‘Beef’ Season 2 Review: Netflix’s Smash-Hit Series Never Needed To Be an Anthology

Season 1 of Beef was fast-paced, anxiety-inducing, and perfect in many ways. The concept revolved around two people who crashed into each other’s lives after a road rage incident, and their “beef” causes a domino effect of problems in both of their lives. Considering how cleanly it was wrapped up, it was hard to imagine how Beef could justify a second season. It turns out that showrunner and creator Lee Sung Jin had the answer when Season 2 was announced: an anthology.

On the surface, Beef Season 2 has a very similar skeletal composition to Season 1. Instead of two people butting heads, the conflict now involves two couples at very different points in their lives, clashing with each other. This brings with it not only new drama involving the individual couples but also attempts to approach relationships through a realistic and flawed lens. Where Beef Season 2 starts to unravel, though, is when it becomes overly filled with concepts it wants to tackle. From the widening socioeconomic divide to impossible beauty standards to discussions involving race and identity, there’s simply too much for eight episodes, and the result is an ambitious but bloated sophomore season.

‘Beef’ Season 2 Takes a New Twist on the Conflict

While Beef Season 1 focused on a road rage incident that leads to bad blood between Danny (Steven Yeun) and Amy (Ali Wong), Season 2 expands its focus beyond just two people. Josh (Oscar Isaac) and Lindsay (Carey Mulligan) are an affluent married couple in their forties who have been growing emotionally and sexually distant. Ashley (Cailee Spaeny) and Austin (Charles Melton) are a younger, recently engaged couple who are financially struggling but happily in love. Ashley works for the country club in bougie Montecito, where Josh is her boss, and when Ashley and Austin witness Josh and Lindsay have a blow-out fight that nearly turns violent, they record the incident and use it as blackmail to get Ashley a promotion.

Threatened with the potential ruin of their reputation, Josh and Lindsay capitulate begrudgingly, and Ashley begins to move up in the world. With Ashley’s new position at work, she also begins to maneuver a full-time position for Austin at the club as a physical therapist, though he has no actual experience with PT. Despite the blackmail and worrying about where rent money will come from next month, Ashley and Austin are very devoted to each other. Austin is highly sensitive and thoughtful, while Ashley is motivated and determined to gain stability leading up to their eventual marriage.

On the flip side, Josh and Lindsay’s marriage is crumbling. Although they live in a beautiful house, Josh has a great job, and they have a cute dachshund named Burberry, they’re burdened with money problems and a growing rift between them. They haven’t had sex in a long time, with Josh preferring to go to OnlyFans and Lindsay flirting with Woosh (BM), the tennis instructor, and random guys who slide into her DMs. They might have loved each other once, and probably still do on some level, but their marriage is fractured. At the heart of Season 2 is the complicated dynamic that these two couples have with each other, which is actually far more interesting than the actual beef that was the impetus for the series, and therein lies the problem.

‘Beef’ Season 2 Fails to Hit Its Biggest Target: Class Divides

Image via Netflix

Josh and Lindsay’s relationship is a dark mirror to Austin and Ashley’s, and one thing that Season 2 gets right is just how complicated romantic relationships can be. You might fall out of love with someone and decide to stay with them, or you might be deeply in love with someone and still decide to separate. Although that offers enough material for a strong series, that kind of show wouldn’t exactly fall under the Beef umbrella.

So, instead, the series puts the relationships center stage, but then clutters episodes with all manner of storylines to offer the twisty roller coaster ride we experienced in Season 1. Like in the previous season, wealth inequality and money are major motifs, but they’re handled much more sloppily here. Rather than solely focusing on the nuances of Josh and Lindsay’s wealth compared to Austin and Ashley’s financial burdens, the series inserts another third party: Youn Yuh-jung‘s Chairwoman Park, the owner of the country club that Josh manages.

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The series is not subtle in the way it continuously reminds us that while Josh is financially more secure than Ashley, he is not nearly as rich as the people he serves. The club members casually jump on a private jet and fly to a chalet for a party, they’ll make quick trips to South Korea for a little plastic surgery, and people like Chairwoman Park can even make the law turn a blind eye if she wants to cover up any mishaps.

Though Youn is, as always, deeply compelling as an actor in her scenes, both she and Song Kang-ho, who plays the chairwoman’s second husband, Dr. Kim, feel like they exist to kick up more dirt and create more drama. The shift in tone when the chairwoman arrives makes the initial conflict of the recorded fight seem almost inconsequential. The series tries to make a commentary on relationships through Chairwoman Park and Dr. Kim’s transactional marriage, but the parallel doesn’t hit quite as well and ends up muddying the waters.

Image via Netflix

While Beef Season 1 tightly orbited its two main protagonists, the larger main cast of Season 2 makes everything messier. There’s not enough in the series to hold it together, and the result is a story that feels disjointed. Social issues, such as commentary on both Austin and Josh’s identity — Austin is half-Korean, and Josh is Cuban — are only lightly touched on and feel almost performative rather than impactful.

