8, 12, 16, 24

Pat Here... What do you think these numbers mean? Is it some obscure mathematical game that no one can figure out? Nope. (Let’s just say none of my children got their heads for figures from me.) Is it my password for all my important accounts? Again, no. My internal paranoia meter would never allow that. Is it the age of my grandchildren? Almost!!

It’s the number of episodes in most of the series I’ve watched. The Trunk, which I just finished on Netflix, was 8 episodes. Jeongnyeon: The Star is Born on Disney+ ran 12. Lovely Runner on Viki had 16 segments. And my all time favorite, Mr Sunshine on Netflix ended too soon with 24 episodes.

Gong Yoo and Seo Hyun-jin in The Trunk. (He's to die for!)

Some of the Kdramas I’ve watched have been an agonizing slog to get to the end. The one that comes to mind is Deep Rooted Tree on Viki. Although the story of the invention of modern day written Korean was interesting, it could have been told with fewer episodes. I didn’t need to see another group of guards storm the palace or a brawl in the market.

Han Suk-kyu in Deep Rooted Tree. Also stars in Dr Romantic and others.

Other series are just too short. The Trunk could have been longer if only just to satisfy my need for more romance. I’d include Extraordinary Attorney Woo in this group. I would have loved to have seen whether the romance succeeded…or not. Hmmm…I guess it’s all about romance for me. Shocker.

The last series I watched with 12 episodes was Jeongnyeon: The Star is Born. I thought it was just the right amount of episodes. Both Navillera and D.P also ran 12 segments and they were just right.

I’ve heard - but not watched - that some kdramas run 50 episodes or more. I don’t know if I have it in me to watch that many. At my advanced age I can’t concentrate that much!