To All The Boys I've Loved Before Wiki
Advertisement
To All The Boys I've Loved Before Wiki
To All the Boys I've Loved Before Wiki
196
pages
in: Seasons

Season 1

Sign in to edit

“ I'm ready to start experiencing new things. I want my own adventure. ”

—Kitty Covey

Season 1 is the first season of the Netflix original series XO, Kitty and consisted of 10 episodes. It was created by Jenny Han, and premiered on May 18, 2023.[2]

Synopsis[]

Kitty Song Covey, who believes she is extremely knowledgeable on love, moves halfway across the world to South Korea, aiming to reconnect with her long-distance boyfriend, Dae. She finds, however, that a relationship is much more complex when it is your own feelings of love at risk.[3]

Cast[]

Starring[]

Guest-Starring[]

Co-Starring[]

Episodes[]

Image Title Writer Director Aired
XO Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian Jennifer Arnold May 18, 2023
Yearning to feel closer to her late mother and surprise her long-distance boyfriend, Kitty sets her sights on attending a prestigious school in Seoul.
WTF Siobhan Vivian Jennifer Arnold May 18, 2023
A jet-lagged Kitty can't wait to see Dae but their long-awaited reunion goes awry due to dormitory complications and the fallout from a viral video.
KISS Alanna Bennett Jeff Chan May 18, 2023
Dae experiences conflicting emotions over a sudden change of plans as Kitty deals with her own tangled feelings and an unfortunate new nickname.
TGIF Emily Kim Jeff Chan May 18, 2023
Kitty joins Q's outdoor club to connect with Dae away from school, but a clue about her mom soon sends her on a fact-finding — and matchmaking — mission..
TBH Sarah Choi Jennifer Arnold May 18, 2023
With no plans for the Chuseok holiday, Kitty attempts to prepare a special feast for other students on campus with help from an unlikely source.
BYOB Hanna Stanbridge & Chris Martin Jennifer Arnold May 18, 2023
Drama erupts and romantic connections emerge at Min Ho's swanky party, where a determined Kitty intends to work through her feelings about Dae.
TIL Jessica O'Toole Pamela Romanowsky May 18, 2023
Tensions turn into revelations during a Saturday detention session after Kitty reluctantly agrees to help Yuri figure out what Principal Jina is hiding.
LFG Jessica O'Toole & Sascha Rothchild Pamela Romanowsky May 18, 2023
A school trip gives Dae a chance to regain Kitty's trust as Yuri opens up about Juliana, Florian confides in Q, and Min Ho makes a relationship decision.
SNAFU Sascha Rothchild Katina Medina Mora May 18, 2023
With finals approaching, Kitty leans on her friends for extra help, but tempers flare at KISS and beyond amid bombshells, betrayals and blazing fights.
OTP Jessica O'Toole & Sascha Rothchild Katina Medina Mora May 18, 2023
Final grades, class rankings and complicated truths cause emotions to run high as Kitty takes a stand with her future at KISS hanging in the balance.

Gallery[]

Concept artwork[]

Promotional images[]

Behind the Scenes[]

Videos[]

Production[]

Development[]

Cathcart confirmed that conversations about a possible Kitty spinoff began when she was shooting the third “To All the Boys” film. “I thought they were joking,” she says. “They were like, ‘No, we’re serious, we want this to be a real thing.’” She says that many different ideas about the show were tossed around, but the main synopsis always stayed the same: “It was always going to be Kitty in high school, and I think that could have been manifested in different ways.”[10]

In March 2021, it was announced that a series spin-off to To All the Boys is in development, with each episode being a half-hour romantic comedy. The series was developed as a Netflix exclusive, from Awesomeness and ACE Entertainment. Jenny Han was reported to be the creator, writer and executive producer as well as writing the script for the pilot with Siobhan Vivian.[11] The series, a spin-off of the To All the Boys film series (itself an adaptation of Han's book trilogy To All the Boys I've Loved Before), marks the first Netflix television series to be spun-off from a Netflix original film.[12]. Han serves as writer and executive producer in addition to being a showrunner.Sascha Rothchild and Matt Kaplan joined Han as executive producers while the former will also be the showrunner along with Han.[13] Six months later, Netflix ordered ten episodes along with announcing other crew members. By April 5, 2022, production had begun in Seoul.[14][15]

