When the Stars Gossip

Sci-fi or birthing campaign?

Food analogy: plastic plate

I follow Lee min Ho's cinematography byheart ( bcoz city hunter was my first kdrama, i. e emotional attachment) but i don't think he read this script.

The story is made of loopholes with very little plot in it. The pacing so slow that I was praying for a 2.0x button from netflix. The first episode was still tolerable, but the characters made it impossible to root for them.
Somehow, what I hated the most was that the moment eve got pregnant, all her value for her life, the amazing career that she had created, everything got overshadowed. It was like she became a heavenly creature the moment she decided to give birth, even after knowing that it will potentially kill her. The way these kinds of sacrifices are glorified are severely unhealthy, as if women loose value if they choose not to give birth.
The music was ok but i couldn't enjoy it because i felt like i was wasting my time.

I never thought i would say this but somehow min ho's acting detoriated as the series went on. It was like he stopped trying. Somehow, everyone felt very unserious and loose with what could actually be.

There is like no redeeming quality in this series, better scroll social media.

Ps: How the baby survived the launch in her belly is beyond me.

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How did everyone think this was ok to put out lmao

I have very mixed reactions about this show partly because it has my favorite cast of all time but now i wonder what made me like them in the first place.

When i watched the first 2 eps i was already a bit shocked because there was fruit fly and mice p*rn and i was confused as to whether this even was a korean high budget show and not some deranged low budget web series.

PROS:
1. OSTs were amazing

2. Loved santi he was the only sanctuary from the mess

3. Did send a pretty hopeful message in the beginning atleast, to parents who want to have children but are suffering from infertility (though it later went wrong)

CONS:
1. Hated the characters: Gong ryung cheated on his fiancee go-eun no matter how much you try to sugar coat it and eve slept with him despite knowing he was engaged. All the space ship residents were annoying af and they did not deserve any screen time. The moms were the worst of it all, bad acting, bad storyline and bad execution.

2. No chemistry: None of the couples have any chemistry and I mean NONE. Gong ryung and eve just "fell" for each other because she was rude and he stitched her toe like wtf, the side couples also had no chemistry and they were unnecessary.

3. Zero logic: They literally explain themselves that it is IMPOSSIBLE for ppl to have s*x up there because of zero gravity, freezing temps etc. yet they magically manage to do it and also have a successfully implantation, despite the probability of both being extremely extremely low. Now i can get past the whole pregnancy stuff but like honestly how did her fetus withstand the force of 4G when she went up to space? like correct me if i'm wrong (i am not a doctor) but isn't the fetus more unstable in early stages of pregnancy? so logically shouldn't she have lost it when she went up to space and her environment suddenly changed?

4. Very bad pacing: slow paced in the beginning, fast in the end

5. No real ending: I'm confused as to whether this is birth propaganda or birth control propaganda lmfao. Like she gets pregnant and she decided to give birth but dies after labour which literally discourages women from giving birth. Like myb they might want to send out the msg that "look some women out here literally die to give birth in space then why can't you just give birth on earth with ob-gyns like gong ryung who will help you and let you have a perfectly safe birth and a happy family?" and the monologue in the end where they play a shit ton of baby videos felt morbid like idk why but it felt eerie af.

6. very bad way to deal with a lot of topics like fertility, adoption and birth: Imo this drama makes woman seem like nothing more than just birthing machines...Its so painfully obvious that they are pro-life and not pro-choice that i'm genuinely afraid for women in sk because its literally selling the idea that giving birth at the risk of your own life is motherly and "normal", like i am pro life on some instances but not when the mother would literally DIE if she gave birth like that is not okay, and nobody is even telling her that an abortion is ok because her giving birth is a death sentence for both the kid and her because a motherless child in space is not better of period! and why does the mother always die is the real question in these dramas.

7. No payback for the "evil": eve's mother doesn't get payback she is forgiven just because she adopted another kid and tried to donate her blood, the chairman of mz group does not get payback and he just continues to be successful professionally and he is forgiven solely because his love for his grandchild drove his actions.

