XO, Kitty – Episode 5 “TBH” Recap & Review

TBH

Episode 5 of XO, Kitty starts with Dae and Kitty trying to cohabitate with each other. They decided to work with each other as friends but Kitty states that his relationship with Yuri will make it difficult for her. Dae is about to tell her the truth but she leaves him alone. Kitty and Q are on their way to class but Q notices that she cannot stop talking about Alex being her half-brother.

Q asks Kitty to confront Alex during the yearly Chuseok break when all the other Korean students will be going back home, leaving the EXPATs behind. Jina tells the students how Chuseok is an important festival for South Koreans. Kitty is excited to celebrate the festival but Professor Lee shocks her when he gives an F grade on her test, asking her to make time for studying during the break.

On her way to her next class, Kitty talks to Alex and invites him to an exclusive dinner she’s arranging for the EXPATs. Alex promises to show up if Kitty was taking the effort to cook which gets Kitty to go grocery shopping. Minho runs into Kitty at the convenience store and takes over the cooking for Chuseok on behalf of Kitty.

Kitty learns that Minho was talking to an idol in training, who will soon be his girlfriend. Meanwhile, things are not great at the Han house where Yuri’s parents keep fighting even during the holidays. Yuri brings up Kitty’s mother with Jina and the school principal gets defensive. In the dorm room, Kitty is shocked to see that Minho is such a great cook and the two share a moment with each other while talking, as Dae mentions dealing with the loss of her mother.

Kitty makes up her mind to reach out to Dae who was back at home with his family. Meanwhile, Yuri joins Dae at his family home for dinner with his father and sister. Yuri brings a gift for Dae’s mother and he tells Yuri that his mother had passed away three years ago. She realises that she does not know a lot about Dae but spends the rest of dinner trying to get along with his family. Kitty bonds with Minho and the two are somehow having fun together.

During the EXPAT Chuseok dinner, Maddison is obsessing over Minho while Alex shows up with Professor Lee who is at the dinner to monitor the students who were still on campus. The dinner is awkward at first but Kitty forces Minho to sit with Alex. Kitty raises a heartfelt toast to her mom and the families of all other EXPATs.

Kitty gets to bond with Alex and tells him more about his family. Minho decides to leave the dinner early to meet his idol girlfriend but ends up with an upset stomach on the way there. During dinner, Kitty learns from Professor Lee that most East Asians were lactose intolerant which has them avoid mashed potatoes she made with goat cheese in it. Kitty gets an SOS text from Minho asking for her help.

She recalls having him taste some of the mashed potatoes and rushes to help. Kitty uses her skills and convinces Minho’s trainee girlfriend to reschedule their date for a different day. Minho thanks Kitty for the save and calls her “Covey” just like Peter used to call her sister, Lara Jean. At the same time, Dae drops Yuri outside, thankful that she chose to take the time out to bond with his family.

On her way out, Yuri runs into the delivery person who was here to deliver Kitty’s necklace to Dae. She reads the note from Kitty to Dae and decides to keep the necklace with herself. Yuri goes back home to see that her father had stood her mother up for dinner. She apologises to her mother before going to her room. Kitty runs into Alex and is about to tell him the secret that they had the same mother.

Alex shocks Kitty when he tells her that Professor Lee was his father. Kitty cannot process the fact that their mother dated Professor Lee while Alex is shocked to learn that Kitty is his half-sister. The episode ends with Jina tearing up and burning the photo of her and Eve from the school yearbook.

The Episode Review

This episode screamed Minho and Kitty endgame and I am here for it. From his ‘sasaeng’ comment calling Kitty his stalker to actually being followed around by Maddison has me worried for the poor guy. What happens with him at the end of this episode brings the diaper joke to a full circle because Minho indeed is the poopy baby after all.

One thing that stood out for me in this episode was Minho addressing Kitty as Covey, similar to how Peter Kavinsky addressed Lara Jean in the To All The Boys I Loved movies. I am already shipping Minho with Kitty, hopeful that they actually somehow find their way together. I hope the makers don’t stick to the same format as the movies where they have Kitty explore her options only to end up with Dae in the end. I want Kitty to have a better story than her sister because she deserves it.

Something about the OSTs on this show makes me happy as a fan of K-pop. The way Wonho’s ‘Best Shot’ played while Minho was on his way to the date makes me wish that fans make a Spotify playlist out of the OST of this show. What Yuri did with Kitty’s gift to Dae makes me hate her as a viewer and I think she may be catching feelings for Dae.

On the other hand, Jina’s anger over Eve makes me think that she is hiding something. Maybe Jina liked Professor Lee and Eve ended up getting pregnant with his child which eventually ended their friendship. I can’t wait to watch the next few episodes to find out.