When The Stars Gossip faces low ratings and backlash: Why isn't Lee Min-ho's space romance taking off?

The kookier, the better, that usually is the K-drama fan motto. We thrive on the absurd. Over the years, we’ve witnessed shape-shifting nine-tailed foxes, goblins bickering over rent, and even a woman inexplicably transformed into a chicken nugget. So, why is a space romance—complete with zero-gravity surgeries and intergalactic IVF—struggling to captivate audiences?

Well, When The Stars Gossip, starring Lee Min-ho and Gong Hyo-jin, is facing many brickbats, with many fans also defending it. The show's ratings have been plummeting, with a recent staggeringly low 1.84 per cent in South Korea itself. There's a lot happening in the show itself that is hard to process: We're talking Space IVF, fruit flies...and that's only the tip of this very confusing iceberg that's causing the meltdown.

Truth be told, it’s not the space setting that’s the issue—it’s the lack of engaging characters. Min-ho plays a dashing young gynecologist, the kind of hero the show insists you should root for: He claims to remember his time in his mother’s womb and wields both his fists and his intellect with flair. From delivering babies in swimming pools to subway trains, he’s the over-the-top savior we’re told we need but perhaps don’t quite deserve.

Enter Hyo-jin. Min-ho continues his streak of heroic deeds by performing surgery for an ectopic pregnancy, only to find himself blacklisted by the medical community. His defiance sparks the ire of Go-eun’s father, Choi Jae-ryong (Kim Eung-soo), who is hell-bent on preserving his family’s lineage. As the twists unfold, Min-ho is tasked with providing an heir, leading to an utterly baffling space-reproduction storyline. He ends up in space with Hyo-jin, who serves as the mission commander, while her ex-boyfriend is also along for the ride, adding a dose of classic K-drama love triangle tension.

That's a lot to handle.

Viewers are finding it hard to connect with the show, with many admitting they lost interest as early as the second episode. The biggest issue seems to be the lack of the most essential K-drama ingredient: chemistry. It's the magic that can salvage even the quirkiest plots, yet it feels absent here. Adding to the disarray are perplexing elements like Min-ho performing open-heart surgery on a mouse in zero gravity or the bizarre reproductive-space subplot that stretches believability. Moreover, Min-ho's character has sparked discomfort among fans due to a forced edginess—many have criticized his candidness about taboo topics as "crass" and "crude." While opinions on this are subjective, it’s clear his portrayal has polarised viewers.

Nevertheless, not all hope is lost. Many viewers have praised the show’s stunning cinematography and expressed confusion over the intense backlash. Yes, it’s quirky and undeniably outlandish, but does that warrant dismissing it entirely? Some fans argue, “People just don’t get it.”

And maybe they don’t need to. After all, it’s a television show meant to entertain—not Sudoku.

With nine episodes left, When The Stars Gossip has a lot to prove. Whether it can turn its flailing fortunes around remains to be seen

When The Stars Gossip is streaming on Netflix.