The Scarecrow Is Racing to Its Finale — Here Are 3 Burning Questions That Could Change Everything

ENA’s gripping crime thriller The Scarecrow has only four episodes left — and if you’ve been watching, you already know the show has earned every bit of the tension it’s been building. Set across two timelines (1988 and 2019), this drama weaves together wrongful convictions, buried secrets, and two men who hate each other but need each other to survive. The Korean television drama genre rarely does slow-burn crime this well, and The Scarecrow is proving why.

Here’s what to keep your eyes on as we head into the home stretch.

The Scarecrow: Overview

3 Things That Will Define The Scarecrow’s Finale

1. What Does “12+2” Actually Mean?

This cryptic number has been haunting the show, and it’s only getting more chilling. In the 2019 timeline, a tense face-off between Kang Tae Joo and Lee Yong Woo delivered a bombshell — Lee Yong Woo is actually Lee Ki Hwan (played by Jung Moon Sung). That revelation alone rewrites a lot.

Meanwhile, back in 1988, Kang Soon Young (Seo Ji Hye) discovers that Yoon Hye Jin (Lee Arin) has gone missing — and suddenly the 30-year gap between past and present feels razor thin. The truth buried in 1988 is clearly the key to unlocking everything in 2019.

2. Can Im Seok Man Survive Being the System’s Second Scapegoat?

The show has already shown us how brutally the justice system can fail an innocent person through Lee Ki Beom (Song Geon Hee). Now, his friend Im Seok Man (Baek Seung Hwan) is walking the same nightmare path — falsely framed, coerced into a false confession through cruel interrogation tactics, and abandoned even by his own family.

What makes this worse? Prosecutor Cha Si Young (Lee Hee Joon) has pushed for the death penalty. With the walls closing in, Im Seok Man’s arc has become the show’s most viscerally uncomfortable — and most important — thread.

3. Kang Tae Joo and Cha Si Young: From Uneasy Allies to All-Out War

These two were never friends, but they were functional. That’s over now. Lee Ki Beom’s death — a direct result of torture during the investigation — was the point of no return. Since then, things have escalated fast: Kang Tae Joo arrested Cha Si Young at his own mother’s funeral. In retaliation, Cha Si Young framed Kang Tae Joo on abuse charges. This is personal now, and the finale will decide who — if either — comes out intact.

The Scarecrow airs its next episode on May 18 at 10 PM KST on ENA. You can stream it on Viki.

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