Viewers are reeling after it was revealed that actor Jung Moon-sung’s character is a serial killer, sending the drama’s shocking storyline — and ratings — into overdrive.
Episode 8 of ENA’s Monday–Tuesday drama 'scarecrow,' which aired on the 12th, pushed tensions between Kang Tae-joo (Park Hae-soo) and Cha Si-young (Lee Hee-joon) to the brink. According to Nielsen Korea, the nationwide rating hit 7.4%, a new personal best for the series, with a per-minute peak of 8.2% — No. 1 among Monday–Tuesday dramas.
Regaining consciousness at the hospital, Kang Tae-joo went straight to Cha Si-young’s mother’s funeral hall. After seeing Cha Si-young smiling, an enraged Kang snapped, cuffed him, and dragged him out — a move that junior detective Park Dae-ho (Ryu Hae-jun) scolded out of pity. Haunted by thoughts of Lee Gi-beom (Song Geon-hee), Kang confessed in despair: "I did it to survive. If I stayed still, I felt like my insides would shrivel up and burst — like I’d die."
Kang Soon-young (Seo Ji-hye), unable to accept Lee Gi-beom’s death, showed signs of short-term memory loss, but later regained her memory after overhearing a conversation between Kang Tae-joo and Seo Ji-won (Kwak Sun-young. She then began protesting in front of the Prosecutors’ Office, holding a blood-written sign reading "Punish murderer Cha Si-young." After a clash with Cha Si-young’s fiancée Kim Hee-jin (Hong Bi-ra), Kang Soon-young was detained at a police station, prompting Kang Tae-joo to seek help from Cha Joon-young (Heo Jung-do).
Meanwhile, the real killer Lee Gi-hwan (Jung Moon-sung) — known to others as Lee Yong-woo — blamed Kang Tae-joo for his younger brother Lee Gi-beom’s death and declared, "Let’s never meet again," hinting at a new plan. Im Seok-man (Baek Seung-hwan) was shown being interrogated under wrongful accusations, enduring beatings and torture, while Lee Gi-hwan’s icy tactics to force a confession left viewers stunned. Lee then repeated his murders and set his sights on Kang Soon-young as his next target, cranking the tension even higher.
In the end, Kang Tae-joo vowed under his breath, "I’m going to smash you to pieces, you little rock," and left Gangseong to go after Cha Si-young. But Cha Si-young not only drove Lee Gi-beom to his death, he also extracted a false confession from Im Seok-man and sought the death penalty.
As the episode closed, another murdered body appeared, signaling that the 'Gangseong serial murders' are far from over — and keeping viewers on edge.
scarecrow airs every Monday and Tuesday at 10 p.m. KST on ENA and is also available on KT Genie TV and TVING.