Alcohol & Secrets
Episode 5 of When The Stars Gossip starts with Ryong waking up after his drunken night where he confessed to Eve and made a fool of himself.
We then get a complete rework of the incident outside the space station, this time through a comedic lens, which feels like a very jarring choice. However, we do see more of that conversation from the night before, with Ryong admitting that he just wanted the courage to speak the truth and he won’t get a chance when they’re back on Earth.
In the morning, Santi checks over the bottle and realizes that a lot of it has been polished off and he’s pretty happy about that. Ryong though isn’t in his room, he’s actually outside Eve’s. He picks up where he left off when she opens the doors, admitting that this zero gravity has definitely done something to his feelings and his heart.
In reply, Eve is quick to point out that this whole incident is inappropriate and she’s going to report it to the IOU.
Eve knows this is a tricky situation, but Ryong catches her off-guard by admitting he’s looking to cut ties with the MZ Group and give her a year to change her mind. She orders him not to have feelings for her and in fact, pushes him away by calling Ryong unattractive. She continues, deciding to follow up on this alcohol issue and figure out how it got onboard.
Ryong speaks to Santi and apologizes for nearly getting him caught. However, Santi is an expert at hiding the booze and at the moment, is holding it in the incubator. He has an array of different areas that he stashes this, so Ryong decides they should hide it someplace else, given Eve is onto them.
Meanwhile, Mina speaks to Dona on the phone about her lottery predicament. She’s not sure if she can trust Ryong with keeping this a secret and not taking the money for himself. However, she speaks so loudly about her winnings that Seung-jun happens to overhear.
This time, it’s Seung-jun’s turn to think about the money and get a montage of his own. He goes on the hunt for it, but finds Mina about to tell Kang-su the truth. However, an argument breaks out which stops the truth from being unveiled. At least just yet anyway.
That night, Ryong rings Go-eun who apologizes about hastily announcing their engagement. He’s also sorry for not being able to do his job onboard and repeats to her that he doesn’t believe he’s a good enough partner for her. He decides to call off the engagement, then hangs up on her.
Go-eun is left reeling from this, although she still doesn’t like her father and is quick to reprimand him and his slimy plan to have Kang-su usurp Ryong’s mission in the first place.
Down on Earth, Na Min-jeong is brought to the Chairman alongside Go-eun. Together, they learn that the eggs have been fertilized successfully and the chairman is quick to rub it in her and Go-eun’s faces about the “great job” that Kang-su has done.
In front of everyone, Min-jeong eventually agrees to let Kang-su continue at the helm, and that he can continue with his current job. Go-eun is shocked, but there’s a further development onboard the ISS. Now, it turns out Ryong wants Mina’s help in saving the eggs in exchange for keeping quiet about the eggs.
Unfortunately, Eve ends up in the worst possible situation when she rings her partner, Park Dong-a, that night. He happens to be in bed with his colleague, Tae-hui, and somehow, they manage to answer the call while both in bed together.
Eve sees everything and in fact, hears him say “Eve doesn’t now much about men”. Eve is livid and takes out her frustration in front of Ryong, retorting about how awful men are in general. Ryong inevitably thinks this is directed at him, leading to some light banter between the two. However, it’s incredibly tense, especially when Tae-hui rings back.
Eve can’t bring herself to talk about the affair and instead, talks about the alcohol as a deflection. Tae-hui tasks her with searching for the bottle, but given Tae-hui is just slipping right back into her usual professional state, Eve is thrown off a little by her nonchalance.
Eve is determined to find the alcohol and it doesn’t take long for her to do just that. As she roots around for Santi, she finds Kang-su who has just sent over the pictures for Jae-ryong surrounding the successful eggs.
Eve immediately figures out what’s going on here, and Kang-su is caught red-handed. Given this is against the space code, she demands he open the incubator door.
The Episode Review
So everything has come to a head now as Kang-su’s experiments have come to the foreground and Eve is a woman possessed. She is not happy at the insubordinate behaviour onboard the station and as a result of being caught, this whole thing is going to turn into a messy bout of drama. This is definitely needed here because so far this has been a pretty tepid K-drama and the story hasn’t been the best.
The fact that the opening set of scenes have distorted the tense sequence with Ryong and Eve into a comedy doesn’t do this show any favours. It’s disappointing to see this made a mockery of, while the show feels awkwardly contrived in the way it switches between comedy and drama, which is a shame.
However, the setting and characters are partly what make this so unique and watchable, at least for the time being. There’s potential here for a much more dramatic second half to take off, especially after a couple of chapters that haven’t done much to move the needle and make this a must-watch.
The ending though definitely promises that tomorrow’s follow-up could be the turning point for this one.
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