Filming[]

Sang Heon Lee mentioned how he could hardly believe that he was part of a production that would literally stop traffic in the South Korean capital. “I was like, ‘They’re blocking off this road? That’s crazy.’ It was a very unreal moment. A very fan moment, really.”[16] The KISS campus is played on screen by multiple locations — many exteriors were filmed at Kaywon Art School, while interiors were shot at other locations throughout the Seoul area. However, the end-of-term talent show was filmed at the Independence Hall of Korea in Cheonan.[16] The KISS library is such a special location that it gets its own highlight. In real life, it’s the National Library of Korea in Sejong, which is two hours away from where the cast stayed at. When Kitty lands at Incheon International Airport outside Seoul, she just misses her shuttle to KISS. But those airport scenes, complete with fellow travelers and signs in Korean and English, look real for a reason — they were captured on location at ICN.[16] The finale airport scenes, though no less bustling, were filmed inside the Korea International Exhibition Center, or KINTEX.[16] Yuri’s hotel magnate father owns Han Hotel, where the family also resides. The State Tower Namsan (스테이트 타워 남산) stands in for the exterior of the hotel, while some interiors were filmed at the Grand Hyatt Seoul (그랜드 하얏트 서울) and others in the ballroom of the Pacific Hotel (퍼시픽 호텔).[16]

Kitty and her classmates visit one of Seoul’s most famous landmarks in the first episode as the students’ welcome party is shot at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (동대문디자인플라자). A hub of the Dongdaemun neighborhood, the DDP contains parks, exhibition halls, retail stores and even a design museum — and is also the site of Kitty’s dramatic exit from the party in Episode 2.[16] Moreover, the audience also first meets Yuri as she does some retail therapy at a trendy boutique in Myeongdong, one of Seoul’s most famous (and tourist-filled) shopping areas.[16] The students of KISS take advantage of Seoul’s scenic surroundings thanks to Outdoors Club president Q. In the fourth episode, they go hiking to this monument, which was originally a military command post established in the late 1700s. When Kitty accidentally talks herself into cooking a Chuseok “Friendsgiving” feast for the KISS ex-pats, she runs into Min Ho (Lee) while grocery shopping. Luckily, her frenemy helps her buy the ingredients to make a true Korean dinner… and then makes it himself. In real life, the show’s Seoul Central Market is a branch of Korean grocery chain Hanaro Mart.[16]

In BYOB, Min Ho rents out a venue so he and his classmates can have another massive party, but this one is not exactly school-sanctioned (read: there’s alcohol, and it is most definitely past curfew). It was filmed at a club called Rubik in the massive resort complex Paradise City (파라다이스시티), and in the show, appears to be a debaucherous nightclub filled with loud music and plenty of partying. In reality, however, it’s a slightly tamer setting: a jazz lounge bar.[16]

The scenes for the class camping field trip seen in the episode LFG were filmed on Yeongheung Island. While the students stayed at a campground — Black Tree Camping (블랙트리캠핑) — in real life, the actors were lodged at a Mykonos-themed hotel. “It was just like, ‘Where are we right now? This is insane,’ ” Keyvan tells Tudum. And the community garden where Madison (Jocelyn Shelfo) finally meets K-pop star Ocean Park was, coincidentally, right next to the ocean. “The view from there was so beautiful,” he says. Dae and Kitty have their own seaside romantic moment at another park on the island. Lastly, A pivotal scene between Principal Lim (Yunjin Kim) and Mr. Alex Finnerty (Peter Thurnwald) takes place on the river walk in this public island park on the Han River. Located under the Han River Bridge, Nodeul Island has both wooded areas and plazas that include restaurants, galleries and event spaces.[16]


