of Kitty’s problems are solved due to Minho’s wealth, resources, or character development. And in the season finale, he gets a satisfying conclusion to each of his arcs: the girl he likes, the relationship with his dad that he always wanted, and renewed security in the luxurious life he’s always basked in.
It’s no mystery as to why the integrity of the story and the development of other characters were sacrificed for Minho’s sake. For the past year and a half, tens of thousands flocked to the show’s official social media accounts to demand this change. Such comments were unavoidable, and one doesn’t have to search long to find blatant hate speech about the queer characters or even queer people in general. When you choose to appease homophobic fans by erasing the queer relationships you have already committed to writing, you are teaching them that if their hate is loud enough, then they will succeed. If they demand that queer characters — that queer people — disappear, then disappear they will.
Regardless of individual fans’ inclination towards Minho, the reality is that sapphic fictional characters have historically be sidelined, demonized, or removed, if they get to exist at all. XO, Kitty does not exist in a cultural vacuum, and what the writers have done with their queer storylines — or, more accurately, have not done — is undeniably homophobic. And the insistence of a Minho endgame has not only resulted in egregious queer misrepresentation, but a betrayal of creative integrity regarding the show’s initial vision and a decline in the story’s overall coherence.
TLDR: There’s a lot of evidence that XO, Kitty plotlines were changed very late in production to favor Minho. This decision was both homophobic and detrimental to the story’s writing.
what I liked and disliked about XO, Kitty Season 2
spoilers below
things I liked:
I recently found out that Jenny Han’s mother played Kitty’s grandmother! I thought that was a really cute touch.
This is a bit controversial, but I was glad that Jina backslid in her acceptance of Yuri. I’ve said before that Yuri’s coming out scene in Season 1 is my favorite in any queer show, and while it was heartwarming and bitterly relatable, I did not expect a conservative Korean mother to do a 180 so easily. More and more often queer people come out and are met with initial surface-level acceptance, since outward blatant homophobia is not as appropriate as it was in previous generations. But unfortunately, this results in many families who welcome their queer members in name only. I was glad to see Yuri’s struggle portrayed with this nuance instead of a rosy happy ending, even if Jina’s presence was sorely missed.
Hats off to Sasha Bhasin for her exceptionally charming performance as Praveena. Her expert flirting had me and my friends swooning and cheering. “Kitty Cat” was the cutest nickname too! She was a great character, which made it hurt all the more to see how she was treated by the writers in the end, but I’ll save that for the dislikes section of this post.
I was grateful that the writers didn’t make Juliana the villain in their relationship. While she did make mistakes, they were human ones, and I’d say they were justified. Ultimately, she was communicative, open, and sincere. I can’t say I enjoyed how she was treated by characters and writers alike, but again—saving that for later.
The VHS tape scene was so bittersweet. I felt a little pang when Eve said “I’ll be in my fifties!” on the video tape, and another one when she said she wanted a daughter. Kitty connecting with her mom is so sweet and I’m glad it remains close to the heart of the show. I’m also glad that Simon ended up being her cousin, not a former love, so that Eve’s journey is also about finding her family the way Kitty’s is too.
I absolutely adored the fact that Kitty comes from a long line of matchmakers! Honestly, I had a little Joseon Dynasty AU in my head where Kitty is a professional matchmaker and Yuri is a princess and her client… so I was giggling and kicking my feet. It’s also a cute way to draw that connection between Kitty and her family despite them never having met.
I was not expecting Minho and Dae (and Q) to be childhood friends, but I like it! It’s sweet. I wonder how they all met considering that Dae doesn’t run in their socioeconomic circles. Perhaps KISS has a middle school program? Anyways, I’ll have to rework my mindae headcanons to fit this in. There really were a lot of sweet moments between the two of them, and I’ve noticed a lot more traction on mindae posts as a result!
It was nice to see Q make a dish with bagoong and calamansi. Love to see Filipino rep!
Min-yeong Choi is an excellent singer! I had heard that he was really talented but hadn’t seen anything else he was in. I was really impressed and glad he got a long singing scene in the end, he was amazing!
