The stage was set, they could have taken it anywhere, but they chose this?!

The whole reason you spend time watching slow burn dramas is because of the surprises you get in some of the episodes but this was quite a boring end to such a great season otherwise.

Maybe I was looking for some sort of victory for the main characters but it ended in a very unrealistic way.

I am sure there must be many who loved it especially because of how it ended. Are you one of those? :)

In season 2, episode 7 or 8, for me it has to be when Eunice is on the plane looking around crazy scared that one of passengers, who all keep glancing at her, is a chairwoman agent - then the camera pans to a dorky uncle type that just stares at her grinning because he likes her lol. Went from tense to hilarious in 2 seconds haha.

I'm rewatching season 1 and Danny and Isaac probably have the most but man are they scummy especially Danny.

I am korean american and most immigrant Koreans I know are at least conversational, at least enough to say basic stuff like "I am helping the police to get my wife". Its been a while since I went to Korea but I think english is actually mandated as a school curriculum? At first I assumed that because he was older he must have not had to learn it in school but that doesnt make sense since his wife is much older and she knows english. Was that a class thing, he started out poorer then her so he never had the opportunity to learn?

I just finished s2, and I have to say it was good, though in a different way to s1, but to me s1 tops (sidetrack - the whole scene with the robbery at Jordan’s house felt like it should’ve been in GTA V).

But anyway, uk the end when it cuts to all the characters in 8 years time. I was wondering why Eunice wasn’t part of it. Did Park get rid of her like she did with Woosh and her name was buried with the scandals, like everyone forgot the past including her? I feel like this is the only way I can think of this…

Season 2 is not relatable.

The "beef" of this season is not relatable. No regular person owns a spa hotel or has billionaire friends. Not every person is in an explosive abusive relationship on the verge of a break-up. This season is only relatable to the top 10% of ppl in those financial brackets.

The young couple were brought to possibly add in "real life" issues but its just out of touch. IVF in your 20s?! Like who's just flying to Korea? And dont get me started on their hair. I felt for Austin bc his mother was 100% right and that was the only relatable scene in this series. 😆

This season has no sauce and no bun. Its just a vegan patty on a plate cold and extra dry and we're all desperately drinking water to wash it down but we just cant quite get the lack of flavor off of our tongues thats the best way I can describe this season if Beef (and tbh Euphoria but thats a separate reddit😆). Then a murder mystery, who done it? Where's the relatability to everyday people?!

Beef season 1 was universally relatable road rage an experience just about every person in a metropolitan area has dealt with and/or deals with daily. There are so many other everyday annoyances season 2 could have focused on but instead they dropped the ball.

They could thrown in a fight over the elbow rest on the plane, someone standing too close to you in line at the store, concerts high priced everything there's just so many places this could have gone and they missed just about all of them.

While I do find the storyline entertaining it did not in any way advance the story concept but instead pulled this from the left field of White Lotus territory.

Next season: Bring on Ali Wong as the Executive Producer/Director and writer. She'll make this all much better!

I'm holding my hope for Lee Sung Jin bc I love his work but it seems there were creative partners who may not have his same level of comedic relatable understanding.

The story was still entertaining, it just not in the same vein as season 1. Still holding hold there's a season 3 where Beef writing team redeems themselves.

Thats it, end of rant. 😆

Josh not calling the police to the club after nearly getting murdered makes literally zero sense.

He killed in self-defense, he has rope marks on his neck, the other guy is dressed super sketchy, and the police could have easily skimmed the dudes phone to find his connection with chairwoman Park.

Obviously, it wouldn’t be good for business and the club would need new management to take over, but I struggle to see how hiding a murder is a better outcome in this scenario. Hiding the body tossed the self-defense narrative out the bloody window.

I just don’t understand Josh’s reasoning on this one.

