When the Stars Gossip EP 1 & 2 Photo-Recap: Delightfully Bizarre Space Romp 

I scream, you scream, we all scream for embryos!! 

South Korea is a powerhouse of entertainment, bringing us dramatic family dramas, quirky romcoms, medical shows, slapstick comedy, sci fi and intrigue… but I think I can honestly say this is the first I’ve seen with all of those genres combined. 

Don’t get me wrong, Korean dramas are well known for mixing genres (something I think western media could learn from) but this one might be the most ambitious mix I’ve seen yet (and I’ve seen a lot of dramas) (like… a LOT a lot) (let’s not talk about it). 

I’m intrigued by the messy weirdness of it, and I’m deeply curious about what the reception will be. This is not your grandma’s K-drama (unless it is, I don’t know your grandma). It has several things going for it: a bonkers-stacked cast, visually interesting cinematography, and a unique storyline; which I hope isn’t the thing to turn viewers off. We’ve collectively gone nutso over some pretty weird shit: body-swaps, aliens, a woman riding a tornado to North Korea, a handsome man who slaps people on the subway, etc. Is space-sperm, floating vomit and emergency mouse surgeries any weirder? 

Yes. Yes, they are. And I, personally, am here for it. 

Meet Gong Ryong, our lovably unfortunate hero. His mother died shortly after he was born, so he was raised by his three wacky aunts. Because he was a smartypants who spent his formative years in love with books, he became a doctor. Great job, kid! 

In this scene, he was being fired by his future father-in-law in front of a barrel filled with wet cement on a boat. What charming hijinks! 

On a personal note, it is very, VERY nice to see Lee Minho playing a sweet little dork after his turn in Pachinko (an amazing yet UPSETTING show).  

I already love Eve, first-time commander of the space station. Girl has something to prove, and isn’t going to let some dreamy doofus mess anything up for her! AND ALSO, the space station is called EV1 and her name is EVE? She’s a robot! She’s the space station’s daughter! The space station is HER daughter! Only episode two and we’re already into the theories and predictions. 

It’s a tale as old as time: girl hits boy with her car, boy saves her life, her father destroys his career because he ‘robbed’ him of his grandchild, girl imprints on boy, deciding that means she’s in love with him, and boy goes along with it for unknown reasons. Classic.

Two episodes was not enough time to introduce the massive cast of characters and make them all interesting, but I trust the show has more in store for Goeun than ‘rebellious chaebol daughter’. And let me be perfectly clear: I want nothing but the best for her. Give this poor woman REAL love by the end of these 16 episodes, I swear to the TV gods.

Oh boy, we have ourselves a maybe-villain! This scientist-space-doctor is the ex of Chaebol Daughter, and cared more about the surprise fetus that would’ve killed her than her life. He’s in cahoots with Chaebol Dad to make a grandchild with the sperm of his dead son and the egg of his daughter in law. It’s a whole thing, but I have a feeling this is a smoke-screen for what the show will actually be about. I don’t know WHAT the show will be about, but I don’t think they’ll squeeze 16 episodes out of a storyline about a maybe-baby. 

Oh dear. This dreamboat hooked up with Eve just before her mission and he doesn’t know he’s not the lead in this romcom. Poor guy. How do we think this breakup will happen? Is he a spy for the company he was recently hired by? Is he nefarious? Is he going to find out she’s a robot-mother of a space station and break up with her?? 

I loved that the show started with the launch and then went back with a ‘FREEZE, yeah, that’s me, you may be wondering how I got here…’ trick. That way, we didn’t have to sit through an episode of their backstories before getting to the good stuff. And by ‘good stuff’, I apparently mean the rocket taking off, getting hit with lightening a bunch (so cool) and Ryong’s vomit floating around the cabin as if a child was blowing bubbles. 

I know this isn’t technically a meet-cute, but c’mon, WHAT A MEET-CUTE! Ryong choked on his own puke and Eve had to give him the space-Heimlich, which resulted in her bloodied toes, which Ryong had to later stitch up in the most charming and gross scene of the episode. 

