When the Scarecrow Crawls Out (Pic credits: ENA, Instagram)
Disclaimer: This content contains references to violence, including themes of killing, rape, and torture. Viewer discretion is advised.
Park Hae Soo’s latest thriller series, The Scarecrow, draws fans into a chain of unpredictable events led by a pleasure-seeking criminal who stalks women at night, driven by a strange obsession with stockings. After starring in Karma and The Price of Confession, Park Hae Soo now plays a detective whose investigation takes unexpected turns each time he nears the serial killer. He shares the screen with Lee Hee Joon, who now plays a prosecutor—a former bully—whose interests are tied to both Kang Tae Ju and the case, heightening anticipation for their inevitable confrontation.
A title such as The Scarecrow, which seems like a children’s playhouse comedy character, has now taken a fearsome turn, with the only thing the victims last saw. A nasty obsession with stocking and then killing them after satisfying his lust gives a thriller opening to the series. A recipe filled with mystery, past encounters, and a revelation at the end leaves the city in unease. With more missing puzzles being added soon, let’s get into the details of the episodes.
Officer Kang Ju and Prosecutor Cha Si Yeong Face a Serial Killer as Past and Present Collide – Episodes 1 & 2 Explained
In the late 80s, in a South Korean village, criminal profiler Kang Ju arrests a high-ranking officer for bribery, leading to his transfer from Seoul back to his hometown. During his demotion, chaos arises in the village: new officers behave like bullies, and the police protect the powerful. While the area appears peaceful, a mysterious crime emerges under the cover of fog.
Many lives have been caught in this traumatic experience, but what catches Hae’s attention is a guy who seems innocent. A known fellow in the town is falsely accused of a murder that he didn’t commit. The prosecutor, Cha Si Yeong, who is known for bending the law in a way that compels criminals to accept their crimes, somehow encounters Kang Ju, who was once bullied by him. A trauma from his past that left him in agony for years now sets him face-to-face with him, but this time it’s going to be a matter of time before the real killer is brought forth.
The back-and-forth use of time in the episodes binds the entire series in a web of mysteries that left many lives tangled in those days. Presently, Kang Ju works as a teacher/professor, which means that he left his job; also, his case of a psychokiller turned out to be more daunting than it could ever be. Could someone he knew be the culprit? But as he meets the killer in the present, he is both shocked and relieved to see that it’s the person he knew who committed explicit crimes with the women.
A group of women of a certain age was targeted by a man who appeared at night, being a scarecrow, and the next thing we saw was these women abducted, raped, and killed after being choked with stockings. As Kang Ju and many others known to him are surrounded in that area, it fills the description for this killer. A woman who narrowly escaped the killer describes him as drunk and holding a weird obsession with stockings. He specifically targets women wearing stockings, showing off their legs. A 29-year-old, a 20-year-old, a teenage high schooler, and a journalist—all these are targeted, but somehow the journalist is saved.
In this web, Kang’s sister Sung Yu meets her man Lee Gi Beom, who is quite a popular man among teenagers and owns a bookshop. He seems like a nice guy, but his smirk over a sketch made by the victim’s friends drags a strange pull towards the killer’s behavior. His brother seems a decent man, but since he is simple and not that good-looking, he could bring his psycho nature to kill women. Also, it could be the person whom fans might come across soon, but as hinted in the second episode, it’s someone named Lee, so it could be Gi Beom, but let’s see how the episodes unveil the killer.
Fans are already holding in a chokehold to see who could be the killer. Stay tuned to hear more.
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