Explaining the ending of “Sarah’s Art”: “Who are you?”

Each time, viewers believe we are getting closer to solving the case Sarah’s artnew twists, plot lines, and characters are revealed to throw us for a loop and remind us that Sarah Kim is always one step ahead. The eighth episode, the series finale, entitled “Sarah’s Art,” provides something of a conclusion, filling in the gaps of mystery while leaving some matters to the viewers’ inferences.

As a recap, going into the final episode, con artist Sarah Kim (Shin Hye-sun) and police investigator Park Moo-jeong (Lee Joon-hyuk) engaged in a back-and-forth interrogation, as Moo-jeong tried to unravel Kim’s long web of lies.

Between allegations of selling counterfeit luxury goods, creating multiple fake identities, embezzlement, and committing murder, you would think Kim would have no chance of getting herself, and more importantly, the reputation of her luxury brand, Boudoir, out of this police station unscathed. However, Kim has proven time and time again that she has an amazing ability to manipulate and blur the lines between real and fake.

**Spoilers for Sarah’s art Episode 8 “The Art of Sarah” is available on Netflix**

By the time Episode 8 begins, Detective Moo Jeong believes he has everything figured out and is in a position to get an arrest warrant for Sarah Kim. He learns the name and backstory of Kim’s impersonator, Kim Mi Jeong, which explains the similar body and connects the two women. There is a clear motive for Sarah Kim to kill Mi Jeong for pretending to be her and damaging her reputation in the process. And chances are, Mi Jeong attended a boudoir release party the night Kim was last seen.

To get a confession from Kim, Mu-gyeonghe threatens to broadcast Boudoir’s scam, but what he fails to realize is how far Kim is willing to go to save Boudoir’s name. At the end of Episode 7, Kim confesses: “I killed her. I admit it. I impersonated Sarah Kim, and killed her so I could take her place.”

Wait…what?! So, who is the person sitting in that interrogation room? What happened to Sarah Kim? Was a murder actually committed or was it framed? What will happen to Boudoir? Was justice served? Here’s everything you need to know about the ending Sarah’s art…

Sarah’s art Explanation of the ending: Who is the person sitting in that interrogation room?

The person sitting in the interrogation room is actually the same woman who created and pretended to be the fake identity of Sarah Kim, a con artist born Mok Ja Hwi. Even with her same old shenanigans, this time Ga-hui takes on the identity of Kim Mi-jeong, the designer behind Boudoir’s fake luxury handbags.

Does Moo Kyung know that Sarah Kim is lying?

Yes, Moo Gyung knows that Sarah Kim is pretending to be Kim Mi Jeong, but he knows he can’t prove it. He would rather have Kim in prison under the wrong name and charges than be released. Also, if he succeeds in closing the case, he knows he can still be promoted to Chief of Police.

Why is Sarah Kim pretending to be Kim Mi Jeong?

By confessing to the murder as Kim Mi Jeong, Sarah Kim achieved two things: First, she saved Boudoir from Mo Jeong’s threat to expose the brand on TV. Second, it declared Sarah Kim dead and innocent, effectively closing the fraud cases related to the Sarah Kim name and keeping the name associated with Vertigo clean.

Who actually committed the murder?

In reality, Kim Mi Jeong is the unidentified victim, and Sarah Kim is her killer.

But wouldn’t she be charged regardless of her name?

Yes, in the end, the real Sarah Kim was sentenced to 10 years in prison under the name Kim Mi Jeong. However, she was let off the murder charge because the victim technically died as a result of freezing to death, not murder. The charges against her were found to be intent to kill and abandoning the victim in life-threatening circumstances.

What happened to Boudoir?

After Sarah Kim’s death, Boudoir’s management rights passed to the brand’s largest shareholder, Nox, the cosmetics brand that had invested in Hotel Boudoir. This pays off Sarah Kim’s debt to her old friend Jung Yeo-jin (Park Bo-kyung), the CEO of Nox.

When Moo-gyeong visits Sarah Kim in prison, he tells her that Boudoir is still more successful than ever, without her there.

In the end, Sarah Kim “dies” alone, without loved ones, in grief over her death. Although she is in fact still alive, she sacrifices her status and her life for Boudoir. In the final scene of the show, with all said and done, Moo Gyeong asked Sarah Kim one last time, “Who are you?”

The audience doesn’t see her response, likely because the woman herself doesn’t even know the answer to who she is – where the real ends and the fake begins.