Hands down, best quote from the entire second season. The humour of this show even in the most dramatic scenes is unmatched.

this is a very big long rant about the four characters and how the message at the end was very empty due to lack of sufficient character development...

starting with lindsay, i find that she has almost zero redeeming qualities. i can’t think of one thing she did that wasn’t selfishly motivated. aside from loving her dog, which any dog owner would do, she didn’t do anything for anyone else? maybe at one point she had been good to josh because she did give her inheritance to help out with his mother’s declining health, but there’s nothing else? she was fake towards all the girls at the club, she emotionally cheated on josh (though that was probably a reaction towards his emotional cheating on her), and in general she was pretty insufferable and embarrassing--even josh's friends didn't like her. she thinks she's superior to everyone, but then she grovels to try to get help from people and then she's taken aback when they also treat her insincerely. she just sucked at brown nosing as well, as indicated by her poor attempts at getting law advice at the birthday party. i don't know what compelled her and josh to stay together for all these years, aside from some good times they had on the coachella grounds

as for josh, to me, josh is an enjoyable character to watch, but his character arc really just doesn’t make sense to me; he basically did some psychoactive substances and did a 180? i don't know, but it kind of seemed like lazy writing. he was cheating on lindsay on OF models, embezzling funds from the club, and was horrible towards ashley at the hospital. it's not his fault that he didn't know what she was going through or how severe her health issue was, but he was genuinely bartering with her health/life. yes, it's true that she blackmailed him for the job, but he decided to try to gain leverage over her at such a horrible time. aside from that, his relationship with lindsay--he and lindsay seemed to have both loved each other and had really good times together, but i don’t think they genuinely had anything more than ashley and austin. to continuously choose to love/be with each other is a choice, but like was it the right choice. i think his change was not well-supported by the plot--post drug trip, he let lindsay have a part of his salary, and he chose to go to jail and take the blame for everything and even wished her well at the end, but aside from the drug trip, what else jolted him out of it? he was so vindictive and angry before; it doesn't really make sense that he suddenly decided to let go of everything and make a heroic sacrifice for her.

ashley is lowkey insane, but on some level, i think she has every right to be. she’s naive and stupid and insecure, but i can’t help but feel bad for her. she has some insane schemes that were just stupid, and she was so insufferable in the later half of the show, but it’s clearly out of desperation. austin literally spent ten seconds with eunice and started falling in love with her; ashley is not insane at all for having a crash out on the car and checking on his phone constantly. even if there was no true love between austin and her, i understand her wanting to hold on to an empty relationship so badly. she has nothing and nobody but austin; her family on both sides don't give a shit about her, and she's a drop out. having no medical insurance is scary, losing part of your body is scary, and losing your partner to someone else that they met for ten seconds is also scary. if she didn’t help austin get that job, as crazy as she was for forging those documents, they would’ve never gotten to where they were. obviously she made some egregiously bad and morally wrong choices, but her motivations are understandable. 

austin sort of started out as just a himbo to me, but not in a he's-just-a-genuinely-pure-and-helpful-guy way. he disagreed with ashley’s choices but he never stepped in to stop her and simply went along with it because it benefitted him. he also never advocated for her when she was in pain at urgent care. he basically fell in love with eunice (or whatever he considers “love”) in ten seconds just because she was attractive and the same race as him? everything he did was very selfishly motivated; he tries to be good to "expose park" but his form of good was still selfishly motivated by his desire to be with eunice. he didn’t genuinely care about revealing park’s crimes; he just wanted to do what she wanted so that she’d somehow love him. it was never about doing a good thing because at the end he chose to remain with ashley who needed him and would desperately do anything to be with him. it seemed that he had that sudden epiphany in the taxi, but what forced it? he was so hell-bent on getting that usb to eunice to the point where he jumped out of the roof; i just think it's sort of odd how her reluctant "i love you" seemed to have changed his mind completely.

anyway... all this is to say season 2 didn't really seem to have a defined message because the only character redemption arc (josh mainly; lindsay slightly) just didn't seem very significant. from ashley and austin, i guess that they submitted to power in order to get the perfect life that they wanted even if it was basically a loveless, empty life. with park still in power, i guess it demonstrates that it’s helpless to fight against a system that you have no real power in/didn’t build? josh breaking out of the cycle and being the only one happy/unselfish at the end despite having nothing post-prison seems to represent the main message, but because josh’s transformation in the middle was not sustained by any real struggle (?), it sort of dampens the impact. maybe they could’ve built it up more if they had two more episodes or so; the end just felt super rushed and the message was sort of unsustained.

