First Impressions: Shin Hae-sun and Lee Jun-hyuk Engage in an Unconventional Cat-and-Mouse Game in “The Art of Sarah”
Spoiler Warning: This article contains spoilers for episodes 1 and 2 of The Art of Sarah.
How far would you go to make all of your deepest desires come true? Teaming up for Netflix’s first Korean mystery thriller of the year, director Kim Jin-min (My Name, Butterfly) and newly debuted screenwriter Chu Song-yeon present The Art of Sarah, which provides an intriguing look into the perilous journey to attaining wealth.
Nearly eight years after appearing together in the crime-thriller drama Stranger, Shin Hae-sun and Lee Jun-hyuk reunite once more in the world of justice, but this time not as allies. At the center of the narrative is Sarah Kim (Shin), the head of a luxury brand, who is thought to be the victim of a brutal murder in Seoul’s elite district. While investigating the case, Detective Park Mu-gyeong (Lee) notices something is off when he finds several discrepancies in Sarah’s personal records. As he probes further into the mysterious woman, her meticulously crafted web of lies begins to unravel — revealing that not everything that glitters is gold.
Sarah Kim: The Craftswoman
As the first episode begins, viewers are given intimate access to a private pop-up event for the fictional luxury brand Boudoir, as the brand unveils its 2024 SS Collection. While guests partake in the festivities, the company’s regional head, Sarah Kim, cuts through the dense crowd of elites, appearing almost worried. When snow begins to fall, she moves to cover her precious merchandise, and her inner thoughts finally become clear as she narrates: “Truth like light blinds us. Falsehood, on the other hand, is like a sunset that enhances everything — that is, until you get caught.”
Outside of the venue, elsewhere in Seoul, the focus falls on a young woman, Yang Da-hye (Yoon Ga-i), who unexpectedly discovers a body located in the sewer. With the victim being badly beaten and having no additional forms of identification, it was initially difficult to identify the Jane Doe. But as investigators combed the scene, they found one piece of evidence that might help confirm her identity: a purple Birkin handbag. After tracking down the owner via the serial number, the police find themselves breaking the unfortunate news to Jeong Yeo-jin (Park Bo-kyung), who is revealed to have gifted the bag to her friend, Sarah Kim. Since Yeo-jin is the only one at the moment who knows of the victim, she is quickly subjected to questioning by Detective Park Mu-gyeong, who is curious to know everything about their friendship.
When she recalls her first encounter with her late friend, a flashback begins, showing a disheveled Sarah wheeling a suitcase into the Birkin store. Upon her arrival, it is clear she does not quite belong there. While walking around the shop without a word, Sarah is seen picking up several pieces of merchandise only to place them back down again without care. In the moment, the atmosphere feels tense as employees scramble behind Sarah to fix the displays and politely remind her of the store’s strict policies, to which she ignores. Since they are not quite sure of Sarah’s status, they must endure her off-putting behavior until she makes a potential purchase.
After a bit more browsing, Sarah suddenly cuts through the uneasiness, saying to an employee: “I’ll take everything I’ve touched so far…you remember all of them, right?” Although this behavior might have been disruptive to the other store patrons, it sparked Yeo-jin’s curiosity, who described Sarah as alluring. Even though the two women crossed paths for the first time at the Birkin store, it wasn’t until a little later that they would officially become acquainted.
Laying the Groundwork
In the background narrative, matters of classism are explored as the series peels back the layers of social stratification present even in the upper society. Some time after their first encounter, Yeo-jin and Sarah cross paths once more, in what appears to be an elite social club. However, their reunion is anything but pleasant, since just a few moments prior, Yeo-jin was being criticized by Choi Chae-u (Bae Jong-ok), a department store chairwoman who scorns those who flaunt their wealth. When Yeo-jin moves to make her exit from the club, she suddenly collides with Sarah, who spills wine all over her very flashy Birkin. In order to save Yeo-jin from further public humiliation, Sarah offers a suave apology while suggesting they swap Birkins. Taken aback by the strange extension of kindness, Yeo-jin finds herself being pulled further into Sarah’s orbit.
As the story of their whirlwind friendship continues, the flashback sequences become more condensed, allowing viewers to witness all of the subtle ways Sarah strategically manipulated Yeo-jin, who proved to be the first perfect victim. During this montage, we learn that Yeo-jin, who is a part of the nouveau riche, is a very lonely person, which is the vulnerability that Sarah primarily targets. Even though Yeo-jin has become aware of Sarah’s true character in the present day, she still shows allegiance to the only person who made her life feel as though it was worth living. When Detective Mu-gyeong tries to pry for deeper answers, she continues to express only positive memories of her time with Sarah before revealing that the last time she saw her was at the pop-up party.
