Beef Season 2 Review

This is simply a spoiler-free reappraisal of each 8 episodes of Beef Season 2, which is present streaming connected Netflix.

Beef Season 2 didn’t request to exist. The archetypal season, starring Ali Wong and Steven Yeun successful career-topping performances arsenic the equivalent of 2 quality Beyblades crashing and spiraling astir each other’s lives pursuing a spot of roadworthy rage, blasted retired of the gross afloat formed and was easy 1 of the champion TV shows of 2023 (and 1 of Netflix’s strongest offerings ever). It was a perfectly self-contained communicative afloat of juicy themes astir the quality information that was not precisely begging for a follow-up.

So erstwhile Netflix announced that Beef was present an anthology and getting a 2nd season, it was hard not to consciousness cynical astir the streamer pouncing connected the popularity of a deed constricted series. It’s a determination that, much often than not, fails to seizure the magic of the archetypal go-around. Even though Beef’s creator Lee Sung Jin was inactive holding the reins, it was inactive a large hazard that comes with adjacent higher expectations. That said, I’m relieved and thrilled to corroborate that Beef Season 2 is truly great, afloat of the aforesaid vigor of the archetypal installment, adjacent portion it features caller faces and caller neuroticisms that pb to new, well, beef.

I would similar to halt comparing the 2 seasons astatine immoderate constituent soon due to the fact that they each tin basal firmly connected their ain — Season 2 would person besides been a fantastic Season 1 — but it’s hard not to erstwhile they’re cleverly pulling from the aforesaid playbook of semi-inconsequential details that is now, I suppose, the Beef location style. A character’s preoccupation with interior design; the looming panic of coyotes successful Southern California; hell, adjacent tumbling down a large hill. Most cheekily, there’s a near-miss car mishap successful the archetypal occurrence that instantly deescalates into a scooching postulation crippled of “no, YOU go.” What’s singular is that it each works without feeling similar a retread. Simply putting antithetic characters successful akin situations begets cardinal change.

What is marque caller is the mounting that Lee and his cadre of co-writers and directors plumb for their critique connected late-stage capitalism. Across its 8 episodes, Season 2 slithers done the sticky, gelatinous societal strata of Monte Vista Point, an elite play and state nine adjacent Santa Barbara. Squeezed successful the halfway is the club’s wide manager, Josh Martín (a locked-in Oscar Isaac), who has worked his mode up to the managerial people implicit the years, on with his wife, Lindsay Crane-Martín (a delightfully loathsome Carey Mulligan), who doesn’t really work there but has enmeshed herself with the clique of nine wives to support up the appearances of a supportive spouse contempt a matrimony connected the rocks.

Carey Mulligan and Oscar Isaac successful Beef Season 2 | Credit: Netflix

From above, the club’s demanding, wealthy, and high-profile clientele play friends (as agelong arsenic it’s utile for them) portion expecting Josh to beryllium an ever-present concierge who volition comp White Claws and put a circular of 18 holes astatine highest hours with nary pushback, and Lindsay to beryllium a gossipy gal pal who tin besides talk to work workers connected their behalf. Beef is perpetually giving them exit ramps retired from this “keep up with the Joneses” (but don’t outdo them either) lifestyle, but they cull each opportunity. They conscionable can’t springiness it up.

At the lowest rung of the club’s hierarchy are Cailee Spaeny’s Ashley Miller and Charles Melton’s Austin Davis, some besides giving mold-breaking performances arsenic the recently engaged beverage cart miss and part-time trainer of MVP, whose naive bliss collapses erstwhile they accidentally witnesser a blowout combat betwixt Josh and Lindsay that looks atrocious successful idiosyncratic and worse connected video. That sets up the cascade of attempted outmaneuvering betwixt the 2 couples, who are some besides trying to support their ain relationships connected track. They’re each somewhat atrocious astatine it; everyone’s a small dumb, but they’re often muttering astir however they deliberation everyone else is dumb. It’s great.

Charles Melton and Cailee Spaeny successful Beef Season 2 | Credit: Netflix

Lee and co. person erstwhile again made the hard occupation of weaving analyzable and ever-escalating storylines betwixt and crossed an ensemble formed look similar casual work. Their publication gives their actors nary shortage of reddish nutrient to chew connected portion inactive being incredibly comic arsenic they mostly prod “the modern condition.” Isaac and Mulligan marque for an fantabulous brace of elder millennials who inactive perceive to M83 and speech astir Hot Chip fondly, but person stalled retired connected the large dreams from aboriginal successful their marriage. Melton — who, with Warfare, May December, and present this, has afloat ascended from Riverdale/YA teen titles — is rather bully arsenic a radical pleaser with debased self-confidence due to the fact that helium can’t determination past his ain glory days arsenic a assemblage shot athlete. And it’s incredibly amusive to ticker Spaeny, aft truthful galore heroine roles, play a try-hard who is the merchandise of her unfortunate circumstances, but has spent excessively overmuch clip connected therapy-Tok portion doing small to really assistance herself oregon quell her paranoias.

It’s these 4 characters’ selfish wants – whether it’s simply a $45k yearly wage with crappy, high-deductible healthcare, oregon to slope capable wealth to decorativeness gathering a homey furniture and meal – and fearfulness of losing immoderate of it that pushes the characters to enactment much and much deranged toward each other. It’s been a portion since I’ve watched a bid wherever truthful galore episodes extremity connected scenes that had maine viscerally recoiling.

“Babe, everybody’s scamming,” a stoned Josh correctly declares successful Episode 2. TThe lone ones who tin leverage a triumph are those who person hoarded capable wealthiness to footwear up their backstage pitchy to alert disconnected to their 5th location whenever the temper strikes — oregon if they relationship for astatine slightest 2% of an full country’s GDP. And there’s nary bigger apex predator successful the Beef strategy than the club’s caller owner, Chairwoman Park, played by the legendary Youn Yuh-jung arsenic the softly terrifying, richer-than-God caput of a South Korean chaebol. She, too, is perpetually making decisions that support and enrich her and her conglomerate dynasty, down to her explaining wherefore she chose her 2nd hubby successful Dr. Kim (Song Kang-Ho), Korea’s “best integrative surgeon” who is 20 years her junior. Both Youn and Song person comparatively small surface clip successful the expansive strategy of the season, but not a azygous glimpse is wasted. They’re some highly calculated and effectual actors, and Season 2 would beryllium conscionable good, but not outstanding, if their characters had been omitted. The 2nd Song — playing the implicit other of his relation arsenic a operator for the ultra-rich successful Parasite — shows up (his archetypal American TV role!), it adds other gravitas that pushes Beef to the adjacent melodramatic level. And astatine a definite point, Season 2 sprints past Season 1 successful an breathtaking code displacement that feels much spiritually akin to different prestige-y bid that besides starts with a B.

Song Kang-Ho and Youn Yuh-jung successful Beef Season 2 | Credit: Netflix

If the metaphor carrying Season 1 was interior rot, Season 2’s is infestation. Shots linger connected ants parading crossed bowls of oranges and windowsills, and connected hives of bees swarming successful unwanted crevices. The swarming tendency for more — incrementally increasing from “all we request is healthcare” — and the insatiable thirst for revenge successful warped thought patterns that stay unchecked go a changeless creep that distorts our humanity. It turns each of those astir you into things to exploit erstwhile it serves you most. By the clip you drawback yourself, it’s already excessively late. The seasons alteration and the rhythm churns on.