Casting[]

On November 23, 2021, an open call casting for the main characters of Dae Heon Kim, Min Ho, Juliana Porter, Q Shabazian and Mihee, which seems to have eventually turned into the Yuri Han character instead.[17] It features Kitty Song Covey going on her own journey to find true love. Anna Cathcart reprises the title role.[18] On April 5, 2022, Choi Min-young, Anthony Keyvan, Gia Kim, Sang Heon Lee, Peter Thurnwald, and Regan Aliyah were cast as series regulars while Yunjin Kim, Michael K. Lee, and Jocelyn Shelfo joined the cast in recurring roles.[1]

On June 26, 2023, Choi Min-young, revealed that he auditioned for the role of Dae Heon Kim after seeing an Instagram announcement for the series, and sending in his CV and self-tape. He further revealed how he “auditioned several times via Zoom”.[19]

On June 30, 2023, Taecyeon talked about playing Ocean Park and recall his presence on the set saying, “Firstly, doing an American project was refreshing in itself. The shooting site was very different from a Korean filming spot. It was very fun to work at and unique. Because it (appearance) was small and the dialogues were very short I thought the shooting would end soon and I would be able to go home quickly. But that wasn’t the case”.The actor further went on to speak about his experience working with the young cast of the show and how he’d like to return to such a fun character someday.[20]

Music[]

Jeon Somi features multiple times in the soundtrack, and XO, Kitty music supervisors Lindsay Wolfington and Laura Webb told Tudum that they discovered her thanks to music producer Teddy Park, who also produces BLACKPINK. “What Lindsay and I really like to do is introduce audiences to new songs that maybe people don't know as much,” Webb says. “K-pop is everywhere, but [we wanted to showcase] some other bands that maybe aren’t as well-known.”[21]

The score of XO, Kitty came about as a result of a collaboration with talented composer pair Shirley Song and Jina Hyojin An, and teased that in their initial talks with showrunners Jenny Han and Sascha Rothchild, they mentioned they wanted composers who were familiar with the world of K-dramas and its style of music. They exchanged their musical ideas with them and eventually found out that we were officially on board XO, Kitty just before they left for Korea to shoot the show. They were involved earlier on in the production period as Anna Cathcart (Kitty) needed to hum a melody from a baby diaper commercial that they were to write and record. Alas, the jingle for “Poopy Baby” was born![22]

Reception[]

The show has received positive reviews from critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 83% fresh approval rating with an average rating of 5.8/10, based on 18 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "A modest and sweet extension of all the films that fans have loved before, XO, Kitty aims straight for the heart and finds its mark."[23] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 67 out of 100 based on seven critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."[24] While the series had a high viewership on Netflix in more than 50 countries, it received minimal attention in South Korea, where the show takes place. A reason cited for this was that the global success of South Korean media led to the country's people not caring about its depiction in foreign productions. Another explanation was that thrillers and action shows tend to be more popular than romance shows in South Korea.[25]

Trivia[]

  • Gia Kim and Sang Heon Lee, the actors who portray Yuri and Min Ho, respectively, are siblings in real life.[26]
  • While talking with her new friend Q Shabazian, Kitty confirms in KISS that her sister Lara Jean Covey and Peter Kavinsky are still going strong after the events of the third and final To All the Boys film, Always and Forever.[27]
  • On May 23, 2023 it was revealed that after climbing the charts to unseat the extremely strong Queen Charlotte, XO, Kitty has been knocked down to #2 in favor of Netflix’s returning reality series, Selling Sunset.[28]
    • XO, Kitty, made its debut on the list with 72.08M hours viewed. According to Netflix, the series appeared in the Top 10 in 90 countries.[29]
  • In regards, to Kitty's feelings for Min-Ho, Anna teased that anything can happen in the second season.[30]

