Netflix’s Returning 10/10 Thriller Series Has One Of Its Darkest Endings

One of the best shows on Netflix recently returned after a long wait, and in doing so, the hit thriller series concluded its second season with one of the streamer’s darkest endings. 2026 is a year of exciting returns for Netflix. After all, many of the streaming service’s best multi-season series are coming back with new seasons, such as The Night Agent, Bridgerton, The Lincoln Lawyer, Black Doves, and many more.

Netflix has also had its fair share of hit shows that ended their runs on emotional, and at times, dark notes. For instance, You saw Penn Badgley’s Joe Goldberg pay for all the people he stalked and murdered, while Stranger Things seemingly had Eleven sacrifice herself, and Squid Game, Netflix’s most-watched TV show of all time, killed its main character in heartbreaking fashion.

No matter whether it is a limited series or a multi-season show, Netflix is not afraid of going for dark and gut-wrenching endings. That strategy has since been employed again, and it is by a popular returning show that finally released a new season on the streamer after three years. This project shows Netflix’s best thriller series how to end their seasons in an impactful way.

Of course, the show in question is Beef. After a fast-paced first season featuring Steven Yeun and Ali Wong as two drivers involved in a road rage incident that started a sprawling feud, Beef season 2, which premiered on April 16, follows Cailee Spaeny’s Ashley and Charles Melton’s Austin blackmailing Oscar Isaac’s Josh and Carey Mulligan’s Lindsay with an incriminating video of a heated argument.

Beef Season 2’s Ending Finds Only One True Winner

Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Beef season 2.Beef season 2 is bigger than the first season. Not only in terms of how it explores a feud involving two couples, rather than just two characters, but also how the Netflix thriller series goes from a smaller, more focused conflict like a road rage incident to a long-ranging conspiracy that includes covering deaths, money laundering, and more. Beef season 2 puts its characters through the wringer.

The season starts with the younger couple trying to climb the social ladder and blackmailing the older couple for better positions at work. As for Isaac’s Josh and Mulligan’s Lindsay, they are hoping to keep their lives like they are structured and get richer, while coming closer together. By the end of the season, Beef gives many of the characters what they wanted, but there is only one true winner.

Despite acknowledging that he was not in love with Ashley anymore, Austin remained with her, and they had a baby, with both of them working at the country club. In a sad full circle moment, they have morphed into Josh and Lindsay, trapped in a marriage doomed to fail. As for the older couple, Josh spent eight years in prison and was all alone when he left. The only true winner was Lindasy, who remarried with a loving husband and had a daughter.

The Netflix Thriller Series Establishes A Dark Tradition

While not quite on Beef season 2’s level, season 1 also boasted a somber ending. After a long feud that turned their personal lives upside down, season 1 ended with Yeun’s Danny Cho and Wong’s Amy Lau embracing in a hospital bed. Their fights led to Amy’s husband nearly killing Danny, which would have been the darkest possible ending to the story. Thankfully, he recovered, though their lives were forever changed.

In season 1, there was no winner of the feud. In Beef season 2, the only real winner is Lindsay, with the other three characters all suffering in different ways. This dark tradition makes the Netflix thriller series one of the streamer’s most emotionally resonant. Should Beef return for a third season, the anthology is likely to keep that streak going, making Beef an impactful multi-season show.

Release Date

April 6, 2023

Network

Netflix

Showrunner

Lee Sung Jin

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