MaryMeKpop

“Melo Movie” took over my entire world when it was released in mid-February so I fell behind on the other Korean dramas that I was watching, including “When the Stars Gossip.” But I’m finally back because I finally managed to finish this drama and I just have to say..  I’m glad that the drama is finally finished.

A whole bunch of stuff unfolded in the last four episodes which essentially included following the story behind Eve’s adoption and how her biological Mom is one of Gong Ryong’s “adopted” Mom’s (yes, you read that right. Eve’s actual Mom was Gong Ryong’s Mom’s best friend), Gong Ryong facing consequences for committing an illegal act out in space with the whole morulas/MZ group egg injection case, and Eve giving birth out in space because she was pregnant with Gong Ryong’s baby. I just can’t help but laugh when I think about this drama because it was so wacky and weird and wild and chaotic and crazy. There was always something crazy happening to the point where just when it seemed like things slowed down, you got nervous because you knew that there was something else that the drama had up its sleeves. By the end of the drama, I wasn’t even shocked anymore at what was happening. Eve giving birth out in space (to prove the point that yes, giving birth out in space is possible which the drama hinted at in the first half of the show) and then to also have the baby out with the crew in the space station at the very end.. Like truly, nothing this drama did was surprising anymore. You sort of expected it honestly, LOL.

The thing about “When the Stars Gossip” is.. it was not a good drama and I had plenty of issues, concerns, and problems with it. But every once in a long while, you could see the potential that it had and there were some moments here and there that were sort of nicely done. There were some scenes between Eve and Gong Ryong that I think worked as stand-alone scenes or would have been better had it taken place later on in their relationship instead of at the beginning. I mentioned this in one of my earlier reviews but I liked Gong Ryong’s confession to Eve back when they were out in space and how he mentioned that he wanted to do all these lovey-dovey things with her that couples do on Earth such as going on movie dates and grabbing meals. But the reason as to why it didn’t work for me was because the timing was off and it happened way too early in their relationship when I wasn’t even all that invested in them yet. The same sentiment could be applied to the ending of episode 13 where Gong Ryong registered his marriage with Eve and handed her the marriage registration papers. If you ignored everything else about the drama and focused on this scene alone, you’d think it was a romantic and sweet scene. The main couple is getting married and including each other in their future plans. At this time, Eve had just discovered the truth about her biological mom and was holding this secret from Gong Ryong. So the scene had something going for it and it was beautifully and emotionally done (and it was also visually gorgeous with the falling snow and the nice camerawork). But then you remembered all the other crazy things going on in this drama which sort of ruined the fun for you. Why couldn’t “When the Stars Gossip” just be a little bit more normal? Why did it have to be so extra and dramatic all the time?

Even the ending scene of the final episode was a good scene (I’m excluding the narration part and only referring to the scene where Gong Ryong spread Eve’s ashes out into space). If you ignored all the crazy and chaotic stuff that happened throughout the drama and only paid attention to this one scene, it was a scene that was sad, heart-breaking, and emotional. Gong Ryong had just lost his lover and the mom of his child. This was his way of remembering Eve for her passion as an astronaut and his way of bidding farewell with her. Losing a loved one is never easy and the drama depicted Gong Ryong’s farewell to Eve carefully and nicely. So I enjoyed some of the scenes individually and as stand-alone scenes but when you take a step back and remember the drama as a whole, the drama was so disappointing, weird, and comedic (unintentionally).

The one other thing I was sort of intrigued by was Go-eun and Kang-su and their dynamic with each other. It’s such a shame that the drama wasted Oh Jung-se in here because he’s such a good actor and the drama didn’t give him much to do. But when he was doing something, it was mainly interacting with Go-eun and I’ll admit that I was sort of interested in their relationship. I could sort of feel this chemistry between them and I think both actors made their dynamic work somehow. I didn’t really care for this pairing in the beginning of the drama and I still didn’t care all that much about them by the end but I did think they were sort of fun to watch at times.

All in all, I don’t have much else to say about “When the Stars Gossip” other than that it should have just been one or the other. It wanted to do everything which ended up causing it to do nothing at all. It should have just either focus purely on the sci-fi/space station aspect of the drama or the more day-to-day lives of the characters with their jobs. It attempted to mix both together which just didn’t stick and failed to do successfully. If anything, this drama was entertaining for all the wrong reasons. It at least provided me with plenty of laughter and I already know which category I’m placing this drama under during my year-end review of K-dramas in 2025 (hint: it’s not a good category).

So to “When the Stars Gossip”.. so long, my friend. You will not be missed.