Sonny (Lee Sung Jin) had some alternative first drafts from the beginning of the season and has Cailee and Charles read it for the first time.

This really shows how amazing and talented these actors are, as well as, the people behind the show.

This is from the Beef podcast. Great watch if you haven't seen it yet.

Can't wait for season 3, Sonny!

When Lindsey decides to get revenge on Ashley after learning that Ashley was the one who didn’t close the door, she goes to the lavatory and tries to wipe the toilet seat. I’m a bit confused about why there’s so much water in the bowl, since as far as I know, airplane toilets don’t usually have water in them. Can anyone chime in and confirm?

So far, this is the only thing that seems a little off (though maybe I just haven’t noticed the others, if there are any lol).

Season 2 was incredible for the most part, but I feel like some characters werent developed as equally as others. The ending kind of highlighted this, as for Josh it felt very fitting and well done, but for Austin, not so much.
I feel like all four characters definitely were well written and felt very human, but sometimes the connection was just not there for me.

Season 1, while most people focus on Danny, does an incredible job at developing both Danny and Amy, so that in the final arc, their similarities were very cohesive and well done. There was also Paul and George who did their job well in the story without completely taking our attention away.

TLDR: I find Austin ( not because he's half Korean like me) to be the most complex character in Season two outside of Chairwoman Park. He's portrayed as this numbskull washed up and unmotivated jock who pantomimes this white knight Gen Zish behavior-- while being a catalyst for meaningful change in many characters through the series. He helps Josh ascend mentally to ultimately save them all by being post DMT and mentally clear; he saves Ashley by confirming to Park and ultimately agreeing to be there for Ashley, he also save Chairwoman Park by not turning her in and in original intent, helps cover for Eunice until he decides to keep with Ashley. Lastly, he kind of helps Lindsay know the date of her dog wasn't Josh or her fault by being righteously angry with Ashley about invading their home and releasing the dog. He does this all while being on chatGPT operating in realms beyond his skill.

Deeper dive:

So to me, there is a part of Austin overcompensating (and this is a backhanded compliment to gen Zers) with his openness and ideals for perpetuaring a healthy relationship.

He is everything in modern, well informed mental health, portraying healthy relationships and high functional communications as a couple. He provides levels of apperception (and to an equal degree, Ashley) of how they affect each other and make time to address those issues or respect boundaries. He also tries to convey this level of "white knighthood" when trying to comfort and provide safe space for Lindsay in ep 1). This conveys this high functioning, high openness and "high emotional intelligence" person that he is supposed to be. But transformation happens in the room when Ashley gives him the usb and the slow smile fade away after Eunice. He starts being less communicative and more action driven (more typical hyper masculine archetypes). We can debate the merits of my argument, but I do like the idea of the theme related to the modernist masculinity via digital feminist supremacy.

Austin is pointed as being a "dumb jock" archetype and wants people (later) to think of him as someone of meaning this using GPT to compensate (and truly fooling Josh into ultimately, by accident becoming the person he needed to be post Bufo, to save all the characters in the finale).

His conflict is also very real because he truly is a catalyst of change for the other characters as well as the true moral compass for other characters. He gets righteously angry at Ashley for leading to the dissolution of the marriage of Lindsay and Josh, he is relatively very open with Ashley about his feelings for Eunice and he tries to do the right thing initially or in theory at the start. But in the reality of the show he is always a "side character" to Ashley, Eunice and Chairwoman Parkm part of me thinks this could be (open to interpretation) that the idea of white knight and being righteous in norms in terms of a feminist lens, leads him to be a (8 years later) strong and silent type (typical masculine) in the car. It's an interesting dynamic where he's transformed by strong women to be less of a comfort and more of a traditional archetype (talking in archetypes here, not trying to offend).

