“We know Kitty loves love for sure,” Cathcart tells Teen Vogue.

Small spoilers ahead for XO, Kitty season 2, now streaming on Netflix.

The long-awaited second season of XO, Kitty sees its titular lead, played by Anna Cathcart, right back at KISS in the heart of Seoul. With a transformative — if not turbulent — first semester behind her and another ahead, it’s no surprise to hear that chaos closely follows Kitty into season 2. “She’s very motivated to have a smooth semester that’s a little bit less chaotic,” Cathcart tells Teen Vogue, “and that obviously goes down the drain very quickly.” After all, what is XO, Kitty without its signature theatrics and cliffhangers?

Though the new eight-episode season thrusts Kitty, her friends, and foes into unexpected territory, the spotlight equally shines on the many different types of love and forgiveness its characters encounter. Whether platonic or romantic, past or present, the Netflix series honors the rich gradient of how relationships look and just how porous so many of them are.

“We know Kitty loves love for sure,” Cathcart says. “She always has when [it comes to] romance, but familial and personal love are also just as important to her. [They’re] worth chasing and require vulnerability and bravery.”

After the many trials and tribulations of her first semester abroad, the teenage matchmaker ended season 1 realizing she does not have everything figured out. As she comes to accept this, we’re introduced to a more contemplative (yet equally effervescent) Kitty at the start of season 2: one who has shifted her outward focus from fitting in and finding her way at KISS, to a place of greater internal reflection. With her expansive sense of bisexuality amidst feelings for Yuri and Min Ho, and her continued quest to uncover more of her mom’s own journey in Seoul so many years prior, the protagonist’s definition of love and loss are brought to new contexts. Cathcart notes that viewers have never seen Kitty cry this much: “It’s a really vulnerable [season] for her.”

XO, Kitty. Anna Cathcart as Kitty Song Covey in episode 202 of XO, Kitty. Cr. Park Young-Sol/Netflix © 2024Park Young-Sol/Netflix

“Seeing Juliana and Yuri together is a big change for Kitty, because now she’s looking at a relationship that she’s never really had,” explains Regan Aliyah, who plays Juliana. Though her character only briefly appears in the first season to secretly spend time with Yuri, after Juliana returns to Seoul and Yuri comes out, the girls’ relationship flourishes and falters. To Gia Kim, who plays Yuri, “the real life problems of being in a romantic relationship” come into play after long-distance comes to an end, continually explored as the series progresses.

Compounded by yet another unfortunate rooming situation, Kitty too must confront her yearning and the hard reality of her feelings, while Yuri continues to help the lead deeper understand her mother. Juggling a brand new relationship with punky-cool Praveena (Sasha Bhasin), not-all-there crushes, and musically-demanding coursework forces Kitty to put her lingering feelings in the backseat.

“Romance is chaotic and stressful and Kitty’s a messy, loving person. The fact that it is now with a girl instead of a boy is new, but it’s not what makes it a problem,” Cathcart explains. “It’s not as scary as much as it is just something she hasn’t really explored before.”

XO, Kitty. (L to R) Gia Kim as Yuri Han, Regan Aliyah as Juliana Porter in episode 201 of XO, Kitty. Cr. Park Young-Sol/Netflix © 2024Park Young-Sol/Netflix
Kitty’s heightened vulnerability however, leads to tender scenes that reveal supporting characters’ softer sides, their own struggles, and new connections they’re dealing with. To Minyeong Choi, Dae reminds Kitty of the importance of honesty when it comes to love, even in moments of discomfort. And Sang Heon Lee expresses how his character Min Ho lets his guard down to tell her it’s okay to make mistakes, so long as she picks herself and those around her back up. One can’t help but wonder if Dae and Min Ho’s advice actually reflect their own rocky friendship.

Meanwhile, cameos from Noah Centineo (Peter) and Janel Parrish (Margot) also offer Kitty new perspectives. “With Peter, [it] was fun to reestablish our characters’ big brother, little sister type of dynamic,” Cathcart notes. And more than any perspective, the actress knows just how much Kitty loves her emotions. “Kitty is a Swiftie for sure,” she cheekily says.

