ENA <Scarecrow>
It has rounded the halfway mark.
The ‘Scarecrow’ Gangseong serial murder case is sinking deeper into the labyrinth.
ENA Monday-Tuesday drama ‘Scarecrow’ (directed by Park Jun-woo, written by Lee Ji-hyun, planned by KT Studio Genie, produced by Studio Anzaileun) continues its high-flying run in the ratings on the strength of rave reviews and hot word of mouth. Episode 6, aired on the 5th, recorded 7.4% nationwide and 7.7% in the Seoul metropolitan area, taking No. 1 across all channels in its time slot based on nationwide households. (Nielsen Korea, pay-TV households) Since the premiere, it has set a new personal best each episode and, based on the average ratings for Episodes 1-6, has also topped the all-time ENA drama rankings. Immediately after its release on TVING, it firmly held the No. 1 spot on “Today’s TVING TOP20,” fueling a binge-watching craze. (TVING, as of 8 a.m., May 9)
The pursuit of the truth by Kang Tae-ju (played by Park Hae-soo), Cha Si-young (Lee Hee-jun), and Seo Ji-won (Kwak Sun-young) grows hotter by the day amid mounting doubt and reversals. Each time new clues and suspects appear, more questions follow, sowing confusion among viewers immersed in the hunt for the real culprit, “Finding Lee Yong-woo.” In particular, Kang Tae-ju, who had viewed the brothers Lee Gi-beom (Song Geon-hee) and Lee Gi-hwan (Jung Moon-sung) as prime suspects, came face to face with a third figure, Im Seok-man (Baek Seung-hwan), making the course of the investigation even harder to predict. With the series at its midpoint, we revisited the Gangseong serial-murder investigation in ‘Scarecrow’ as a timeline.
# Ace detective Kang Tae-ju returns to his hometown of Gangseong, launches investigation after detecting signs of a serial murder case
Kang Tae-ju became convinced that the three recent homicides in Gangseong were serial murders committed by the same perpetrator. As he anticipated, another killing followed, and Kang Tae-ju joined hands with Prosecutor Hwang Jae-hoon (Park Sung-hoon) instead of Cha Si-young to launch a full-scale investigation. First, they secured the statement of surviving victim Park Ae-suk (Hwang Eun-hoo), who might remember the perpetrator’s face, and female officers, disguised as passersby, staged a sting operation to lure the culprit. Seo Ji-won, a reporter for the Gangseong Ilbo and Kang Tae-ju’s close friend, also joined. At that moment, the culprit appeared and a breathless chase ensued, but Seo Ji-won lost consciousness and collapsed after losing him right before her eyes.
# A resignation on the line for a missing-person search → Kim Min-ji’s death awakens Kang Tae-ju (6th crime)
Soon after, Kang Tae-ju was implicated in an assault case involving Jeon Kyung-ho (Kang Jung-woo), which had been messily entangled with Kang Sun-young (Seo Ji-hye), and he was stripped of his authority to investigate. However, through the statement of surviving victim Kim Mi-yeon (Kim Gye-rim), rescued at the sting scene, he learned there was a serial-murder victim yet to be found. Kang Tae-ju then asked Cha Si-young for one last search, putting his resignation on the line, and found the body of the third victim, Choi In-suk (Min Hye-soo), returning it to her mother. What turned Kang Tae-ju back, after he had decided to quit the police as promised to Cha Si-young, was the news about Kim Min-ji (Kim Hwan-hee), who had pleaded with him to catch the killer of her friend Yoo Jeong-rin (Gong Ah-reum). With Kim Min-ji returning as the sixth victim, cold in death, Kang Tae-ju told Cha Si-young, “I am going to catch that bastard. Let us catch him,” and asked to work together.
# The culprit’s handkerchief = Kang Sun-young’s handkerchief?! Lee Gi-beom named the first suspect
Unexpectedly, it was not Kang Tae-ju or Cha Si-young but Seo Ji-won who found a lead. During the previous sting, she managed to snap a surprise photo of the culprit she had confronted. Though the focus was shaky and the face obscured, Seo Ji-won noticed that the culprit’s handkerchief in the photo was the same as the ones made by Kang Sun-young, and she began to suspect Lee Gi-beom. Meanwhile, after a young girl was found strangled to death inside her home, Lee Gi-beom was seen near the victim’s house that night, deepening suspicion. Even Kang Tae-ju, doubtful to the end, had no choice but to accept Lee Gi-beom as the first suspect.
# New clues and another suspect emerge! Kang Tae-ju begins to suspect Im Seok-man
During the search and seizure, Kang Tae-ju was thrown into confusion. At Lee Gi-beom’s home, there was a photo that could prove his alibi for the time of the third crime, while at the bookstore he runs with his older brother Lee Gi-hwan, a handbag lost by surviving victim Park Ae-suk (Hwang Eun-hoo) was found. Facing “two pieces of evidence telling mutually contradictory truths,” Kang Tae-ju suspected Lee Gi-hwan as another suspect, but his blood type did not match that of the perpetrator, identified as type B. Learning that Lee Gi-beom had given a false statement amid illegal questioning, Kang Tae-ju went to find Im Seok-man (Baek Seung-hwan). As a witness to the detectives’ unlawful arrest, his testimony was needed to clear Lee Gi-beom’s name. But Im Seok-man’s limping gait and sweat-soaked appearance turned suspicion toward him. This matched Kang Sun-young’s testimony that the culprit was limping on one leg, as well as the analysis of the radioactive isotope test results.
Meanwhile, Episode 7 of the ENA Monday-Tuesday drama ‘Scarecrow’ will air at 10 p.m. on Monday the 11th on ENA and will also be available on KT Genie TV and TVING.