Detective Park Mu-gyeong: The Connoisseur
As their conversation comes to an end, Detective Mu-gyeong is left with more questions than answers. But not for long. While reviewing the interview footage with his team, Mu-gyeong finds himself fixated on the way Yeo-jin handled her luxury handbag as well as her overall lack of grief during their chat. Even though no one else agrees with his observations, the seasoned detective keeps on digging for clues, which leads him to the Financial Crimes Investigation Unit.
In this moment, the real nature of the two women’s friendship comes to light as the Financial Crimes team leader (Lee Hwa-jung) explains that Yeo-jin was owed 15 billion won from Sarah, who refused to repay her after she invested in Boudoir. Since the money Yeo-jin invested was siphoned off from her own companies’ funds, she realized that she would soon be in hot water. In a desperate attempt to make Sarah pay up, Yeo-jin hired Min Byeong-kwan (Lim Gi-hong) to kidnap her. But it was explained that he accidentally kidnapped the wrong person: an innocent Boudoir salesperson whom Mu-gyeong actually crossed paths with some time prior. Back then, the interaction did not mean much, but as Mu-gyeong recalls the encounter, he realizes that the salesperson might actually be a bigger piece of the puzzle.
As the first episode comes to a close, there is so much information to digest, but things get even more complicated when the police learn that Sarah Kim doesn’t even exist. With this new revelation, everything we learned up to this point becomes almost irrelevant as the viewers, along with Mu-gyeong, are brought right back to square one.
A Break in the Investigation
In episode two, the kidnapper, Byeong-kwan, takes center stage, explaining that he, too, was a victim of Sarah Kim. While meeting with assistant detective Hyeon Jae-hyeon (Shin Hye-seung), he reveals what really happened when Yeo-jin recruited him to kidnap Sarah. In yet another flashback, viewers witness how Byeong-kwan was outsmarted by the supposed-to-be victim, who lured him to her shop and fabricated a kidnapping scene. After being rescued by the police, Sarah went on to sue her captor under the false identity, Woo Hyo-eun, which is the name of one of her former employees.
With this new identity uncovered, the police team concludes that Sarah must be running a Ponzi scheme, leading them to believe there are likely even more victims out there. As they reboot their investigation, two more persons of interest come into play: actress Shin So-ui (Kim Yong-ji) and the real Woo Hyo-eun (Jung Da-bin).
In a lone mission, Jae-hyeon goes undercover as a volunteer line sitter to gain intel from Hyo-eun about the inner workings of Boudoir. During their conversation, it is revealed that Sarah scouted Hyo-eun to be her first employee. At first, everything seemed perfect, but things soon took an unpleasant turn when Hyo-eun found unreleased Boudoir bags at a local flea market in Dongdaemun. Being the devoted employee that she is, Hyo-eun made it a point to report her findings to Sarah, who responded in anger. As she continued her story, Hyo-eun explained that the unexpected reaction caused her to become increasingly more suspicious of Sarah and the brand as a whole.
Elsewhere in the city, Detective Mu-gyeong is busy gaining intel of his own from the rising actress So-ui, who suspects that Hyo-eun may be the real culprit in the murder. Although she has no solid proof, she lets Mu-gyeong in on rumors of a major falling out between Sarah and Hyo-eun. With this new information in hand, he quickly moves to track down Hyo-eun for questioning and is surprised to find his subordinate is already one step ahead of him.
As the second episode reaches its endpoint, the two men join forces to continue questioning Hyo-eun and her friend, Yang Da-hye. As a means of clearing themselves of suspicion, the duo presents Mu-gyeong with what they claim to be a smoking gun. After giving their testimonial of Sarah’s cunning behavior, Hyo-eun hands over a notebook filled with information on everyone on her ex-boss’s client list. While skimming the notebook, Mu-gyeong comes across a page labeled Sarah Kim to which he asks, “What about [her]?” In response, Hyo-eun plainly states, “The only thing I know about that woman is that I don’t know anything about her. You can figure out the rest, Mr. Handsome Detective.”
With new and solid evidence in hand, the investigation team proceeds with a search and seizure at Boudoir. But upon arrival, the police see that Sarah has already cleared out all of her stuff, and the only thing that remains is a handkerchief Mu-gyeong gave to her during their first encounter. In the final moments of episode two, the seasoned detective decides to return to the crime scene for answers. At the same time that Mu-gyeong is scouring the dingy sewers for clues, new secrets come to light above the surface as another one of Sarah’s identities is revealed.
Will this new identity offer real truths, or will the Jane Doe remain one step ahead of the investigation? If you’re curious about how the case unfolds from here, be sure to tune in for all the answers now on Netflix!
Looking for more K-drama recommendations? Check out our First Impressions of the romantic comedy series Our Universe here!
