stuff that was meh this week:

we were moving at a slow unbothered pace before; being sort of slice of life. now that we've added this seemingly random drama into it? i'm not really sure what to think yet.

house keeper plot point felt bland for me even though i'm sure there's some rich anti fans out there who do exist.

that other anti-fan? ehhh. feels sort of late to introduce them now.

non-meh stuff:

i wasn't sure about the main couple originally but they were just too cute this week! all the kisses omg!

i sort of love the contrast between the actor character that taesung plays. like him as that character kissing dahye's character vs taesung kissing hanbyeol. the little kisses all over were so so so cute!!

taesung driving 3 hours to get a hug is stupid silly lool

i honestly wasn't really buying hoyoung and yoosung (the og) at first but hoyoung's confession was so funny!

also i didn't know i'd like them together but i thought kibbeum and soohyeok's flirting was pretty cute

speaking of soohyeok, the stairwell meetings with taesung to really show off their pettiness and i'm here for all of it!! would love to see more of dahye and jungyeol next ep~

I kinda loved how awkward HB and TS were at first as a couple, although it’s mildly tiresome that her girlfriend role is almost immediately to provide the personal service equivalent (comforting and soothing him) of her professional service to him (protecting and running interference).

The crazy rich sasaeng housekeeper subplot was absurd and, yeah, what kind of motivation is it that he simply refused a gift? But when the housekeepmakjangamajig told TS that he’ll remember her whenever he eats salty food, it reminded me that real-life sasaengs have stated that their purpose in excessive attention to the point of attacking their idols or their families was to “make them know who I am” or “make sure they remember me.” Giving HB a taste of that kind of crazy by sending of her special necklace to all her staff is a good way of bringing home to her the dangers of getting involved with a celebrity and probably to spoil that gift for her forever.

I loooooooooved the staircase flirtation/dick-measuring contest! More of that, please! But the mysterious threat to “avenge” the friend’s death, I can’t even. I want my clever silly fun back!

I think right now my replay button is tired of me because that kiss brought out all the squeals!!!! and replays!
Then the twist about the housekeeper from hell, i did not see that coming, i would have bet a million bucks she was related to the friend but she was angry because he rejected her gift?? wow, Talk about crazy.
Also how many love ships/Triangles/Octagon/Hexagon are we getting?
It seems the writer has decided to play a game, let someone fall in love weekly and i am not complaining, as long as the drama does not take itself seriously, i am here for the kisses and hopefully bed scene. I mean a gal can dream right?

Forgot to add this @unit, Thanks for the awesome recap
I think Yunaaaa and her partner (dunno his name) reel to real romance is going to end in the Rocks and the managers will probably suffer the more!!! cant wait for that, also the stairway scene?? pure gold....... those two are just one scene away from a bromance.

Has Tiffany changed their iconic packaging or are the subs just wrong?

I CAN’T, WHEN JAEHYUN STARTED BARKING LIKE A DOG I QUITE LEGITIMATELY THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO CRACK A RIB and then I straight up ascended with the all the adorable GTS x OHB post kiss chaos that ensued.

This week was an absolute riot, felt like I needed to be jacked up on caffeine to keep up with everything that was going on at some points. From the 92384983 new love lines, 1 fake love line (I died at the stairwell scene), and the OHB x GTS 180 going from being at each other’s throats to heart eyes and skinship 24/7, there was just so much going on. And that’s not even touching on the whole the Evil Housekeeper Auntie and return of The Mum thing (and whatever the heck is going on between them). Loved every second though, this show gives me all the sunshine I’m not currently getting because we’re edging into winter where I am!

P.S Yuna, girl, lend me your confidence sometime 😍

I can't with the cute! This show is so fun, I'm enjoying it so much! Love that everyone is falling in love with everyone else and they're all so awkward: it's like everyone in the show is 14!

I hope the housekeeper drama is done, and I hope revenge guy is wrapped up equally easily: they're only interesting as excuses for the PR team to leap into action and our leads to hug each other.

Totally shipping the Tae Sung/Soo Hyuk bromance!