8. Acting: My two favorite actors Lee Minho and Gong hyojin made me forget what i liked about their acting in the first place. this show was genuinely so bad that i forgot about their past projects. They had zero chemistry and the acting felt too casual like i felt like they weren't even trying..;

My theory: My personal conspiracy theory is that they killed eve in the end because she "killed" the morulas, maybe its a message that abortion is bad and that "murderers" get payback? like they want to send the message that those who choose abortion are just murderers who don't deserve to live happily. I also feel like they want to make babies the answer to everything like "a shitty relationship can be fixed with babies (Gonng ryung and eve ) and (goeun and other guy)"..." Your sad and traumatic past can be overcome with pregnancy!".....

Overall I think that the actors were compensated very very well to want to partake in this mess of a show, despite thinking it was a horrible show I will give it a 6 for santi, the filmography and the budget.

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I can't believe a cast this good would make a drama this bad.

"When the Stars Gossip" is a high-concept drama with a cast that includes many of my favorite K-drama actors, so why is it so terrible? This "opposites attract" space romance starring two K-drama romance icons, Gong Hyo Jin and Lee Min Ho, should be an automatic hit, but instead, I found myself hating it more and more with each episode.

Was it really that bad? I consider it a bad sign when you want characters to die just so you can stop the repetitive storyline and put everyone, including the audience, out of their misery. This was surprising since the writer and director are each behind all-time favorite dramas of mine "Jealousy Incarnate" and "It's Okay to Not Be Okay". Those dramas share some of the same cast, and a little of the same quirkiness, but lack two major things... characters and a story that I liked and cared about. Even a cameo from Jo Jung Suk just reminded me how terrible this drama was in comparison. There's also a pretty clear pro-birth slant that is so heavy-handed the drama becomes completely nonsensical to support that theme, instead of building on characters and real relationships.

In this story, Lee Min Ho plays Kong Ryong a non-astronaut OBGYN sent to space as a "tourist". We quickly learn he has a secret task that involves attempting IVF in space for a colleague of his who is desperate to have her deceased husband's baby. Gong Hyo Jin plays Eve Kim the commander of the mission who is by the book and doesn't appreciate having to babysit Ryong even before finding out he's planning to do something that can get them all in major trouble.

Both characters are extremely stubborn, so it becomes a war between her suspicion and his sneakiness, which gets pretty old quickly. Obviously, this is a clear setup for an enemies-turned-lovers scenario, but the problem is that their attraction to each other felt super forced and lacked any chemistry. I think the fruit flies and mice had better chemistry than they did. Add to that their complicated romantic relationships on earth, and the story gets messy, full of triangles and betrayals, but it still feels flat and boring. To avoid spoilers I will leave out the details but it all felt either comically obsessive or very superficial, and the only couple I was even slightly interested in wasn't a main one.

The romance is weak but I think the theme is the real problem with this drama. There is a recurring moral dilemma that comes up several times in the story where a main character rallies for an embryo or a pregnancy to the point of risking their own life and the lives of others. Over and over we are told of the importance of giving life a chance while through a character's selfishness or singlemindedness lives are put at unnecessary risk. This made it very hard for me to empathize with this POV, and it just became more and more annoying every time it came up. Then about 1/3 through the story it became clear where the story would likely end and for some reason, I forced myself to see it through. Why? The actors.

One thing I did like was the community and banter among the space team. I even loved hating Oh Jung Se as Kang Gang Su because I loved seeing him in a mean role. He really is a great actor with an amazing range even if the character was written to be super one-dimensional. I also thought Lee Cho Hee was great as sisters Lee Min A and Lee Donna. I truly believed they were two totally different people. The mothers were great and charming as well. It was mainly the supporting cast that kept me from dropping this drama when watching the same arguments was becoming too much to bear. Unfortunately, their stories are filler and don't get much development or resolution.