The same can be said for the episodes that get into the broken healthcare system in America and the unrealistic beauty standards set for women. The scenes we get present the issue, but offer no new arguments, and the message is about as predictable as you can imagine. Plus, all the storylines with Chairwoman Park feel genuinely lifted right out of a corporate espionage story rather than Beef. The series makes a major tonal shift that is jarring rather than refreshing, and, ultimately, the final twist is rushed in a way that leaves you with more questions than answers.

Perhaps on its own, without the near-perfect first season, Season 2 might have been a hit, but I found myself wondering several times during Season 2 why this show was even called Beef. Who is the beef with? Is it between the two couples? Kind of, but not really. Is it between the protagonists and the system? Kind of, but also not really. Is it between the couples and Chairwoman Park? Kind of, but there’s not enough runway to make that really work. There’s no doubt that showrunner Lee Sung Jin was ambitious with Season 2, but the result throws the series into disarray; it doesn’t elevate it.

‘Beef’s Season 2 Performances Almost Outshine an Uneven Plot

All complaints aside, the performances at the heart of Beef Season 2 do shine through. Mulligan and Isaac have insane chemistry with each other (as we’ve seen already in their previous collaborations), and as chaotic and toxic as their relationship is, there’s always a part of us that wants to root for them. Both actors are given a chance to shine and are, by far, playing the most complex characters. Though Josh and Lindsay seem easily hateable, especially when their privilege is compared to Austin and Ashley’s humble lifestyle, they are still redeemable. It all culminates in a scene in the finale that’s both triumphant and emotional as well as devastatingly tragic.

Unsurprisingly, Youn and Song are both fantastic. Youn takes on a rare villainous role in Beef that suits her so well that I’m disappointed we haven’t seen her take a darker turn sooner. Though the material she’s given is a little flat and honestly somewhat stereotypical, Youn can make even the most lackluster lines shine with her delivery. Her surprising chemistry with Song creates an interesting foil to the main couples, and Song delivers a great monologue near the end that’s tinted with bittersweet heartache as well as humor, something the actor excels at.

What is surprising is Melton. Playing opposite Spaeny, Melton’s Austin is the epitome of a himbo — a golden retriever in human form. He’s cluelessly funny, endearingly wholesome, and deeply dedicated to Ashley. However, in the moments when the cracks start to show in their relationship, Melton grasps onto the nuances of Austin’s character and proves that he’s far more than just a pretty face with some muscles. The same, unfortunately, can’t be said for Spaeny’s Ashley. The script does no favors for her, making Ashley one of the most grating characters with the least redeemable traits. Spaeny’s performance also isn’t reaching the same heights as her co-stars — especially opposite someone like Mulligan, whose performance is so subtle, it makes Spaeny’s performance almost fall flat. Spaeny and Melton have decent chemistry, but Melton’s better moments lie with Seoyeon Jang‘s Eunice, Chairwoman Park’s translator and assistant, rather than Spaeny or the rest of the cast.

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‘Beef’ Ultimately Didn’t Need a Season 2

Image via Netflix

The disappointing thing about Beef Season 2 is that there is a lot to love about it. The performances are fantastic, the banter is sharp when it wants to be, and the moral lessons it’s trying to impart are there — but it just isn’t fleshed out enough. The overload of characters creates far too much clutter, not to mention the story being forced to live under the shadow of Season 1.

The series still retains some of the same style and aesthetic, including pulse-pounding needle drops and frenetic storytelling that jumps from one ridiculous moment to another. The cinematography is compelling, and the production and set design are sleek and stylish. There is one unnecessary “oner” shot that feels more gratuitous than enjoyable, but the series is otherwise shot beautifully. It’s perhaps the only thing that the season properly inherited from the last.

At the end of the day, Beef Season 2 struggles where so many other shows flounder today: The show is trying to do too much with too little. With double the protagonists, the season would have had more room to breathe with even just ten episodes, allowing for the final arc — which takes our protagonists out of California and over to Korea — to feel a bit more natural in the transition. Season 2 is by no means bad, but it’s a step down from what this series can accomplish, and I can only hope that if there’s a Season 3, the series will course-correct, because this just isn’t working as well.

Beef Season 2 premieres April 16 on Netflix.

Release Date

April 6, 2023

Network

Netflix

Showrunner

Lee Sung Jin

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Pros & Cons

• The performances, specifically Charles Melton, Oscar Isaac, and Carey Mulligan, shine through and add depth to the protagonists.
• The series maintains the same visual language and style as Season 1.
• Youn Yuh-jung is fantastic as a morally dubious businesswoman.

• Season 2 doesn’t have enough episodes to pack in all the messages it’s trying to convey.
• The season doesn’t feel cohesive ? and the titular Beef doesn’t seem to actually matter at all.