Why the OTP is so childish? I meant if this highschool drama, I wouldn't comment. The only mature one is Yoo Soong.

Everytime a drama has a celebrity as a lead, there are creepy stories with stalker... I think they should more adressed the daily stuff like online critics...

At least, the main couple is cute! I was kinda tired by their fights.

For Jae-hyun and Yoo-na, why? For now, she's just a rich girl with no manners.

Ho-young with Yoo-Sung Senior and Yoo-Sung Junior (whose ad was great), not a love triangle I was imagining but both Yoo-Sung are good people. It's funny like Yoo-Sung Senior spends more time with the CEO of a rival agency than his own CEO. :P

Soo-hyuk and Ki-Bbeum had a nice dynamic but not as funny as Soo-hyuk and Tae-Sung.

What a turn of events. Ep 9 had me giggling like a nutcase throughout. I have hopes that they will go along with a healthy relation if the writenim does not throw a noble idiocy track in the future episodes. I knew there will be love triangle soon between the two Yu-Sung’s and Ho young and was unsure which side I am on. They all are too adorable. Ho young’s confession and the run was sooo cute !!!!
I couldn’t stand the housekeeper’s creepy smile and even creepier sound modulation in ep 10 that I ended up fast forwarding most of her scenes. I knew that the dead friend might come as a plot in future episodes. Hopefully questions regarding it will be answered next week. KYD really is a good actor. I loved how expressive he was throughout this week’s episodes. Especially in portraying the awkwardness and shyness. I was squealing when Gong tried the things Byeol likes even though he hated them all. That mint Choco ice-cream selfie was so damn cute. I have my doubts about the fan girl in Da Hye taking a dark turn if she knows about his relationship. Also loved Gong’s mother’s reaction when she finally got to know about Byeol. She has a long way to go as a mother but loved how she gave that little naughty smile instead of plotting maliciously to separate them. Or is it too early to put that statement???

On last note I did find a good amount of chemistry between the lawyer and Byeol’s journalist friend in ep 10. Will there be any future for that ship ??
Friday!! Why can’t you come quicker???

@unit Great recap. Helped me get things back in perspective. I was loving the low key domestics alongside the romance but felt it was too big a leap from the usual fun to the nasty housekeeper storyline and the revenge intro. However you highlighted the fun that was still hiding in plain sight.

I think the excitement of new relationships especially first relationships is like being a teenager because of the effects of happy hormones. We just see too much of kiss and then hot steamy sex scenes on tv that’s why I love the slow pace of most the K drama rom coms.

The need for secrecy and calling it a scandal when celebrity couples have relationships is ridiculous and I wish someone would call it out. They sign up to do a film, sing or dance but it’s a job they receive a payment for and what they do in their off duty time should be their business. None of the fans would want to be on duty in their jobs 24/7 so not sure why the obsessive nature or the controlling behaviour is seen as acceptable.

Although it wasn't as funny as episodes 2-8, episode 9 still had its moments especially with "the nation's boyfriend has a boyfriend" rumor. Also what romance lover couldn't like the arrogant stars confession, which revealed what previous episodes had shown, how insecure and how much in love he was, and this made him actually pretty appealing.

But, I'm a little worried about what episode 10 portends for the series, which not only made a big deal of the creepy rich housekeeper (who as @unit pointed out, was not necessarily out of place, since crazy fans are part of every idol's life) but also brought in an out of nowhere revenge plot. This in addition to a Mother trauma!

Why? Wouldn't the dating "scandal" brought by the reveal of Tae Sung and Han Byeoul have been enough to temporarily break them up, before the last couple of episodes brought a joyful reunion? And what about all the other secondary romances, which deserve some time as well? You could easily fill the next 6 episodes by 1)resolving the mother trauma. 2. settling the secondary love triangle 3. Developing the Ki-bbeum--Soo Hyuk relationship, 4. temporarily breaking up and then reuniting the leads ending with a parody of the elaborately covered "stars" weddings which we've already had a sample of in real life this year. Plus all sorts of other industry shenanigans would keep this one light and fun.
But no, there has to be a revenge plot!