Don't even get me started on the stupid lottery ticket!

Would I watch this again? Absolutely not. I barely made it through to the end and once it got to the climax that was supposed to be emotional I felt absolutely nothing but a desire to know if it was really finally over. The ending was predictable, vague, and unsatisfying. The soundtrack was ok, and having moments of space life was cool at times, but there was nothing enjoyable enough to make me want to watch any of this again. You also have to suspend disbelief a lot to get through the action sequences and give up on science actually making sense during other sequences. I would applaud the plot's audacity if that made it more entertaining, but it did not.

I think maybe if the writer had less of an agenda in their storytelling this could have been an interesting observation about motherhood, those who sacrifice for the chance, give up their chance, will never have that chance, or step into the role when needed, but instead it felt like too many of the women characters were given the depth of baby machines in this plot leaving little room for nuance while male characters had god-complexes over making fertility happen no matter what. It's hard not to see this as pro-birth propaganda, especially with a main character named Eve.

Overall, if you’re wondering If I would recommend this drama, I would say abort mission!

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Ridiculous storyline and unappealing characters.

This drama quickly turned ridiculous and boring. I stopped watching it in the middle of the 3rd episode. The first 2 episodes were already a sign of how poor this drama seemed but the 3 episode confirmed it. Don’t waste your time on this one. if you’re truly curious then just watch the 1st episode then you’ll know… It goes downhill from there trust me.
I cannot understand how anyone can give this drama anything above a 4.
The “Dr.” is portrayed as an incompetent space tourist with a secret “mission”. Although he has been training with the Team of astronauts for a year before their takeoff he falls apart during and after takeoff. The Commander pulls a gun on the Dr. because she suspects he’s up to something suspicious but then she hugs him after he saves a lab rat during an open heart surgery in space. If this doesn’t sound ridiculous yet, there’s more! They delayed connecting to the space station for 20 minutes because of 2 fruit flies mating in space to the Commander’s fascination and obsession. I just can’t! 🤦🏻‍♀️

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The gossip wasn’t worth it

When the stars gossip do not, I repeat DO NOT stay to listen, just walk away. The gossip is not worth listening to! Go do literally anything else, it’ll be much more worth your time than this pro-life propaganda drama.

I honestly am embarrassed to say that I watched this in it’s entirety because there was so many times I could’ve dropped it and I just didn’t. Why? I have no idea! Please learn from me and my regret and don’t even press play. You won’t see anything but ridiculous antics and pro-life rhetoric. And they spent 50 billion won on producing this by the way. This drama is prove that quality will always override quantity.

PS: My true rating is a 0/10 but mdl made me rate it at least 1/10 to post this so don’t be fooled, this drama has absolutely no redeeming qualities and is genuinely the worst kdrama I’ve ever watched to completion.

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From Fascination to Disappointment

I want to leave my comment here and move on because I keep coming back to this drama in my thoughts.

At first, it had the potential to become my favorite drama, but it lost that potential. Up to a certain point, I didn't consider it bad—I liked that the characters were flawed, making it possible to analyze their actions. Even the scientific aspect, though unrealistic, seemed interesting for contemplation. The supporting characters were endearing, but their storylines were simply erased and forgotten, which disappointed me.

The ending completely ruined everything. If, at the beginning, I saw this story as thought-provoking, by the end, it became clear that it carried a strong propaganda message that made me feel awful. I never expected that someone might die here, let alone Eve—my favorite character. She didn’t deserve this. Ryong treated her cruelly when he yelled at her and pushed her over that morula. Now I regret that my emotional side supported this experiment. It would have been better if Eve had destroyed all the morulas on the station so none of this would have happened.

The last episodes felt extremely forced. I don’t believe astronauts are examined so poorly that no one noticed her pregnancy. And there were many other contrived moments. If I enjoyed the drama at first, as it progressed, I liked it less and less. My critical thinking took over.