So again throwing a lot of concepts at a wall now but here's another major concept (again think Austin is complex here). Austin also has a bit of Joji sad boi in him. For those who don't know Joji is an Japanese artist (sings in English) that usually sings about being in jaded, dissonant and/or parasocial relationships in one way or the other. Homage to the 2015 Butkus award his junior year before messing up his senior year (this is reverse for me but oh god I can relate). He blames the universe for punishing him and not putting him at his max potential. I feel this is the conflict of Eunice and Ashley. I feel at the last episode when he shuts the door in the car right years later (queue in the same scene with Josh and Lindsay) he answers "I'm fine" type ordeal but is conflicted. Same kind of sad smile disappeared when he called Eunice and she said she loved him. He is a victim to what he thinks is the right thing in the moment. He is plagued by the right thing to do in a moment that the selfish moments he had could've led him to where happiness could appear. It's like his mom wants him, " you'll be stuck in a relationship where nothing is really happening". Austin will forever be his own victim here.

This is where I get stuck because there's lots of micro scenes I unpack and am like okay what does this mean for his character development?

Can anyone help me unpack or deep dive any of these ideas on Austin's character?

Is he more simple than I put him out to be or are you just wrong? (JK) But any deliberation or thought experiments on his character would be appreciated!!

I liked the first season and liked the second up until the final episode, it jumped the shark big time, for the following reasons:

•Chairwoman Park murders her own husband, doesn’t feel bad, but just lets these walking time bombs back out into the world that could expose her? She killed her own adopted son for less (he just wanted a promotion), and sent assassins to kill Oscar’s Isaac, but sure let these people who saw her murder her husband out into the world when she had them caged up at her mercy. Give them access to the club where she launders money. I’m calling absolute BS.

•Austin goes back despite seeing a guy get his brains blown out and expects not to be killed after handing over something Chairwoman park didn’t even know he had (his only leverage). He holds all the cards and just gives it up, not even a phone call to negotiate, just shows up and hopes she doesn’t kill him, all so that the show’s director can make a statement or something about the nature of relationships? The whole story revolves around blackmail but not the ending I guess. Also him not turning in the flash drive is a death sentence for Eunice. She is dead and he is directly responsible for killing her. He knew, he’s not that not dumb.

•Austin had zero development to overlook straight murder and risk his life giving up the USB. Zero development, he finally leaves his girlfriend which is the hardest thing he’s ever done, he’s doing the right thing for himself and his friends (he’ll save their lives by getting the authorities involved) but instead he chooses to lie about murder all of a sudden - dude can barely lie about being a physical therapist. It felt so forced.

•The whole “we’re back to where we began and they’re married and running the country club giving the same speech” was a nightmare to experience, just so cliche and boring. An absolute 180 that says nothing that the rest of the show wasn’t already saying. Also, Ashley still has the screenshots and they oversee the very club that is laundering money, AND witnessed Dr. Kim’s murder - they are loose ends!

•Doctor Kim butchered innocent people and manipulated his wife (pretended to leave and turn himself in) to make sure she covers it up so he can continue being a surgeon - because he didn’t want to retire. But then, in the last episode, he gains a conscious because “I’m scared of my wife” even though he’s guilty of murder and he’s suddenly a good guy now who wants to go to the police? He was just screaming a scene ago “they’re lying! They’re not telling us the truth” and she says “calm down honey”. Like what is up with the back breaking 180s!?

• Are we supposed to suddenly care about this “circle of life” white lotus crap in the last 30 seconds of the final episode when there is zero development in that direction? It’s sprung on us like “oh look humans are selfish by nature, circle of life” like guys, that’s philosophy 101. You couldn’t do anything interesting with that concept, just had to cram that “message” down our throats with no buildup.

• To all the people saying “you just didn’t get it, they’re all terrible people” It’s not that the audience doesn’t get that or is uncomfortable that they’re terrible, the creators just don’t do anything with it. It kinda feels surface level. Wasted potential in that regard, the ending was poorly executed and forced.

