‘Beef’: Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan Viciously Duel With Charles Melton and Cailee Spaeny for a Diabolically Relevant Second Season 

Alci Rengifo

There is little question that we live in anxious times. Our ongoing divisions are fusing with our general stress as a species. Netflix’s “Beef” is a hilariously twisted take on our shortening tempers, first premiering as a hit limited series in 2023, that went on to win multiple Emmys. Creator Lee Sung Jin found an easy starting point with a tale initiating with road rage, a very recognizable angle for anyone living in a major American city. For season two, he confirms the anthology nature of this series, introducing a whole new story in a new setting. This time the “beef” between characters arises out of good old ambition and jealousy.

Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan are a perfect pairing as Josh and Lindsay Martin. Josh manages a country club in California where he gets to rub elbows with the local elite. There is boiling frustration in the once aspiring musician, who is clearly wealthy, just not to the same level as the high rollers frequenting his establishment. The couple are also dealing with the stress of a bed-and-breakfast project meant to expand their business. Both handle stress in their own ways. Josh has an OnlyFans addiction while Lindsay flirts with a handsome tennis pro (rapper BM) or texts old lovers before blocking them out of shame. One night their hidden rages come out in an explosive fight that escalates to hilarious levels of violence. Outside their window, the club’s drink cart girl, Ashley (Cailee Spaeny) and fiancé, Austin (Charles Melton), a trainer, see the fight and record it. When Josh approaches Ashley to make sure she keeps quiet about the incident, it sets off a chain of events where the young couple figure they can use what they know as leverage over the richer, older couple. Of course, it won’t be so easy.

In the same way Charlie Brooker’s “Black Mirror” observes human nature through the evolution of technology, Jin is trying to cast a broad eye over who we are right now with “Beef.” Class, generational divides and economic struggles collide this season into another rich cocktail that grows wilder as the season progresses. Even the tensions between Josh and Lindsay stem from the difference in backgrounds, a subject rarely explored. Lindsay already comes from an upper class English family, meaning she has the taste and refinement Josh wishes he had been born with. Both can still be clueless Americans when interacting with the club’s new owner, Chairwoman Park (Youn Yuh-jung), a Korean billionaire who is quite specific about her tastes (they don’t understand that when she calls something “colonial” it is with a negative connotation). Park has her own pressures to deal with from back home in Seoul, where her husband (Song Kang-ho), a plastic surgeon, resides.

The generational divide that comes into play and leads to the plot’s turn towards blackmail, is also treated with a refreshing nod at current social realities. Austin and Ashley barely make ends meet. Ashley, who never graduated from high school, is diagnosed with an ovarian cyst that would be easier to treat if they could afford it. Austin depends on a micro client list. In their frustration, they start rationalizing that they are a generation kept from rising by a late stage capitalist system dominated by people like Josh and Lindsay. Blackmailing them with the footage of their fight would simply be a form of workers expropriating what is owed them. Then they make one of those wickedly bad decisions. The older couple essentially agrees to pay them $45,000 with 10 days of paid leave and health insurance. But, wait, shouldn’t Austin get something too? Instead of taking the win, greed begins to give them other ideas even after Josh promotes Ashley. Everyone serves someone and Josh is practically humiliated by Park when she gives him instructions over zoom on how to properly bow to show respect per Korean culture.

The characters are so believable with their quirks and follies that Jin doesn’t need to add extra layers of intrigue like Josh’s debts from before he met Lindsay. The latter is given one too many former boyfriends to do needless DMs with, though the writing is sharp in exploring how digital communication has made it easier to emotionally self-torture ourselves. There’s also the added layer of Austin feeling attracted to Eunice (Seoyeon Jang), Park’s young translator. It is entertaining enough to see these people derail just when they seemed to have found a way to coexist. After Josh promotes Ashley at the office, his and Lindsay’s money woes inspire a scheme to make Ashley the fall person. When Austin is hired to help oversee the construction of a wellness center at the club, Ashley gets suspicious that something is going on with Eunice. From there the series just keeps building up in tension and wild moments as everyone ups the ante on each other. Confessions are made 30,000 feet in the air during a flight to Seoul and the story will eventually find its climax in South Korea.

“Beef” could have easily tried to repeat what made the first season so gripping. Jin proves to be a great showrunner by knowing how to refresh the premise in a way where each season can stand on its own. The casting is meticulous here, with everyone striking perfect notes. Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan are not necessarily evil, just a middle-aged counter to the younger couple, with more years and experience with the cruel ways of the world. This does not justify their actions, but makes them feel grounded. Cailee Spaeny and Charles Melton again prove they are rising, notable young talents. Spaeny, who has left a mark on such good films as “Priscilla” and “Civil War,” shows she has range, playing a character just trying to get by with few resources. Melton keeps shedding away his CW “Riverdale” roots, and as in “May December,” displaying his own capacity for complex performances. Their sense of comedic timing is impeccable too, knowing just when to be funny enough without overcooking. As the world keeps wobbling on its axis, their work in “Beef” is a curious form of comfort food because we’re all going crazy.

“Beef” season two begins streaming April 16 on Netflix.