These two episodes were a roller coaster of emotions. First a lot of heart fluttering, then the villains made their public appearance. Unfortunately, they will keep us busy for at least the next episode, but I hope that it will continue as easy-going as I love it in this series. I definitely don't need psychotic antifans.

I didn't expect Han-byeol and Tae-sung to become a couple as early as episode 9. Heck, they're both really cute, even if they act like teenagers with a crush. The first kiss and the awkward phone calls were really sweet.
And it's nice that the misunderstanding caused by Tae-sung about his alleged relationship with a co-star is cleared up.

At first, I found the lawyer as interesting as a dry piece of toast, but during his cockfights with Tae-sung, he was definitely very entertaining. I almost felt sorry for him that he was involved in a dating scandal with his love rival, of all people. Kudos on how he managed to use the elevator again. It's just too bad we won't see any more confidential meetings in the stairwell.
But he seems to get quickly over the fact that his heart has been broken twice (lol) in such a short time, because we can already see slight attempts to flirt with the reporter.

As feared, the housekeeper has evil in mind and unfortunately this was the main theme in episode 10, so the levity was lost. Episode 11 will probably have a similarly serious tone, I just hope the matter is resolved quickly because I love SHOOTING STARS mostly for the humor.
It probably boils down to Tae-sung breaking down in public, trigger could be a flurry of flashbulbs. We had already seen in the previous episodes that flashbulbs cause him stress.

Thanks @unit for recapping as I thought episode 10 had gone off the rails a bit, but you put the perspective back for me. I loved the main couple in these episodes, but also the set up of so many other potential couples. Squealed my way through the kisses, my husband thought I'd finally lost it.
I hope the writers don't go too crazy with the anti fan plot. I don't think the extremes are needed for the audience to get the point.

There was a lot of great stuff in this week's episodes:

- The OTP. Pure sugar. Judging from the very first episode, I honestly didn't expect to like them as much as I do but both actors won me over with their chemistry and their portrayal of these two awkward idiots in love. Also, on a superficial note, they are very, very cute together.

- Soo-hyuk being the absolute dreamboat that he is. He's attractive, successful, open about his feelings, mature and professional enough to accept that they are not being returned *and* he even gets to joke about Tae-sung not being his type even if he were into guys. If nobody claims this man for themself, I will gladly take one for the team and volunteer to marry him.

- Soo-hyuk, again. This time, in combination with Ki-bbeum because they both crack me up so badly. And yes, I'm already shipping it super hard. This show has enough minor couples I don't necessarily care about, so please make it happen. If not as lovers, let them be platonic pals because I'm sure they'd get along like a house on fire.

- I was kind of hoping that Ho-young would refuse the head pat in order to emancipate herself from this dongsaeng role she seems to have slipped into with Yoo-sung. That said, I thought the confession was very cute and I'm honestly curious about Yoo-sung's feelings on the issue. There is obviously no doubt that he likes and respects her, but is he willing and ready to accept her as a woman and as an equal?

- Da-hee. I liked that she noticed the small changes in Tae-sung's behavior. Is it too much to hope that she will respect his private life and not use the situation to her advantage somehow (i.e. offer to fake-date Tae-sung with the intention of making him fall for her)?

Things I didn't like so much:

- The superfan. Didn't really work for me. She was sneaky enough to work as his housekeeper all this time but she cannot stop herself from openly commenting on Han-byeol's necklace? And while her motivation for sending the necklaces to the PR team made sense to me, I would've loved the idea so much more if it had been a deliberate agency tactic to curb rumors about it being a special gift from Tae-sung. After all, if the entire PR team wears necklace presents from him, Han-byeol cannot be that dear to his heart. Tae-sung could've said that it was a gift for their hard work in last week's episode.

- Our mystery man at the end of episode 10. I already don't care. Just give me more wacky agency and on-set shenanigans.

- Eun Si-woo. I hope the show won't force a reconciliation between her and Tae-sung. He's been through so much and she left him there to grow up alone. He deserves to heal on his own terms and in the company of people who have consistently cared about/chosen him. Give him time and space, woman. Then we can talk. Maybe.

