While XO, Kitty can mostly be understood as a standalone TV series, you can appreciate all of the little details Jenny Han and her team included in the Netflix show if you’ve seen all three To All the Boys movies. While many things establish XO, Kitty as part of the TATB universe, these four moments were fantastic easter eggs for fans of the Covey sisters.
Popcorn and Yakult
Some of our favorite To All the Boys scenes include food. How could we ever forget the care Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo) has for movie snacks when he cautiously moved the popcorn out of the way while Kitty started a pillow fight during their Sixteen Candles watch with Lara Jean (Lana Condor)? Peter actually loves snacks and became an instant fan of Yakult, generically mentioned as “Korean yogurt smoothies” in the first movie. It’s his taste for it that gives him the stamp of approval from Katherine Song Covey, granting him permission to call her Kitty.
If you pay close enough attention, you’ll see both snacks make an appearance at the Covey residence as Kitty attempts to convince her parents to let her attend KISS. Dan (John Corbett) is snacking on popcorn while Trina (Sarayu Blue) has a Yakult in hand. We’re glad to see not much seems to have changed in the Covey household despite the absence of Lara Jean and Margot (Janel Parrish).
Kitty’s slip and fall at the KISS welcome party (and overall clumsiness)
You didn’t actually have to watch the episode to see Kitty (Anna Cathcart) be clumsy at the KISS welcome party, but if you’ve seen To All the Boys 2: P.S. I Still Love You, the scene may have given you deja vu. It isn’t the first time a Covey sister fell flat onto her back and caused sweets to fall to the ground. For Lara Jean in TATB2, it was seeing John Ambrose at Belleview that caused her to knock over a jar of round hard candies, slip on a candy, and fall flat on her back. For Kitty, it was the shock of seeing Dae and him already having a girlfriend that led to Kitty pretty much being clumsy in the exact same way as LJ. Except this time, it was cupcakes and not candy.
In fact, there were quite a few times Kitty’s clumsiness (and therefore similarity to Lara Jean) was on display. Another notable example is when Kitty nearly got run over by Yuri’s (Gia Kim) car. As she Kitty attempts to navigate Seoul and make her way to KISS after missing the shuttle from the airport, she fails to look both ways before crossing and splats out on the ground like Lara Jean falling/fainting after spotting Josh with her love letter at school. Maybe clumsiness runs in the family or Kitty’s more like her sister than she thinks.
The Yakult Cart In downtown Seoul
After Kitty spots the hospital her mom was at nearly 30 years ago from atop the hiking trail, she sprints her way into the metropolis and passes a yogurt smoothie cart. Initially she whizzes right past it but goes back after noticing. However, even her favorite beverage doesn’t deter her from her mission. Kitty gets right back to running to the hospital to uncover her mom’s secrets.
The bus scene
How could anyone ever forget anything related to the infamous ski trip in the movie that started it all? In that scene, Lara Jean upsets Peter by not sitting with him on the trip to the resort. They’re in a bit of a fight, so LJ doesn’t want to sit with him. Similarly in XO, Kitty, Kitty doesn’t want to sit with Dae (Minyeong Choi) because he doesn’t want to talk about his feelings.
Kitty and her hanbok
The school talent show at the end of the semester gives students the opportunity to get extra credit by doing a cultural performance. For the fan dance Kitty participates in, she wears a hanbok. We last saw Kitty wear this Korean garment during To All the Boys 2 for Lunar New Year. When she and Lara Jean were getting ready to go to their grandparents’ house, Lara Jean and Kitty both need help in tying their hanboks correctly. Fast forward about five years to Kitty’s junior year at KISS, and Yuri has to help Kitty tie it properly.
The closing song
When “About Love” by Marina started playing at the end of episode 10, we were instantly transported back to Lara Jean and Peter’s story. “About Love” is an iconic song for To All the Boys, and it’s so fitting for Kitty’s story. It goes, “I don’t really know a lot about love/A lot about love/A lot about love,” which really speaks to Kitty’s feelings at the end.
Because of her proud matchmaking skills, Kitty went to Korea thinking love was a subject she was very knowledgeable in. But as she lives in Seoul for a semester, she learns there’s lots to learn beyond helping your sister and dad find their matches.
XO, Kitty season 1 is now streaming on Netflix.
