Netflix’s show makes a familiar mistake when it comes to dating.

XO, KittyNetflix’s spinoff of Jenny Han’s megahit rom-com film series To all the boys I’ve loved beforereturned for a second season last week to much fanfare, reaching the top of Netflix’s Top 10 list. The show follows the younger sister To all the boys protagonist Lara Jean, Kitty Song-Covey (Anna Cathcart), as she attends high school in Korea and deals with the ups and downs of teenage romance and self-discovery. Season 1, which aired in 2023, ended on a cliff-hanger, with one of Kitty’s friends, Min Ho (Sang Heon Lee), dramatically professing his love for our titular character on a plane as she headed back to America under pretext. that her time at the Korean Independent School of Seoul (KISS) was coming to an end. What Min Ho didn’t realize was that Kitty had recently come out with the revelation that she is bisexual, spurred on by her developing a massive crush on their mutual friend Yuri (Gia Kim – ironically, Lee’s real sister).

Between potential love interests Yuri, Min Ho, and Kitty’s ex-boyfriend Dae (Choi Min-young), it seemed XO, Kitty had fully embraced the classic teen soap trope of characters dating exclusively within the same group of friends. You know what I mean: By the end of Riverdale, All American, 90210, Gossip Girland so many other teen dramas, every possible combination of pairings that could be made between the main cast of characters had already been explored. (IN Riverdale(this was even helped by an alternate universe plotline where the unlikely couple of Veronica and Jughead were able to get together.) Although some shows include outside love interests—eg. beloved The Vampire Diaries‘history of Caroline and newcomer “original hybrid” Klaus, or One Tree Hill‘s late introduction to Brooke’s eventual husband Julian — it’s rare that these characters stick around. Often they are ushered in after the show ends, depicting the high school years as the characters are thrust into adulthood. Or even if some characters decide to date outside of their friend group during high school, the relationship is often only treated as a pit stop on the way to the last soul mate in the group.

But then, refreshingly, XO, Kitty seemed to be on the verge of countering this and other tropes. In it trailer for season 2we see Kitty express a desire to 1) date outside of the friend group and 2) date girls besides Yuri—both desires that seemed to confirm that Min Ho’s season 1 confession had been met with rejection. It was a breath of fresh air to see Kitty prioritize these goals because, while plenty of tales may include bisexual characters these days, it’s still rare to see a main character on screen come of age and actually explore what that means to them. This move would have beautifully cemented Kitty’s sexuality as more than a plot device to make her more diverse or push her alongside a certain character. Being bisexual would have been a real part of her identity and an important piece of the puzzle to understanding how she moves through the world.

But XO, Kitty fumbled the bag. Kitty gets a new love interest outside her group of friends in the form of Praveena (Sasha Bhasin), a typical cool girl who helps Kitty out of a difficult situation in the first episode. Over the course of the following episodes, they grow closer, although Kitty’s still lingering somewhat secret crush on Yuri threatens to get in the way of their budding romance. All of this implodes during episode 4 (one of the season’s best), when existence (and strength) of Kitty’s crush on Yuri comes out to some of her friends. Just like that, Kitty and Praveena are done after two failed dates and a smattering of scenes together. For the rest of the season, Kitty’s crush on Yuri wanes as she tries to focus on the subplot of finding her Korean family, only for Kitty to eventually circle back to the earlier idea of ​​her and Min Ho as a couple. It’s a bit ironic – if Kitty wanted to talk to the same five people, she could have stayed home. But try as you might, you can never escape the magnetic pull of the love interest of the TV group of friends.

I understand why this trope exists. The whole point of teen soaps is to exploit the drama between members of the main group; after all, it’s the characters we’re interested in, not a random stranger. But after years of watching TV friend groups become so romantically entwined that charting their connections would look like the world’s most confusing murder evidence board, I’m fed up. I want my favorite main characters to try to date someone, literally nakedother! It’s a great opportunity to watch these dramatized teenagers learn more about themselves and the world around them. And Kitty, it seemed, was on her way to doing just that earlier this season. Seeing her venture out of her bubble felt a bit radical; her budding romance with Praveena was a great chance for Kitty to leave the drama-filled ecosystem of dating her friends and explore more of herself, her sexuality, and the social differences between dating girls, boys, and everyone in between. I secretly want Kitty to run to Min Ho and confess her undying love by the end of the series, but let her have some time in the outside world first. How else is she, a character in desperate need of some growth, going to achieve that when she’s constantly experiencing the fallout of breaking up with someone, only to then fall in love with their best friend? More importantly, it would be a shame if her crush on Yuri is all the show has to show for Kitty’s bisexuality.

I shouldn’t be surprised by this downturn. XO, Kitty is notorious for being as annoying as it is irresistible. Season 2 was no exception, filled with oops (Noah Centineo reprises his role as Peter Kavinsky!) and downs (where did teacher Alex go?). Kitty’s dating history and sexuality was an area of ​​narrative risk that the show had looked to address. And of course, while my heart may be cheering for the eventual Kitty-Min Ho coupling that seems inevitable at this point, I’d love to see our girl put herself out there even more first. There is a whole world beyond the people she already has by.