- Jae-hyun and Yoo-na. So far, the show hasn't really put in any work to make me feel that this is more between them than pure and simple,...

I guess it makes sense ssaesangs would come into the picture, but it was super abrupt. I feel like they brought it in just to disrupt the beginning of the romance. That is silly, give us time to live in the relationship, it has only been about a week.

The housekeeper thing was over the top, but the rest of these episodes were great fun.

The first half of the show I was confuse, but now everything is clear.

1. I was so wrong about the main couple, they are cute as hell. I guess I just needed them to be in sync. No more kid in love with his babysitter dynamic, now they're both cute kids.

2. I was so scare Ho Yeong would end up with actor Yu Seong.
The first episodes made me believe they were one ship and Yu Seong with Tae Sung's fan were another, but nope my ship was always right. They are my favorite couple.

3. I don't have to feel bad for our second lead, he's also building a ship.

Maybe it's because I skipped everything with the housekeeper and the mom, but for me these two episodes were 100% cuteness and fun and I loved them.

The show looks to be flipping from focusing on FL to ML which never bodes well. Could just be my dislike with the creepy housekeeper thing. Maybe because the humour is the best part of the show that getting stuck with non-humour bits feels like its not playing to its strength (more Ep10 than 9). Plus the notable Jung-Yeol absence.

Side characters remain awesome. Non-actor Yoo-Sung is officially favourite. Plus, Ki-Bbeum and Soo-Hyeok look cute together. (Can't deny Soo-Hyeok and Tae-Sung would also look good together...)

I enjoyed all the light-hearted stuff, and didn't mind the housekeeper so much: I always thought the over-salted food was weirdly petty and didn't fit a vengeful mother storyline.

I'm a bit concerned about the overall arc now, though. I thought there were fairly clear indications in the early episodes that there was a big redemption theme coming, probably something with Tae-sung's past. But the show's now claiming he never wronged Han-byeol beyond failing to take her into his confidence re Moon Ga-young's character, so it's kind of putting the early (ie Ep 1-2) edginess between them on her. And Min-kyu is coming back as a belated villain when I saw his move from Starpeace to DS as a foreshadowing of more important characters getting second chances. And Yoo-sung (manager) is now looking like he won't have any skeletons in his cupboard despite ample room for them, collapsing his character into no more than general do-gooder and fixer.

That terrible housekeeper better watch out - Yoosung is a mama bear and she had just hurt one of his baby cubs. She may be rich as hell, but he's the polite maniac. Look at what he did to get his Jae-hyun a supporting character role.

I wish they had gone lighter with the housekeeper story. Even more than revenge, the lady was deranged and sick to purposely traumatize Taesung. Eun Si-woo was a crap mom, but I'm glad she grabbed that lady's hair.

Please keep the funny for the next 6 episodes!! I find myself thinking about shooting stars a lot when reading up on k-celeb/kdrama news.

@unit, I wondered if perhaps actor Yoo-sung patted Ho-young’s head to see her reaction. To see if a pat from him also made her put her hand to her heart. When she didn’t react the same, I think she said something about having washed her hair that day, actor Yoo-sung looked disappointed.

I couldn't stop smiling. They are so cute. Han-byul is such a spaz screaming and hanging up, it's endearing. She should've asked when he started liking her, but she asked how much. Though she really should ask why he lied about dating Yeo Ha-jin. Tae-sung, please at least tell Jung-yeol after all that he's done to help. Aww at him trying Han-byul's favorites, then Da-hye realizing his preference changes as a fangirl.

Jae-hyun and Yoo-na are cute too. Ever since Ho-young had tried to scout Si-deok, I thought they would fall for each other, so was disappointed that she liked Yoo-sung. Oh, Soo-hyuk and Ki-bbeum were the ship.

The housekeeper was a sugar mama? Not even an anti-fan, but just a psycho who coveted Tae-sung. He trusted imonim who played the long con.

Why does the new character by the grave looks alot like Tae sung former manager the one working for yoo naya

i see a lawyer and reporter ship sailing soon!