Emmy-winning Netflix comedy-drama Beef returns for a second season- this time with a brand new feud. The first series saw Ali Wong and Steven Yeun facing off after a road rage incident, which neither one would back down from. This series takes a closer look at generational and wealth gaps as two new couples have beef with each other.

The series follows a young newly engaged couple, Austin (Charles Melton) and Ashley (Cailee Spaeny), as they navigate a rivalry with their boss, Josh (Oscar Isaac), and his wife, Lindsay (Carey Mulligan). The couple is both struggling financially, stuck in the Gen Z rut of renting, unable to afford kids and unable to get proper work. She works full-time and he part-time at the country club Josh manages, so they have to spend their lives surrounded by those flaunting their wealth.

Two Couples At Two Different Stages Of Life

One day, Josh leaves his wallet behind at work, and the couple, who work in low-paid service jobs at his club, take a visit to his house to return it. Upon arriving, they find the couple having a nasty argument and decide to use the footage of the fight as leverage. Now, this Gen Z couple has the chance to jump up the social ladder and move out of their malaise. The issue is that neither has any life experience nor is particularly smart.

Josh and Lindsay look like they have it all to their employees, but it’s not as rosy as they want you to know. He is struggling to keep the club alive, and Chairwoman Park (Minari’s Youn Yuh-jung) is starting to wonder if he is the man for the job. Lindsay is also struggling, her career in interior design flagging, and all she seems to do is sit at home with her adorable Dachshund, Burberry and look for something else.

While Ashley and Austin think Josh and Lindsay have the perfect life, with their boho home and well-dressed tiny dog, this couple is all image. Lindsay and Josh aren’t anywhere near rich compared to the club’s owners and their friends. Josh is mere middle management, but to the young couple, it’s still pure aspiration. This is the theme of the show; someone always has something someone else wants.

The series is less about the war between the two, and more about exploring how two couples are in very different stages of life. Josh and Lindsay clearly loved each other at one point, but we meet them at the worst stage in their marriage. Recent fiancés Austin and Ashley can’t understand this type of relationship because they are still almost strangers to each other. They barely know themselves, let alone each other, which becomes evident when Austin bonds with translator Eunice (Seoyeon Jang) over their mutual Asian heritage, something he has never felt before. Some of the most savage moments in the series aren’t from the conflicting couples but from between lovers, who know exactly how to make the cuts deep.

One Incident Causes A Chain Of Events

Both couples start to vie for the approval of the club’s owner, but she is distracted by trying to manage her own husband. Back in Korea, her second husband, Dr. Kim (Song Kang-ho) has managed to get himself into huge trouble. Soon, everyone becomes embroiled in this country club scandal, whether they know it or not.

While Beef predominantly follows the warring two couples, there is a side thread about the Korean plastic surgery industry. The club is as much about selling surgery plans to Americans who want to look like KPOP stars as it is about playing tennis and golf. They are selling rich people the dream of being someone else, someone young, someone better. This dream is sold to them by the flirty, young Woosh (played by rapper BM in his debut).

This plastic surgery plotline ties into the show’s biggest theme: deceit. The thing everyone here has in common is that they are faking it in the hopes of surviving. Whether it’s the contents of their bank account, their cultural heritage, or their work experience, the unifying theme of Beef is that pretty much everyone is being inauthentic, hoping that if they lie enough, it’ll become their truth. Isn’t that what social media has now rebranded as manifestation?

This side plot is the most intriguing part of the show because it’s unexpected. There is only a glimpse of the brewing scandal on the sidelines, often explained through phone calls between Chairwoman Park and her husband. These seeds planted throughout will make sense in the latter half of the series, where the implications of Dr. Kim’s actions become clear.

Sadly, the pacing struggles in the last three episodes. The setup and the characters are great, but there is a sense of the show rushing through a mid-series turn that feels unsatisfying. Beef feels like it’s going a very specific way, but changes tone so quickly, you’ll be forgiven for having whiplash from it. So, instead of getting payoff for the series, audiences get an exposition dump, a jarring switch in atmosphere, and poorly paced ending episodes. These uneven final episodes, which are both too slow and too chaotic, slightly dampen the series’ intended effect.

Beef

A More Passive Aggressive Season of Beef

If season one of Beef is about repressed rage, the second season is about the passive aggression between different generations and tax brackets. Everyone is too busy looking at everyone else’s life and becoming angry at what they don’t have to notice what is going on in their own and what they do have.

Much like season one, the consequences of one decision escalate further and further until they get out of control. America’s class system, healthcare, and wage disparity between generations have all created a boiling pot of emotions that threaten to spill over. The follow-up series is smart to repeat the chain of events, making this season feel very fresh and unique from its predecessor.

Oscar Isaac perfectly unravels throughout the series as a man with many hidden secrets. Carey Mulligan is this second season’s MVP, giving a fantastic performance as Lindsay, a not overly likeable snob with a superiority complex. Although not the star power as Isaac and Mulligan, Cailee Spaeny and Charles Melton get the laughs as the clueless youngsters with little understanding of how invoices and hospital billing work. Melton is especially lovable as a personal trainer bimbo rediscovering his heritage and struggling with his commitment to his bride-to-be.

Final Thoughts

Gen Z gets the brunt of the jokes, with the show making fun of their lack of attention span, social skills, and general life skills. But that’s not to say that the middle-class Millennials don’t also get sent up. It would be so easy for Beef to turn into another “Eat the Rich” satire, but showrunner Lee Sung Jin is doing something much deeper here.

Fans of the first series of Beef won’t be disappointed here, although at times this feels like a totally different series from the last. The second outing explores Gen Z’s more gentle rage and the pressure cooker that is the feeling that everyone is doing better than you. Expect less full-out screaming and bloodshed and more sly backstabbing and blackmail.

It’s passive-aggressive, it’s funny, it’s sharp, and you won’t be able to stop watching.

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