When the Stars Gossip is a space-themed romantic comedy set on a space station about an astronaut (Gong Hyo Jin) and an OB-GYN space tourist (Lee Min Ho) with a secret mission.
Gong Hyo Jin plays Eve Kim. She is an astronaut who is on her first mission as commander to the space station. She takes her job seriously and does everything by the book, so she is less than thrilled when a space tourist joins her mission.
Lee Min Ho plays Gong Ryong. He is an OB-GYN who becomes a space tourist after his future chaebol father-in-law pays big money for him to go to the space station. He has his own secret mission though which will prove to be extremely challenging and dangerous.
When the Stars Gossip is an interesting drama to say the least, and it is quite the ride. The drama is primarily set in space which contributed to it being one of the most expensive kdramas of all time. I’ve been looking forward to this one since it was announced several years ago because of its space setting.
Now, the drama seems to have drawn quite a strong reaction from fans and has been quite polarizing. For the most part, I personally enjoyed When the Stars Gossip and thought it had a lot of pros. That being said, it had a lot of cons too.
First, the pros. The space setting was the biggest draw for me, and I think it excelled in this aspect. A huge portion of the drama is filmed on the space station which required extensive work during filming and in post-production due to the zero gravity environment and needed special effects. I think the zero gravity looked fantastic and very believable.
And the special effects weren’t just limited to the space station but also to outer space. There were space walks, views of Earth, rocket launches, and rocket landings. And these weren’t just one off things. There was so much time spent on all of this. It all looked great, and I was very impressed to see these sorts of things in a kdrama.
Though the story can be slow at times, I think it had enough going for it to push things along. And during the first two-thirds of the drama that were set in space, there were plenty of problems that arose to add that layer of suspense to the show.
Now, some of the cons. As mentioned, the story can be slow. Some of the scenes felt too drawn out, and there wasn’t always a lot going on as far as the main plot in the early parts of the drama. For me, the space suspense elements really helped me out during this time to keep things interesting. The humor also wasn’t really my style, and it’s very on display in some of the drawn out scenes.
The plot is also quite fantastical at times. As Ryong works on his secret mission to implant sperm into an egg in space, a lot of crazy things happen. There are over the top moments, bad decision making, and illogical plot points. I think this will turn off a lot of viewers. To enjoy this drama, I feel like you just have to be willing to go with a lot of the ridiculousness.
Most of the characters are really not that likable either. That’s always a big problem for me. I didn’t care for most of the main characters or the supporting ones. That can make it challenging to care what happens to them.
An interesting side note though, while I didn’t particularly like Ryong, I thought this was a fantastic character for Lee Min Ho. In many ways, Ryong is a very flawed but average character. He has a good heart but is impulsive and rushes into things. Lee Min Ho got to display a wide range of emotions with this character, and I quite enjoyed that.
Our main couple, Ryong and Eve, were just so-so. I enjoyed both actors but not so much their characters. The chemistry was average, and the romance was all over the place. It felt very up and down in a not so good way. Ryong in particular seemed to struggled at times as to whether he loved or hated Eve.
They did have their moments though, and my favorite part of their relationship was easily the time they spent together during a very dark and desolate couple of days on the space station. There are some other good moments, and we see some of those at the very end of the drama, but overall the romance was a bit lackluster.
As we moved into the latter third of the drama, more time is spent on Earth. This slowed down for me, but the characters and their emotions are explored more in depth. The story comes to a head, and the stakes are incredibly high. There are a lot of moral and ethical questions that arise and are explored.
In the end, When the Stars Gossip had enough going for it that I enjoyed it. I love seeing new and risky things being done in kdramas, and I think it delivered in that respect. The space setting was top notch with wonderful special effects. While the story was slow and fantastical at times, I was still interested in it. The suspense elements were good too. And though I didn’t really like the characters that much, I enjoyed watching them navigate so many difficult issues.
When the Stars Gossip is a unique show in the kdrama landscape. It’s definitely disappointing that it could have been better and lived up to its full potential, but I applaud the attempt and what they did accomplish with this drama.
My Rating: 7/10
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