Beef season two

Three years after a moment of road rage caused the lives of strangers to spiral out of control, creator Lee Sung Jin returns with a second season of Beef, which tells its own self-contained story. This time, the plot centres around two couples at different stages in their lives. Josh and Lindsay (a flawless Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan) have been married for decades and are heavily involved in running an elite golf club that Josh manages. Ashley (Cailee Spaeny) and fiancé Austin (Charles Melton) are low-ranking employees at the club who’ve barely been together for two years. However, the couples’ lives collide in unexpected ways when Ashley and Austin capture an incriminating video of their bosses. While this season isn’t quite as tight as its predecessor, Jin has crafted something that’s just as enthralling, hilarious, and poignant.

Steven Yeun and Ali Wong’s career-defining performances were a huge part of what made Beef so fantastic. Although the pair are nowhere to be seen here, the new ensemble of actors is equally outstanding and more than capable of delivering the emotional complexity that’s been woven into the script’s core. The rapport between each respective couple is richly textured and coloured with believable humanity. Each relationship is flawed in its own way, and it’s through these contrasting character dynamics that the show reflects meaningfully on issues regarding class, wealth, and love between different generations.

As the central rivalry heats up throughout the course of the eight episodes, events lead to hysterical, shocking, and sometimes heartbreaking situations. Every single one of these moments lands as intended, right up to the series’ cathartic conclusion. The second season is also more ambitious in its scope this time around as it gradually branches out into various plotlines. While everything eventually comes together for the thrilling climax, it takes a substantial amount of time for the main narrative involving shady goings-on by the club’s indomitable chairwoman (Youn Yuh-jung) to get underway.

Jin may not have managed to recapture that same lightning in a bottle for the second season of Beef. It’s a touch slower, and it occasionally bites off a little more than it can chew, but it remains every bit as captivatingly brilliant as returning viewers could have hoped for.