Cailee Spaeny as Ashley Miller, Carey Mulligan as Lindsay Crane-Martin and Charles Melton as Austin Davis in Beef.Netflix
If the first season of Beef was about suppressed anger, living up to expectations and finding one’s purpose, the new season of Netflix’s anthology series steers in a different direction. Gone are the artistic road-rage and quest for revenge, corralled brilliantly by Ali Wong and Steven Yeun. In their place is an exploration of relationships, wealth and youth, with two new couples anchoring the action.
The series picks up with golf and country club manager Josh (Oscar Isaac) giving a thank-you speech to members at an evening fundraiser. He is the epitome of poised, as is his picture-perfect wife, Lindsay (Carey Mulligan). But when the couple returns home, a nightmare unravels and the pair go at it verbally and physically in the fight of a lifetime.
Unfortunately for club workers and engaged couple Ashley (Cailee Spaeny) and Austin (Charles Melton), they witness it all through the window as they approach Josh’s house to return his wallet. Ashley captures the fight on her phone’s camera before they flee. The next day, a health scare convinces the struggling younger couple to put their morals on the line, proving that one decision can forever change your life.
Netflix’s new road-rage series Beef gives leading man Steven Yeun a lot to chew on
It’s a different beast tonally and aesthetically, but the underlying theme of masking your true self to make it in this world carries through as these couples continue interacting. Unlike the first season, which was a sheer quest for revenge from the feuding characters, power dynamics come into play as these characters are forced to work with each other and consistently exist within one another’s orbits.
Meanwhile, new club owner chairwoman Park (Youn Yuh-jung) adds instant tension to the story, upping the stakes as she and her team assess the club and its future. Her assistant, Eunice (Seoyeon Jang), becomes entangled with Ashley and Austin’s lives as the chairwoman’s much younger husband, a plastic surgeon named Dr. Kim (Song Kang-ho), and his actions affect Josh and Lindsay.
The new season of Netflix’s anthology series Beef is an exploration of relationships, wealth and youth.Netflix
No one is evil, per se, but these characters’ choices create an opportunity to explore past traumas, the trade-offs people make for love or luxury, what it’s like to age in this world, and how lizard-brain reactions can turn into irreversibly tragic moments. That’s particularly true toward the end of the season when the action travels to South Korea for a visual feast of exterior chase scenes.
It’s an action-packed ride, yet within the Beef franchise, this season never feels quite as biting as the first. Isaac fans may enjoy him playing an anti-hero, and Mulligan is a perfectly flawed match, yet it takes a long time to create much sympathy for the characters as the layers to their life together unravel. It’s the opposite for Spaeny and Melton, who are equally compelling in the roles and relatable at first, until their characters begin making every visibly wrong decision they can. This includes one horrific storyline involving a dog, so animal lovers be warned.
Beef is a fine binge if you’re looking for a series to pass the time, writes Amber Dowling.Netflix
That makes Beef Season 2 a frustrating watch at times, and not as novel in the TV landscape as the first iteration. By the time you stream the final episodes the series feels more like a White Lotus crossover, with reflections on social climbing, class and how to live beyond your means when you’re surrounding by people with deep pockets.
Still, it’s a fine binge if you’re looking for a series to pass the time, with nods to the first season, including another potential road rage incident, plenty of art references and inevitable toilet humour that may leave you gagging.