Beef Season 2 Review

Who would have thought that what started as a simple road rage incident would develop into something much more? Beef, perhaps no better title to fit its singular premise, came out of nowhere and became on of the best series of 2023, winning 8 Emmy awards for writing and directing by series creator Lee Sung Jin, and acting for the stellar performances of its stars, Steven Yeun and Ali Wong. Now, three years later, the anthology series is back with another beef that promises to blow up in spectacular fashion. Bringing back much of the core creative team, including Jin, director Jake Schreier, and Yeun and Wong (returning as executive producers), this latest season features a new cast, featuring Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Cailee Spaeny, and Charles Melton, and a new story that ups the stakes dramatically. This class warfare tale offers viewers plenty of twists and turns, and dimension, as Jin and co. step up to the plate to deliver crazy writing that matches, or maybe exceeds, that of the first season, upping the ante character development wise with four leads this time around. The performances from the aforementioned four, meanwhile, live up to that writing and the frenetic directing viewers have come to expect. That being said, the supporting cast, led by Youn Yuh-jung and Song Kang-ho, add further gravitas to the proceedings.

The new season of Beef changes up the dynamic by pinning two couples against each other, as each found themselves spiralling on their own under the weight of the pressure from outside and from within. After witnessing a fight between their Millennial boss and his wife, newly-engaged Gen-Z couple Ashley (Spaeny) and Austin (Melton), both lower-level staff at a country club for the elite of the elite, become consumed by the unraveling marriage of their General Manager, Josh (Isaac), and his wife, Lindsay (Mulligan). The contrast between both couples could not be any clearer from the start. Ashley and Austin, a young couple very much in love, did not come from a place with the most means but whatever struggles they may face, the two had each other to lean on. Looking forward to their wedding and starting a family together, they worked hard to make enough money to create the kind of life they aspired to have. Life often dealt them a bad hand, and working at the country club was certainly not easy. Generally looked down upon by the pretentious and arrogant Josh, he saw them as nothing more than nameless minions. However, a chance turn of events allowed Ashley and Austin a window into that facade, as they saw that Josh wasn’t quite the man he made himself out to be in front of his employees and the club patrons, witnessing a fight between he and Lindsay that they happened to capture on video.

Josh, marrying into money, became consumed by the wealth and the lifestyle, driving he and Lindsay’s marriage into the ground financially. Not the only crack in their crumbling relationship, it proved to be a major one as she grew increasingly frustrated, having no other choice but to stay. Working in a business where reputation was key, Josh realized the kind of damage the video would have on his life and his job, the only thing keeping he and Lindsay afloat. Ashley and Austin, also realizing the kind of damage their video could do, essentially blackmailed Josh and Lindsay into moving them up the hierarchy within the club. Over the course of the season, both couples found themselves intrinsically linked by the video, with Josh and Lindsay keeping their younger counterparts close just in case. Throwing a wrench in that dynamic, however, is the club’s new billionaire owner, Chairwoman Park (Youn), who comes in with her own struggles thanks to the exploits of her second husband, the much younger Doctor Kim (Song). Looking to curry favor with the Chairwoman, Ashley and Austin, and Josh and Lindsay, jockeyed for position to vie for her approval. Obscenely rich for comedic effect, Park was still very much an unknown commodity, while her plans for the future of the club remained a mystery as she, and her team, assessed it and its operations. Putting Josh, especially, under the microscope, the pressure slowly wore away at him and his confident, elitist facade. Trying so much to belong, he seemed to be losing his grip.

As Josh continued to crumble, Ashley continued to feel increasingly empowered in her new higher-level position at the club. Perhaps not the most qualified, he went out of his way to make her job more difficult in the hopes that she’d quit, but that effort would be for naught. Rising to the occasion, Ashley powered through all the obstacles Josh threw at her, as she started to make a real difference, making her way on to Chairwoman Park’s radar. For what she lacked in experience, she definitely made up for in initiative. Earning Park’s ear, she made the most out of the situation, scoring Austin a full-time job at the club (previously working  as a personal trainer and at the club part-time). Austin, the consummate supportive partner, was simply along for the ride though, just like Josh, Ashley similarly lost herself in that world, with ambition going far beyond their means. Not losing the adversarial aspect by any means, the conflict between the couples escalated beyond a mere video as Josh’s true intentions came to the surface. A shady character for sure, he was proven to be a despicable one as well. What started off as a story about one couple trying to get their fair shake, became a story about revenge for Ashley. Little did they know, Josh’s level of shadiness was nowhere close to Park’s, who had a lot on her plate while trying to cover up her husband’s misdeeds. A woman whose power and influence knew no bounds, she had her fingers in almost very facet of Seoul, but the forces that be were making that power harder to wield.

On opposite ends of the spectrum, as Josh fell, Ashley rose, but both trajectories came at a cost. In the case of Josh and Lindsay, it was their marriage which was hanging on a thread after so many years of just making by on the skin of their teeth, and Lindsay’s money. However, their luck would inevitably run out, as Josh’s desperate attempts to hold on drove them further apart. In what was a sinking ship, she tried to get the most she could out of it. In the meantime, there was also something freeing about not having to play by the rules or conform to a world that she found so exhausting. Meanwhile, Ashley and Austin’s relationship saw its fair share of friction, as Ashley’s quest to destroy Josh was making her become the kind of person that Austin no longer recognized, but held on out of love. On the other hand, Austin is given his own compelling subplot where he reembraces his Korean heritage thanks to the arrival of the Korean contingent at the club. As the latter couple’s lives intersected more and more with Josh and Lindsay, the contrast between both couples and how it evolves over the season is the best part. In the end, all roads led to Seoul, setting up a fiery finale where both couples got swept up in Chairwoman Park’s business, as she tried to take matters into her own hands. Trying to pin each other’s misgivings on each other, something had to give as utter chaos ensued. With their lives on the line, out of that shared adversity would come newfound perspective. Though when all is set and done, the system is what it is and the wheel keeps turning.

Maintaining much of the same style that put the first season on the map, season 2 of Beef is just as well shot and on a production design level, absolutely knocks it out of the park. Playing up the contrast between both couples and the country club, they each come from different circumstances but the club is on a completely different level. It is aspirational and larger-than-life but the longer the season went on, the less Josh fit and the more Ashley did. It’s those little things that help sell the nuances of the story and the characters. The writing, similarly, delivers three couples spanning three different generations, each bringing their own perspective. Handling these different dynamics and weaving them into one narrative is not an easy task, but, moving on from the pure adversarial angle, a renewed focus on characters and character development only add to the tension of this darkly comedic class warfare tale. Giving viewers to root for, or not root for, make for a fun yet uncomfortable roller coaster ride. Additionally, a cool synth-based score from Finneas accentuates the growing discord between the characters. Much like the first season, excellent performances across the board lead the way. Isaac, Mulligan, Spaeny, and Melton, and their respective chemistry, create two compelling couples on different paths that intersect at times and diverge at others. Youn and Song are scene stealers in supporting roles, commanding the screen in intimidating fashion in the case of Youn, or as a bumbling doctor in the case of Song.

All in all, Beef season 2 brings a different dynamic to the table, but maintains the same edge that put the series on the map with a twisty turny ride to hell and back. Ambitious in its commentary, excellent performances and writing help it stick the landing.

still courtesy of Netflix

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.