Some might not believe where the second season of Beef goes if they only watch the first episode, and it’s one of the wildest rides of the entire television season. So much of the sophomore outing is about how we take sides as a couple against those who threaten us as united fronts shift and change depending on the strength of the marriage that you are in. Jake Schreier leans into absurdity and tragedy as shows us that it’s not about the destination but literally the journey…even when it comes to marriage.
Who finds the most acceptance by the end of Beef’s second season? In order to even consider that we have to ponder where we came from. The titular fight that kicks off the sparring between Carey Mulligan and Oscar Isaac versus Cailey Spaeny and Charles Melton is so shocking that even hearing it is troublesome to the viewer. There is something about the pitch of Mulligan’s screams or how Isaac’s Josh sounds like he has had enough this time. Schreier talks about building up to that intensity, and we find a mutual appreciation right before it gets as bad as it does. Mulligan’s Lindsay says, ‘I hate you’ calmly, a glass of wine in her hand and her husband counters with a knowing, almost vicious reply. ‘I know,’ he says.
By episode eight, the entire season is so complicated and tangled with partial understandings that we admit to ourselves that our allegiances aren’t as clear as when they first started. With everyone in Korea, the action finds a wholly new energy as Josh, Lindsay, Ashley, and Austin must confront a common enemy even if they don’t know how or when they will make it back to the States. On the Trochos turf, Schreier’s camera is bathed in whites and cool blues, and there is an incredible sequence where Song Kang-ho’s Dr. Kim speaks the most blatant honesty about marriage and relationships. It’s lost on those listening since they don’t speak the same language before the scene turns physical with madcap action.
Schreier understands how the loneliness that drives anger can be threaded throughout an entire season of television. The final moments at the graveyard speak to memory and regret that makes us wonder if we should consider our own loneliness before we consider raising our voices.
Beef is streaming now on Netflix.
