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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!
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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