“Scarecrow” Park Hae-soo is gearing up for a serious fight!
In the 8th episode of ENA’s Monday-Tuesday drama “Scarecrow” aired on the 12th, the conflict between Kang Tae-joo (Park Hae-soo) and Cha Si-young (Lee Hee-jun) reached its breaking point. Kang Tae-joo decided to fight until the end, even if it meant hitting a rock with an egg. The episode saw ratings rise to 7.4% nationwide and 7.3% in the metropolitan area, peaking at 8.2%. On the same day, tvN’s “Cooking Soldier” starring Park Ji-hoon recorded ratings in the 6% range.
After regaining consciousness at the hospital, Kang Tae-joo returned to the funeral of Cha Si-young’s mother. Unable to contain his rage upon seeing Cha Si-young’s smiling face, Kang Tae-joo handcuffed him and dragged him out, turning the funeral into total chaos. When the youngest detective, Park Dae-ho (Ryu Hae-jun), criticized him out of concern, Kang Tae-joo thought of Lee Ki-beom and lamented, “I did it to survive. I felt like I would wither away and die if I just stayed still.”
Cha Si-young was furious that Kang Tae-joo ruined his perfect funeral. Meanwhile, Detective Do Hyung-gu (Kim Eun-woo) was being investigated by the audit team regarding Lee Ki-beom’s death. Ignoring Do’s plea for help, Cha Si-young framed Kang Tae-joo for abuse. When a disciplined Kang Tae-joo confronted him, Cha Si-young provoked him further, saying, “Do you see the difference between us now? It’s not a crime for me to beat a suspect like Lee Ki-beom, but it is a crime for you to insult me. We call that ‘rank’.”
Kang Soon-young (Seo Ji-hye) suffered from short-term memory loss, unable to accept Lee Ki-beom’s death. However, she regained her memory after a conversation between Kang Tae-joo and Seo Ji-won (Kwak Sun-young) and held a silent protest at the prosecutor’s office with a sign written in blood saying, “Punish the murderer Cha Si-young.” During this, she got into a fight with Cha Si-young’s fiancée, Kim Hee-jin (Hong Bi-ra), and ended up in a police holding cell. Consequently, Kang Tae-joo asked Cha Jun-young (Heo Jung-do) to settle his sister’s matter in exchange for leaving Gangseong.
With the true culprit “Lee Yong-woo” revealed to be Lee Ki-hwan (Jung Moon-sung) in the previous episode, he drew attention by blaming Kang Tae-joo for his brother Lee Ki-beom’s death and preparing to leave Gangseong, saying, “Let’s never meet again.” Most shockingly, knowing that Im Seok-man (Baek Seung-hwan) was being falsely accused and tortured, he coldly induced a confession, saying, “You’ll end up like our Ki-beom. If you’re sorry to Ki-beom, repent now and take your punishment.” His rampage continued as he not only repeated his killings but also targeted Kang Soon-young next, leaving viewers chilled.
Ultimately, Kang Tae-joo left Gangseong after leaving a meaningful mutter to himself: “I will definitely break you, you piece of rock.” Meanwhile, Cha Si-young not only drove Lee Ki-beom to death but also obtained a false confession from Im Seok-man, leading to a request for the death penalty. However, at the end of the episode, Kang Tae-joo was thrown into confusion upon discovering another murdered body and the victim’s stockings. This teased that the “Gangseong Serial Murder Case,” which seemed to end with Im Seok-man’s arrest, is far from over.
