SPOILER: This column contains potential spoilers for “Beef” Season 2.
In 2023, I fell in love with “Beef.”
Not the meat product, but the exceptional series created by Lee Sung Jin. It took the simple premise of a long-lasting feud between two people and turned it into a beautiful exploration of loneliness and class conflict. With such big shoes to fill, I wasn’t sure the next season could match the same quality.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
The second season of “Beef,” released April 16, follows two couples: Austin (Charles Melton) and Ashley (Cailee Spaeny) — two Gen Z employees at the Monte Vista Point Country Club — and the club’s general manager, Josh (Oscar Isaac) and his wife, Lindsay (Carey Mulligan). When Austin and Ashley witness an intense fight between the older couple, they trigger a game of deception and cruelty that goes far beyond the country club.
Before watching, my anticipation was already high, but I was particularly excited to see Melton and Spaeny, after phenomenal performances from the young stars in “May December” and “Priscilla,” respectively. I’ve seen many amazing projects starring Isaac or Mulligan, so it was no question to me whether they would perform well in this series.
The four actors were absolutely remarkable in the show, even with a high bar set by each character’s complexity. Josh and Lindsay’s marriage sits on the brink of collapse, and Isaac and Mulligan had me feeling like I’d been with them throughout their entire relationship. Their arguments felt so real and passionate, while their tender moments felt incredibly vulnerable and human.
Ashley and Austin are extremely difficult characters to nail as well, with both appearing as happy-go-lucky young lovers while bottling up deep feelings, like the fear of loneliness. Spaeny and Melton conveyed many emotions using just their facial expressions, with one of my favorite moments of the entire season being the continuous shot of Austin’s smile slowly fading away after making a regrettable decision.
Alongside the two couples is Chairwoman Park (Youn Yuh-jung), who owns the country club and runs a secret medical scandal with her second husband, Dr. Kim (Song Kang-ho). This wealthy duo adds another level of malice to the two couples’ enmity, with all six of them desperately looking to pinpoint their illegal wrongdoings onto each other.
The first half of the season places a larger focus on the feud between the two American couples, while also examining the rising divides within the pairs. Josh and Lindsay grow further apart, even looking for ways to one-up each other within the club. Austin and Ashley experience rapid career developments, which test their relationship with hidden jealousy.
Just as these issues boil over, Chairwoman Park’s exploits take a turn for the worse when her husband covers up an accidental murder during one of his surgeries with hush money taken out from the country club. As the chairwoman’s dark secrets are slowly unveiled, she drags in the other two couples in a desperate attempt to pin the crimes on someone else and tie up loose ends.
While this season shines with its captivating performances across the board and thrilling tensions, I was particularly drawn to the themes that were presented among the characters’ relationships. What starts as a generational divide between older and younger couples reveals itself to reflect the overall cycle of love that people experience. The two pairs started out distinct, but over the course of their actions, I couldn’t help but notice the parallels.
The finale concludes with an eight-year time jump, as Austin and Ashley assume Josh and Lindsay’s past positions at the country club, even carrying over their dissatisfaction with their relationship. The Gen Z pair started the season full of love and high energy, and ended up emotionally drained, with matching shot compositions to the first episode, suggesting they have entered a similar point in their relationship as Josh and Lindsay.
As for Josh and Lindsay, Josh takes the blame for all the club’s exploits and serves time in prison, while Lindsay remarries and starts a family. The final shot of the show features a literal circle of life with various segments representing moments of the two couples throughout the show, and Chairwoman Park is placed in the center.
These may not be the happy endings that viewers would expect, but I saw this as a beautiful visualization of the cycle of life and how the pendulum of love swings back and forth over time.
