‘What do you do to get ahead in life? You hustle.’ – That’s the mantra for the new season of Lee Sung Jin’s Netflix series Beef, which stars Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Cailee Spaeny, Charles Melton, Youn Yuh-jung and Song Kang-ho. When the first season of the multiple Emmy award-winning show dropped in 2023, it broke through the cluttered space of the platform, where finding an engrossing show is like finding a diamond in a coal mine. Three years later, the show has returned with a second season and in many ways, it has surpassed what it delivered with that delicious debut.
This season of Beef starts with introducing two couples at the Monte Vista Point Country Club in California. Oscar Isaac’s Josh Martin works as the GM here, and from the surface, it appears that he and his wife Lindsay, played by Carey Mulligan, share a partnership of equals, where he gets the job done, and she brings in the soft skills that make his job easier. The other couple is Cailee Spaeny’s Ashley, who runs a beverage cart at the resort, and is desperate for health insurance, and her fiance, Austin, played by Charles Melton, comes across as the buffoon who has learnt enough buzzwords to make seemingly sensible conversations but relies on ChatGPT to actually do his job as a physical therapist.
The conflict arises when Ashley and Austin accidentally walk into a violent fight between Josh and Lindsay, and proceeds to use it to blackmail. The power dynamics shift when both these entitled couples feel like they are being cheated out of their phantom fortunes. The core of Beef, which made the first season so special, is reinterpreted – for not all quarrels are the same, and not everyone fights their fights the same way.
Carey Mulligan in Beef Season 2.
At its core, Beef Season 2 is the classic story of haves vs have-nots, and it feels like they have done a better job at making White Lotus than what Mike White did with that last season in Thailand. Both these couples are struggling to level up, ethics be damned. Even though they come from different generations and value systems, their interpretation of ‘hustle culture’ is the same – beg, borrow, steal or cheat, just get to the next level. Josh believes he is a ‘friend’ to the A-listers who are regulars at the club but is frequently reminded that he is ‘staff’. He is also terribly conscious of marrying above his league, and Lindsay leaves no opportunity to remind him of the same. She was once a wealthy woman who was being chased by the paparazzi all around town, and is still chasing the high of being desirable as she struggles with ageing.
Ashley, played by Cailee Spaeny, is the standout performer here. She starts off like a doe-eyed girl who just wants to secure her health insurance, and eventually transforms into a manipulative woman who has made her partner believe that routine inspection of his phone is as normal as a sunset. Cailee was snubbed by the Academy Awards for Priscilla, and watching her here convinces you all over again that this woman is set to go places. Charles Melton, who was delicately vulnerable in May December, plays Austin as an older Gen-Z man who attended college but didn’t really learn much, and is still quite silly with an accidental dash of wisdom, if the lighting strikes at the right moment.
Charles Melton in Beef Season 2.
Then there is Chairwoman Park, the new owner of the Country Club, played by Minari fame Youn Yuh-jung, and her husband Dr Kim, played by Song Kang-ho of Parasite fame. Even though these two are at the top of the pyramid, they struggle too, for Park is a problem solver (even if it involves murder) and Dr Kim is too proud to think about anyone else, even if they end up dead on the operating table.
It is evident that money is the cause of all their problems, but it is also the only solution they can think of. But the biggest hurdle for all these couples is their idea of love, which is blended with their ‘hustler’ attitude. They can’t separate the two, and thus, fail on all fronts. Josh and Lindsay are unhappy in a mundane way, where disappointment has become their baseline emotion, and decades into their marriage, they still harbour the same decades-old dream of having their own bed and breakfast inn. The only shred of real love they ever display is towards their dog Burberry. Austin and Ashley believe they have no reason to fight, and are told that’s only because they have no money, but once deceit enters the chat, it is obvious that the love they assumed to be sacred is nothing but a facade. Even with Park and Dr Kim, love is nothing but a transaction.
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The show turns beautifully complicated when it explores Austin and Eunice’s relationship, which has doom written all over it. Troy (William Fichtner) and Ava (Mikaela Hoover) are clearly the aspirational couple for all the Country Club employees, but the cracks in their relationship are evident from a mile away. The show’s conclusion brings it back a full circle and reaffirms that the core idea of ‘hustle’ never leaves those who once befriended it.
Beef Season 2 takes the idea that it sowed in its debut season, and doesn’t try to replicate the winning formula, which is honestly refreshing. Two seasons in, this one’s still a winner!