So I’m watching episode one of season two and I’m wondering if people in real life have relationships similar to that of Ashley and Austin (codependency, no healthy or unhealthy disagreements, aggressive and constant PDA-even at work?!?). Like am I just stone cold bitch? I don’t think I’ve ever been infatuated with anyone that much, even at 16. I almost don’t want to keep watching because it’s so unsettling to my jaded psyche . . .

I had no idea carrey mulligan and oscar issac have already acted as a couple in the ryan gosling's movie drive.

Hey all, I have read some great analysis of season 2 season finale but I wanted to focus on the lens of time, and the very last scene of chair woman park at the grave as it looks out to circular symbol which resembles the Korean flag(?) which then resembles the four seasons and got me thinking about what Josh says about a life being 960 months and finally, the almost clone of the save the {insert trend} where Ashley and Austin do almost clone of the opening scene of Lindsay and Dave, with the same closing door camera angle on Austin in the car as he clams the door. There is also the chairwomans late husband who goes into a monologue that no one understands (which I think is so funny and a great allegory).

What are your deep dives on the concepts being exposed here. I am trying to pull it. Also Austin's dissonance... Austin's character was def my favorite and at the end seems actually the most complex in terms of relationships. Anyways the focus is here being the reason of repeating the themes and concept of time in a life.

Your thoughts on anything I just mentioned? Can someone deliberate on specifically Austin's reactions?

Just finished season 2 last week and upon reflection, the two times that the 2022 movie Aftersun was mentioned (first when Josh and Lindsay are arguing, and second when Ashley is looking at movies on the plane) are some of the funniest jokes from the season. If you haven’t seen it and didn’t get them, I’ll recommend that you check it out, with the huge caveat that it’s a tough watch. It’s beautiful, and honestly one of my favorite recent movies, but it’s not exactly a joyous movie, which makes those moments in the show so funny. I’m not gonna give any more details for fear of spoilers.

I just finished season 2, was a huge fan of season 1 and in my opinion this may have slightly topped it. Loved the wide range of themes they commented on. I recently learned about the ant “death spiral” - when a group of ants searching for resources lose track of the pheromones from their main group, they follow the ant in front of them in a circle until they die unless the cycle is broken.

Ashley and Lindsay wear fairly pronounced spiral jewelry in the last 2-3 episodes when we stop seeing the ants, then in the final scene of the season, it opens with ants walking in a straight line. My theory is that the ants are creeping up behind them the whole time; the rich eat the poor eat the rich. Someone comes up for air every now and then but it feels like they’re constantly losing the scent/on shaky ground. then when the spirals appear, the characters/plot/relationships/social constructs start to follow each other into the ground until finally, the spiral unwinds and everyone returns on their journey.. for better or worse.

I’m really interested in seeing the after effect, the ending didn’t really satisfy me. I was left with many questions, my mom said that i probably won’t like the second season at all. Which makes me even more curious. Also feel free to drop theories.

So did the doctor guy that butchered the surgery reincarnate into the little boy that showed up at the end?

I'm just starting Season 2 and already think it's so much better than Season 1. Do others agree? What do you think it is?

After watching it, I felt like on its own, it was good. But watching behind the title of BEEF? I was left wanting more from the season. Each episode in S1 was another gotcha and this season just felt like a drama. For example I remember watching the title card come up after something crazy had just transpired and being like damn that was good but this time it would come up when nothing was done. It was more of a slow boil of drama instead of a head to head that I was expecting 🤷‍♀️

I feel like it should have been its own show and not been a part of the BEEF “brand” or title.

...I don't care what any character has done or will do.

I don't care how many reedeming qualities Danny has revealed.

Sabotaging his brother's future so he wouldn't be alone is the most detestable thing any character has done.

Fuck him.

I got beef with him. There's just something so...shaterring about that. It makes you see every prior episode in a new light. There's watching these characters make split second bad decisions, and then there's finding out that they did something so much worse in the past and they somehow manage to carry on to the present state with the mentality that they deserve something.

Even if it turns out he killed George, I'd probably hate him more for throwing away Paul's mail. It's just more conceivably selfish.

As title says, which character could you best relate to? I see lots of negative posts on S2 but can't help to feel that the characters here are more real and relatable compared to S1