External links[]

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "XO, Kitty": Netflix's "To All the Boys" Spinoff Has a Stacked Cast - Yahoo
  2. ↑ XO, Kitty First Look: To All the Boys Spinoff Sets May Premiere on Netflix - TV Line
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 We're Getting a To All the Boys Spin-off Show About Kitty Song Covey
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 Netflix's To All the Boys Spinoff Series XO, Kitty Reveals Full Cast — First Look
  5. ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 XO, Kitty Cast Guide: Who’s Who in Kitty Song Covey’s Squad - Netflix Tudum
  6. ↑ Is 2PM’s Taecyeon in XO, Kitty? - Netflix Life
  7. ↑ 2PM’s Ok Taecyeon Shocks Netizens With Unexpected Cameo In Netflix’s “To All The Boys” K-Drama Spin-Off “XO, Kitty” - Koreaboo
  8. ↑ 체리블렛 채린, 美 ‘내사모남’ 스핀오프 ‘엑스오, 키티’ 출연 - Naver
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 XO, Kitty cast guide: Who stars in the To All the Boys spin-off series? - Netflix Life
  10. ↑ ‘XO, Kitty’ Star Anna Cathcart Talks Working With Jenny Han and Exploring Kitty’s Sexuality: ‘She’s Never Apologizing for Who She Is’ - Variety
  11. ↑ ‘To All The Boys’ Spinoff Series Starring Anna Cathcart Eyed By Netflix From Jenny Han, Awesomeness & ACE Entertainment - Deadline
  12. ↑ ‘To All the Boys’ to Get TV Spinoff Starring Anna Cathcart - Variety
  13. ↑ ‘To All The Boys’ Spinoff YA Series ‘XO, Kitty’ Starring Anna Cathcart Ordered By Netflix - Deadline
  14. ↑ Netflix’s To All the Boys Spinoff Series XO, Kitty Reveals Full Cast - TV Line
  15. ↑ XO, Kitty: Spin-Off Production Begins in Seoul as Netflix Reveals Cast - Comingsoon.net
  16. ↑ 16.00 16.01 16.02 16.03 16.04 16.05 16.06 16.07 16.08 16.09 - Netflix Tudum
  17. ↑ CAPE USA Nov. 23, 2021 Tweet - Twitter
  18. ↑ This Beloved 'To All the Boys' Character Is Getting Their Own Netflix Spinoff TV Series - Collider
  19. ↑ Latest tide of the Korean Wave shows there’s nowhere Korean talent doesn’t belong - HANKYOREH
  20. ↑ HeartBeat star, 2PM’s Taecyeon dishes on cameo as Ocean Park in XO, Kitty - Pink Villa
  21. ↑ The ‘XO, Kitty’ Soundtrack Is Bursting with K-pop Hits: Listen Here - TUDUM
  22. ↑ Interview with Netflix’s ‘XO, Kitty’ Composers Shirley Song and Jina Hyojin An - What's on Netflix
  23. ↑ XO, Kitty ratings - Rotten Tomatoes
  24. ↑ XO, Kitty ratings - Metacritic
  25. ↑ Why is 'XO, Kitty' struggling to win Korean viewers over? - Korea Herald
  26. ↑ XO, Kitty's Min Ho and Yuri Are Real-Life Siblings - Teen Vogue
  27. ↑ O, Kitty confirms Lara Jean and Peter are still together - EW
  28. ↑ ‘XO, Kitty’ Immediately Dethroned In Netflix’s Top 10 List By A New Show - Forbes
  29. ↑ ‘XO, Kitty’ Falls Head Over Heels Among Netflix Top 10 English-Language Series; ‘Queen Charlotte’ Continues To Reign - Deadline
  30. ↑ XO Kitty's Anna Cathcart reveals the truth behind Kitty's feelings for Min-ho - Digital Spy
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.
Advertisement