Kitty Song Covey's new roommate, Stella Cho, in XO Kitty Season 2 hides a secret that could threaten to destroy the life of a friend closest to her.
Stella (Audrey Huynh) is introduced as Kitty's overly cheery roommate who is entering her first year at the Korean Independent School of Seoul (KISS).
As the season progresses, not everything is what it seems as Kitty and her friends slowly unearth Stella's dark revelations in the Netflix series.
Is Stella Evil in XO Kitty Season 2?
Warning - The rest of this article contains spoilers for XO Kitty Season 2.
In Season 2, Episode 1 (read more about the full cast of XO Kitty Season 2), Stella tells Kitty (and the viewers) that she became part of KISS due to an exchange program through her church and was originally from Pepper Pike, Ohio.
While Stella seems like a candidate to become one of Kitty's best friends in the brand-new episodes, Season 2's premiere ends with the big reveal that Stella's real name is Esther.
Stella even tells her parents on the other end of the line that "there is no more Esther," and she is attending KISS to "get what [she] deserves:"
"For the last time, my name is Stella. There is no more Esther. And I do have to do this. I’m here to get what I deserve. Now leave me alone."
In the following episodes, Stella shows her true colors by creating more drama for Kitty and using her as a distraction so that she can progress on her evil scheme.
She exposes Kitty's goodbye letter to Yuri, in which she talks about her real feelings for her. This leads to a heartbreaking chain of events: Yuri and Juliana's breakup and Praveena's failure to pursue Kitty in a potential relationship.
What Is Stella's Real Plan?
It turns out that Stella plans to get close to Min Ho (who may or may not be the one who ends up with Kitty in Season 2) to destroy the reputation of his famous dad, Young Moon, a talent manager who takes inspiration from Simon Cowell.
Stella exposes Kitty's goodbye letter to Yuri during their skiing weekend at Min Ho's dad's cabin, distracting her friends so that she can snoop around and find dirt from his father to reveal who he truly is.
The first wave of Stella's plan includes leaking documents exposing Mr. Moon's harsh behavior, calling them "MoonLeaks."
Too bad for Stella, Kitty becomes suspicious after the whole letter fiasco at the cabin.
As Min Ho and Stella get closer, Kitty also progresses in learning the truth.
She finds out that Stella is actually Esther, who auditioned for one of Mr. Moon's previous talent shows, Rising Stars with Young Moon.
Min Ho's dad embarrassed her in front of a worldwide audience, and she even became a famous meme centered around her final words in the audition: "But beauty was supposed to come from within."
Although Kitty initially tries to warn Min Ho, he is already blinded by his feelings for Stella.
Stella's plan also involves planting a recording device (disguised as a gift) in Mr. Moon's office, where she finds out that Min Ho's brother, Joon Ho, has a pregnant girlfriend who is also one of his backup dancers.
So, Did Stella Win?
Stella later comes clean to Min Ho and threatens to blame Kitty for everything she did, meaning that Min Ho has no choice but to play along.
Stella's plan ultimately changes at the last minute after she decides to cheat and win Mr. Moon's Talent Show at the end of the semester instead (with Min Ho's help) since a recording contract is up for grabs for the winner.
Despite that, Dae later realizes what Stella is doing to his best friend, and he works with Kitty and the others to expose who she truly is.
Min Ho tells the truth to his father, and his brother, Joon Ho, later reveals to the public that he is in love with his pregnant girlfriend.
This revelation means that Stella can no longer reveal anything about Min Ho's family, and she is later arrested and deported back to Ohio.
All episodes of XO Kitty Season 2 are streaming on Netflix. Netflix has another coming-of-age drama in the vein of XO Kitty, Heartstopper (read more about the Season 3 cast here).