Ultimately, instead of developing the characters and logically concluding the story, the writers turned it into blatant pro-natal propaganda. The main heroine was forced to give birth in space and died, yet no one even properly mourned her. Her death was presented as a "scientific breakthrough," while more attention was given to mice and flies than to Eve herself. I feel sad about such an ending for her. Her existence was reduced to being an "incubator," and the entire plot pushed the idea that women "must" give birth under any circumstances. If Korea wants to increase its birth rate, they should start by improving people's quality of life.

This drama left me with a disgusting feeling. For most of it, I was praising it, but now I regret watching it at all.

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A K-Drama That Tried to Be Everything and Ended Up as a Cosmic Mess

Ah, the sweet sound of hype imploding like a black hole swallowing a dying star.*

This drama had one job: make interstellar romance charming. Instead, it delivered a celestial dumpster fire where logic went to die. 12 episodes in, and it’s painfully clear—the writers were either sleep-deprived or conducting a social experiment to see how much absurdity audiences will tolerate.

#The Leads: Chemistry or Chemistry Experiment Gone Wrong?
The main couple has the romantic tension of two astronauts trapped in separate orbits. Their love story is marketed as “destined,” but it feels more like an HR violation waiting to happen. He broods like he’s trying to out-angst every K-drama lead ever, while she oscillates between quirky and utterly baffling.

#The Plot: A Telenovela on Steroids
At first, you think, 'Ah, it’s a rom-com with space elements.' Then episode after episode, you realize it’s a thriller, a sci-fi melodrama, a corporate revenge saga, and possibly a guide on how NOT to write a coherent script. The subplots multiply like bacteria in a petri dish—messy, uncontrollable, and occasionally dangerous.

#The Side Characters: Walking Red Flags
Every supporting character is either secretly evil, morally bankrupt, or just there to deliver one-liners before disappearing forever.

#Final Verdict: 2/10 Meteor Showers
This drama is like ordering a luxury space cruise and getting stranded in an asteroid belt of nonsense. You WILL laugh, but mostly at how ridiculous it gets. If you love watching beautiful people suffer through questionable writing, congratulations—this is your next guilty pleasure.

But hey, at least it’s entertaining in a *watching-a-satellite-crash* kind of way.

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What happened!?!

Before watching, this drama had so much potential with an all-star cast! I was so excited to watch this show. Unfortunately, with each episode, the show went progressively downhill. The script writing makes even the best actors suffer. More money should have been put into casting a seasoned actor as Santi since it is a main role. So much money was spent on special effects, but it was a waste given the below average storyline. And the idea of using pipettes to do microinjections is ridiculous. There is a reason companies spend thousands of dollars on precision equipment. Anyway, I hope the ending isn't too disappointing. I won't hold my breath.

I don't understand Ryong's character. Why does he think he is so ethically above everyone for conducting an unapproved procedure in space. And he is so selfish that he is willing to jeopardize the space agency, the space program, and all of the people's careers. Makes one not like his character at all. I have not connected with any of the characters.

Well, the final episode did not disappoint. It was as bad as the rest of the show.

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What am I watching? Why am I watching? How am I watching?

I don't have the answers to any of these questions lol. What's happening here? I don't believe LMH and GHJ chose this script by themselves.
1. The entire essence of the story (about this IVF, space fertility center etc..) feels BS even if you turn off our brain.
2. Somehow there is no chemistry at all between any of the characters, the ML, FL, SFL, SML. You don't sense a genuine affection/love/even hatred for that matter between any of them.
3. The ML trying to fall for the FL feels sooooo forced. I mean common......you met this person (FL) just a while ago and are already falling for her without any reason (literally there were no such intimate scenes for it to happen this soon) lmao.
4. The other operators, that one and only English speaking guy and the side characters in the space craft, this rich senseless FIL, the lady who gave her eggs omgggg.. none of these make any sense!

The story just don't add up with the image it created, the actors casted, the budget involved and finally the looong wait for it to be released. Sorry but this is just an unfortunate disaster. Will I continue watching this? No idea..

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