The space station is all about creating and sustaining life, so when two fruit flies hitched a ride from Earth and decided in that very moment to get busy, Eve delayed their dramatic entrance to give BOTH flies the chance to reach fruition, which is important in case anyone reading needs to hear that. Ahem. Anyway, Ryong was charmed by her excitement, and who wouldn’t be! 

In a very sneaky move, Ryong transported his future sister-in-law’s eggs to space in the bottom of a vanilla ice cream cup. (Re-read this sentence and tell me K-dramas aren’t written by chaos demons). But oh dear, Eve took the vanilla to melt and test it, then crumpled the cup. THE HORROR!  

For real, if any of you have ever read my recaps before, you know how much ice cream means to me, and this was almost enough to make me write her character off forevermore. I don’t care whose life is at stake, you do NOT mess with ice cream! 

Except wait! The eggs were in the strawberry. The STRAWBERRY! Snotty Scientist Space Doctor Ex-boyfriend is going to do the egg stuff instead!! I’m not sure why Ryong would be upset about this, since he’s now absolved of responsibility and should get his rewards for carrying out his part, but K-dramas gonna K-drama, I guess. 

Hahahahahha, WHAT. I’ll admit, I don’t really understand the importance of this mouse, but the entire crew (minus the villainous ex-boyfriend) seemed VERY emotionally invested. The mouse started attacking the females, biting off their legs and tails (excuse me, RUDE) and then had a heart attack (being murderous is tiring, I guess). But Eve insisted they need to study that exact mouse to solve the problem, so they started giving it mouse CPR (lol) until the guy’s hand cramped (lol) and Ryong very dramatically suggested they open the mouse up for surgery (lol) and it they went full Grey’s Anatomy as two strapping astronauts held Ryong’s legs (lol) and he used his finger to manually beat his little mouse heart (lol) and the Ground Nerds all watched with baited breath (lol) and they were all giving up until Ryong was like, NOT LIKE THIS (lol) and they did a special surgery technique, chanting together (lol) and they saved the mouse! Eve was VERY happy about the mouse surgery, that she gave him a straddle-hug for way too long. 

This was so wonderfully weird, and now I’m hooked. 

Sometimes a show comes along that’s so bananapants you have to just sit back and enjoy the space vomit, you know? The cast, the premise (lol), the visuals, the chemistry… sure, show, present me with all the dramatic vermin surgeries you want. I’m in.

What did you think?? Are you on board for the zany ride, or is it just a little bit too kooky for you? Any theories or predictions? Is Eve a robot-mother of a space station???

SOME STUFF:

• Is your grandma super into this? Should I apologize for my earlier statement? 

• The montage of him being a doctor was cool. It really showcased what kind of visual journey we’ll be treated to with this show.

• This show is gifting us with two glorious geek squads: one on the ground and one in space. They’re adorable, nerdy smarty-pants (with a twin on each team), and I already love them all.

• Ground Twin throwing shade at Eve’s Current Boyfriend with, “She deserves a good man.” I’ve already built a story in my head that she’s in love with her and I will not be convinced otherwise. Lesbian Ground Twin… I’m rooting for you! 

• Ryong ending episode one by dreamily complimenting the beauty of her big toe… okay, so he’s a foot guy, we listen and we don’t judge. 

• I’m delighted by the fact that Eve thought the ice cream might be poisoned, but waited until her entire crew was happily eating it before testing her suspicions. 

• In return for doing this mission, Ryong’s request to the CEO was to share the discovery with the world so others who are struggling to have babies can benefit. Ugh, we’re already in love, Ryong, STOP BEING DREAMY!

• The opening credits are very cool! 

• On a scale of one to FLY ME TO THE MOON, how on board are you for When the Stars Gossip? 

OKAY THANKS FOR DROPPING BY STAY SAFE OUT THERE