“When the Stars Gossip” is a 2025 Korean drama series with 16 episodes, and is categorized as Science Fiction (Sci-Fi), Romance, and Comedy (Rom-Com); streaming on Netflix.
SUMMARY: Well if you on a space station in space, why not fall in love? Nobody stopped the fruit flies!
♦ Experiment: Mating in Space
In “When the Stars Gossip”, Commander Eve Kim is a professional astronaut who is not exactly thrilled that a space tourist, OB-GYN Doctor Gong Ryong, is coming along with her to the space station. She feels like she will probably have to babysit a space tourist. Before lifting off into outer space, Eve Kim was in a relationship.
- Eve Kim was in a relationship with a man she knew from work who was about to leave his job and start working at a higher-paying job. There was no agreement to get married, even though it may have been mentioned. But couples always “mention” the possibility. Don’t they?
Commander Eve Kim and a fellow astronaut are on their way to the IOU Space Center, a space station, where they are experimenting on mice and fruit flies. They want to know if they will mate and reproduce in space. How did this experiment get started? Well! What happened was that an astronaut complained about “crooked sperm,” and it seems that when he went into space, his sperm became “uncrooked”. There’s a science behind it, but it’s complicated. Nevertheless, Eve was excited about getting back to the station to check on her mice. She is hoping the results of the experiment can be extended to humans. In other words, humans with “crooked sperm” will be able to successfully reproduce in space. (Something like that. (O.o))
♦ How to Marry a Chaebol’s Daughter?
Gong Ryong was in a relationship with a chaebol’s daughter. She said she loved him, but he never said it back to her. However, he did promise that if they got married, he would always be faithful. Isn’t that just as good?
Gong Ryong met the chaebol’s daughter because she rear-ended his car. When she got out of her car he saw that she was bleeding down her legs. He is an OB-GYN, so he immediately rushed her to the hospital. In his professional medical opinion, the woman needed surgery as she was experiencing an ectopic pregnancy. He could not save the baby, but he did save her life. However, after the operation, it was not likely that she would be able to have children. Her father is the head of MZ, a large chaebol group, and he is angry that his daughter might not have children. He has already lost his son, and his daughter-in-law has not given him a grandchild. The father accused Gong Ryong of trying to cut off his bloodline and used his connections to stop him from practicing medicine in South Korea.
Meanwhile, the chaebol’s daughter approached Gong Ryong and initiated a romantic relationship. He is desperate for money since he’s being prevented from working, but he doesn’t get involved with her for the money or revenge. The daughter says they should get married. That would be the best revenge against her father, and she painted the picture that they would live happily ever after. But her father had another idea.
♦ How to Become a Space Tourist
The head of the MZ group approached Gong Ryong about being a space tourist and promised to pay him handsomely if he participated in a “secret mission”. The father is desperate to have a grandchild and already made arrangements to have sperm shipped to the space station. All Gong Ryong had to do was smuggle his daughter’s eggs on the spaceship. When he arrived at the space station, he needed to perform the fertilization process. If it is successful, the father will have a grandchild, and Gong Ryong will be allowed to marry his daughter. But the father lied. He has no intention of ever letting his daughter marry Doctor Ryong. It’s not until he reaches the IOU Space Center that Gong Ryong realizes the father deceived him.
The father may have thought that offering his daughter in marriage was the “carrot” to tempt Gong Ryong. But he only agreed to smuggle the eggs because, as an OB-GYN doctor, he wanted to know more about the possibility of a successful experiment. He was hoping the results of the experiment would be extended to help others who were struggling to have children. Gong Ryong was excited about being a part of a major scientific breakthrough. It was much more exciting than getting married to a chaebol’s daughter. But once he arrived at the space station and realized the father’s deceit, he was disappointed. He really hoped that he would be a part of the research team.
♦ Perhaps There is a Way to Contribute to the Scientific Research
Gong Ryong thought that the chaebol chairman’s betrayal might prevent him from being a productive contributor at the space station. But something went wrong with one of the mice. The poor creature had a heart attack. The scientists were trying to save its life but failing. Gong Ryong stepped forward. He said he had delivered babies and used a technique to get the heart beating again and believed it would work on the mouse. It worked!!
Commander Eve Kim was so overjoyed that she confessed. She said she expected Gong Ryong to be a burden and didn’t believe he had anything to offer to the science team. She apologized for underestimating him and now realizes that he will be a valuable contributor to the work at the IOU Space Center. Although it was not their intention, their research work together at the space station would ultimately lead to LOVE IN SPACE. But what would happen when they returned to Earth?
Main Characters:
- OB-GYN Doctor Gong Ryong (played by Lee Min-Ho, “Gangnam Blues”, “The King: Eternal Monarch”, “The Legend of the Blue Sea”)
- Commander Eve Kim (played by Kong Hyo-Jin, “The Master’s Sun”)
Viewership and Rating:
- IMDb: 8.4 out of 10 stars
- My Drama List: 7.8 out of 10 stars
My personal rating is 9 out of 10 stars.
This is the first K-drama of 2025 released on Netflix (in USA). It’s a romantic comedy and if comparing it to Viki’s first K-drama of the year, “Love Scout”, which is also a Romance, they are both equal in that the male and female leads instantly charmed their way into my heart. “When the Stars Gossip” does have a couple of “extras”.
EXTRA 1: The actors and actresses really did go through specialized training to simulate the experience of floating in zero gravity.
EXTRA 2: The production team used advanced CGI technology and visual effects to create a very realistic-looking space station (ISS) with a zero-gravity environment.
It was so cool!
- Here’s some real celebrity gossip: Lee Min Ho and Song Hye Kyo (“The Glory”) got married in 2024. Wish them all the best! (Lee Min ho’s unexpected marriage announcement shocks fans: ‘STAY SINGLE FOREVER’)
(NOTE: “Crooked sperm” or misshapen sperm, also known as abnormal sperm morphology or teratospermia, is when a man’s sperm has defects in its head or tail. It can affect fertility or the impregnation process because defects might affect the ability of the sperm to reach and penetrate an egg. That’s real science. But in “When the Stars Gossip”, it seems that when that sperm is in outer space it becomes “uncrooked”. That’s probably not real science.)
LINKS OF INTEREST:
- Synopsis ‘WHEN THE STARS GOSSIP’ and Cast List, A Romantic Drama with a Unique Outer Space Setting | kapanlagi.com
- Gong Hyo Jin And Lee Min Ho’s Drama “When The Stars Gossip” Introduces 3 Key Space Terms Ahead Of Premiere | Soompi
When The Stars Gossip To Love Scout, 6 K-Dramas Releasing In January 2025 | HerZindagi
The 16 Best New Korean TV Shows on Netflix in 2025 (So Far) | Marie Claire
TRAILER/TEASER:
Netflix K-Content. “When the Stars Gossip.” YouTube, Video, 2 Jan. 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASd_GLr3ZFY.
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More K-dramas with space-related themes:
The Silent Sea
Space Sweepers
The Moon
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