Australian actor Peter Thurnwald plays Alex, the new chemistry teacher at KISS, in Netflix’s To All The Boys I Loved Before spinoff Xo, Kitty. Alex happens to be one of the first people at KISS to show some love to Kitty, who runs around like a lost puppy after getting rejected by Dae at a party and falling into a tower of cupcakes. Alex is a chemistry teacher, but somehow he’s quite stupid when it comes to other things and often brings a laugh to the show when it starts to get dry. He’s a great character who guides Kitty as a teacher and also as a friend. I’m not sure why Kitty begins to call him by his first name when they’re on the other side of the world, but we’ll just go with the fact that it’s an international school. Peter has excellent comic timing, and the question mark on his face makes perfect sense through his journey of finding himself on the show. Alex is like that uncle in K-dramas that everybody loves, including the protagonist, but he’s got very little time on screen, and we’re left wishing for more. Still, we get to see a lot in Alex’s narrative, more than we expected since it intertwines so much with Kitty’s story. Alex is likable right from the get-go, and it’s such a relief that we don’t follow a pattern of inappropriate student-teacher relationships in XO, Kitty, keeping the PG-13 tag in mind.
Spoilers Ahead
Alex And Professor Lee
Alex was adopted by Australian parents as a baby, and he had no idea about his biological parents until he found out that Professor Lee might be his biological father. Alex made a conscious decision to learn a little bit more about his biological father without having him upend his life out of the blue. Then, when Alex found out that Lee didn’t even know he had a son, he felt a deeper urge to leave rather than stay and introduce himself as Lee’s real son. Alex puts in a lot of effort to get to know Lee and try to be liked by him because he thinks he’s a great teacher and person overall. When Lee tells Alex he’s not great at being an authoritative person, it really hurts Alex and makes it clear to him that he shouldn’t be at KISS or with Lee. With Lee’s input, which Alex values deeply, he began to improve himself as an educator and a person.
Alex And Kitty
Alex is Kitty’s mentor and guiding light in the show. As a fellow Korean ex-pat who knows very little about said culture, Alex and Kitty relate to each other. He’s a supportive friend and teacher who leads Kitty in the right direction when she’s lost. Kitty obviously sees Alex as a friend first and a teacher second, so when she assumes through meddling that Alex is her long-lost brother that she never knew she had, she’s ecstatic. This shows what a great comfort character Alex is, not just for Kitty but for us too. Kitty makes all the effort to tell Alex the truth, and when he finds out, he takes some time to grasp the idea that his biological mother died before he could meet her. The wait is a little long for Kitty, but Alex doesn’t really leave her hanging; she’s just impatient. He is quick to get accustomed to the idea, and when Kitty gets expelled from the school, he tells her he’ll genuinely miss her, even though she’s been a curious cat, troubling him about practically everything from her dorm room to her love life issues. He’s quick to accept her and doesn’t show any sign of embarrassment for being Kitty’s brother, which he is. Great sign.
Alex And Jina
When Alex finds out that Jina is his real mom, he makes the quick decision to tell her that he’s come to find her. He specifically tells Kitty to hide it from Yuri because he doesn’t know how she would feel about him being her half-brother. Additionally, they’re at the head of a world-renowned conglomerate, and Alex is merely a mistake in Jina’s life. Jina had Alex when she was 16, and when Alex finally gained the courage to tell her the truth, she rejected him immediately before realizing she actually wanted a relationship with her son. She tells her husband the truth immediately, making him furious but making her realize what she really wants for herself and her children. Alex has great respect for both his biological parents, and all he wants to do is find out a little bit about them, just like Kitty did about her mom. Once he found out more than he expected, he decided to leave because of Jina’s rejection. When Jina hears him say that to Kitty, she makes a decision and, in the end, brings all her loved ones together. Meaning Alex can stay in Seoul and at KISS for a little longer.
Alex In Season 2
Although Alex isn’t a great authority figure and Lee loves to be a drag and tell him that he’s not good enough, now that he knows about his illegitimate son, we need to see the loving relationship between the two and Lee’s soft side, along with the rockstar that he is. Jina already looks like she has plans to make sure that there are no more misunderstandings. Alex will definitely be returning for a second season to be Yuri’s half-brother and Kitty’s other best friend! Is Alex your favorite XO, Kitty character?