XO, Kitty. (L to R) Noah Centineo as Peter Kavinsky, Anna Cathcart as Kitty Song Covey in episode 206 of XO, Kitty. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2024Courtesy of Netflix
Amongst KISS’s student body, the web of frenemies-to-roommates, relationships, and infatuations Kitty and her peers are caught in only grows. “Everyone’s intertwined in some way and everyone knows each other’s business,” Anthony Keyvan (who plays Q) explains. “I think KISS is a pretty tight knit school, and when you’re overseas, like most of the students there, it’s easy to get close to people very quickly.”

Perhaps that closeness is to blame — and to thank — for the beautiful messiness of it all. Despite vast differences in upbringing and background, the teens find similarities amongst one another, allowing viewers to discover the same. Yes, few may relate to Min Ho’s relationship with his high-profile, humorously-delusional music mogul of a father, but many can see themselves in a son wrestling with resentment for a parent who only ever made them feel second-best. Most don’t travel across the globe to find their long-lost great aunt, but healing old family wounds is a lifelong process for all. “Everyone has their own relationship with their family, their own stories, and pieces of the puzzle they’re trying to solve. And I think it’s cool to see teenage character[s] experience those,” the leading actress says.

XO, Kitty. (L to R) Minyeong Choi as Dae Heon Kim, Jocelyn Shelfo as Madison Miller, Han Bi Ryu as Eunice Kang, Sasha Bhasin as Pra Veena, Anthony Keyvan as Quincy ‘Q’ Shabazian, Regan Aliyah as Juliana Porter, Joshua Hyunho Lee as Jin, Anna Cathcart as Kitty Song Covey, Gia Kim as Yuri Han in episode 204 of XO, Kitty. Cr. Park Young-Sol/Netflix © 2024Park Young-Sol/Netflix

Though there was a two year gap between filming seasons, the young castmates found a steady return into the swing of things. “We were making the same jokes, we remembered everything about each other. It felt like no time had passed at all,” says Keyvan. He recalls how he and Lee would exchange obscure Vine and meme references with each other during first season shooting, and as soon as they were reunited, the antics began again. “Randomly, we would look at each other from across the room and break out into [a] random jingle…It made filming the show so much fun in between the work of it all.”

One major change to the filming dynamic was the lift of COVID-19 lockdowns. Movie nights at the cast’s hotel were replaced with late night outings, and Cathcart felt like she and her costars got to re-explore Seoul. Still, some things stayed the same.

“My favorite memories are [of going] home from work after a 15 hour day and we’re all like, ‘so, should we [get] food and hang out at someone’s room?’ That part of it felt so much like college,” Cathcart says. As the returning cast refamiliarized themselves with their favorite spots and neighborhoods in Seoul, they brought the new members along for the ride. “We got a chance to show all of our new friends the world here.”

XO, Kitty. (L to R) Minyeong Choi as Dae Heon Kim, Anna Cathcart as Kitty Song Covey, Anthony Keyvan as Quincy ‘Q’ Shabazian, Gia Kim as Yuri Han, Han Bi Ryu as Eunice Kang, Joshua Hyunho Lee as Jin in episode 207 of XO, Kitty. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2024Courtesy of Netflix
As the series approached its shoot wrap, one of the last memories the cast had together was filming the choreographed grand finale. It was a night scene, among the largest moments of the season, involving a sprawling audience, team of dancers, and all major characters setting their differences aside. The sun was about to break dawn as the clock ticked down, but amidst countless moving parts and dance moves to learn, Lee and Choi recall the sense of happiness they and their costars felt in this chaotic instant.

“You’re all in this little snow globe together, in each other’s world,” explains Cathcart. “When you’re working on a show, there are so many hours a day, it’s consuming in a lot of ways…but it’s your whole universe.”