I’m glad that Alex and Yuri had at least a few scenes where they bond. I think it’s important for Yuri to have a mentor figure to look up to, especially after all the adults in her life failed her in so many ways. Alex is kind, endlessly patient, and emotionally intelligent. If anyone could comfort Yuri at the lowest point in her life, I’m glad it’s him.
things I did not like:
Overall, there was significantly less Korean spoken in this season. I was really disappointed, because having so much Korean spoken on an American show was one of my favorite things about Season 1. Many scenes that should have realistically been spoken in Korean—Minho’s conversations with his dad, for example—were all in English. (However, I’ve seen criticisms that the actors use American pronunciations of Korean names, which I have to disagree with. It’s common for Korean-English speakers, as with most bilinguals I believe, to pronounce English words with Korean accents when speaking Korean, and to pronounce Korean words with American accents when speaking English. You’ll notice Yuri uses the Korean pronunciation for Dae’s name when speaking Korean, but pronounces it more American when speaking in English.)
I did notice a lack of Korean culture and experiences in comparison to last season, where we got to see various celebrations of Chuseok and the fan-dancing in hanbok. There were many opportunities for similar scenes in Season 2, but they were glossed over. I suspect this has to do with the crew reworking their initial plans for this season, which I go more in depth about in another post.
Q was really disappointing, frequently brushing off Kitty or belittling her. Several times she really needs to lean on him, and he’s distracted or flat out leaves her mid-conversation to go be with Jin (at the bar, and at the ski resort, for example). Several times she’s excited to tell him something and he makes a snide comment about her being annoying (helping with the promposal, or when she tells him she’ll be meeting Jiwon and her grandmother again). I’m not sure if they’re trying to lean into some sort of mean gay bestie stereotype, but he just comes off as a jerk. Not to mention, I was really off-put by him assuring Dae that girls mostly go to gay bars to avoid being hit on by annoying straight men, so it was fine for him to flirt with them. What?
I really would have appreciated more development for Jin as well. When I found out they were introducing his character to the cast, I thought that this would be the chance to explore the difficulties of being a gay man in Korea, since we got Yuri’s experience of being a lesbian in Season 1. But they didn’t go into depth about Jin’s blatant display of homophobia, or even the details of whether or not he’s closeted. Not every character has to have a serious coming-of-age story of course, but it felt unnecessary to show characters be so affected by his hostility without resolving it meaningfully.
Despite Praveena and Juliana’s likeability as characters—and even as a couple—they were sidelined too easily in order to move the plot onwards to Minho’s romance. It’s tiring to see the Black and Brown lesbians of this show be used as props or erased entirely. The screen time they had was great, but they were deeply hurt for the sake of other characters’ stories, and their conclusions simply wasn’t enough to make up for it. Mihee and Dae honestly had more development as a couple than them.
In my opinion, Stella was the most egregious missed opportunity. It’s no secret that Korean American churches are infamously emotionally destructive, so Stella’s villanization was downright insulting. I go more in depth about the really hurtful elements of her portrayal as an ex-Christian Korean American in another post. On top of this, it feels like XO, Kitty regressed two steps back by making Stella a cartoonishly evil Other Woman after Season 1 took a fun queer spin on this tired trope.
There were endless disjointed plotlines. XO, Kitty’s twists and turns are part of its charm, but halfway through Season 2, the enjoyable chaos spiraled into confused, wild improbability. Again, I believe this is due to the crew’s reworking of their initial plans for Season 2 in order to spotlight Minho more.
The erasure of Kitty and Yuri’s relationship was beyond insulting. After so much scarcity and humiliation Netflix has put sapphic audiences through, it truly does feel like a spit in the face. If they originally intended for Yuri to be Kitty’s endgame as Season 1 indicated, then to backtrack is pandering and cowardice. If they intentionally misled audiences to believe Kitty would end up with Yuri to draw in queer viewership, then that is deceptive and cruel. Using Chappell Roan’s Picture You, a lesbian’s song about being in love with a woman, as the track for the male love interest’s romantic moment was the cherry on top of a series of endless poor choices.
At the end of the day, I know this is just a silly romcom TV show, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t deeply hurt by this season’s queer portrayal. Long before I came out, long before I even knew I liked girls, I clung onto sapphic stories like a lifeline. Perhaps I’m so emotional about this because I know I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for representation. If this is how canon queer couples from mainstream media are treated by fans and creators alike, then I really have no hope for future representation.
TLDR: XO, Kitty Season 2, while having a strong start with some charming elements, falls horribly short of its first season on too many levels to be considered meaningful.
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