Beef (Season 1) Review, Recap, Ending Explained: Netflix’s new show – ‘Beef’ is an astonishing piece of work. The series was created by the A24 studios, which dominated this year’s Oscars. With a brilliant pairing of Steven Yeun and Ali Wong as the leads, the show excels in almost every single aspect. After writing for shows like Silicon Valley, Dave, and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Lee Sung Jin created this show brimming with palpable tension and a rich subtext. If you loved the show as much as I did and want an in-depth look into what happens, please keep reading.
Spoilers ahead.
Beef (Season 1) Recap
Episode 1: The Birds Don’t Sing, They Screech in Pain
Danny Cho (Steven Yeun) drives to a store to return the Hibachi grills that he recently purchased. The guy at the counter refuses to take them back since Danny does not have the receipt. Besides, it is the third time Danny bought them. So, he refuses to take it back. As a result, Danny leaves the store enraged. He gets back in his truck and seems to be in a lot of emotional pain. Anyhow, he reverses the truck to get out of the parking lot. That’s when a driver crosses his truck and keeps honking at him. This person drives past Danny and gives him a middle finger. With his fury already simmering, Danny proceeds to pursue this automobile, and the two engage in full-fledged road rage.
In the end, the other car driver manages to drive away. Danny notes down the number plate, hoping to find the person. Turns out, the other person also has some serious anger issues. Amy Lau (Ali Wong), who was driving the other car, is a successful businesswoman, married to an artist, George Nakai (Joseph Lee). While George was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, she came from a humble background. She was tired of how he masked his selfishness under the general niceties and made her feel bad about her success. Besides him, his mother, Fumi (Patti Yasutake), keeps making Amy feel guilty for choosing her ambition over her family.
Meanwhile, Danny returns home to his brother, Paul (Young Mazino), who wastes his time playing video games and dealing with cryptocurrency. Danny hates Paul’s lack of responsibility. However, there is a history of why they have a dysfunctional relationship. They had a family business in the US, which got caught in legal charges because Danny allowed their cousin – Isaac (David Choe), to run his business venture. Danny wasn’t aware that it was illegal. Regardless of that, Paul blames him for letting Isaac hurt their family’s finances.
As a result of these issues, their parents moved back to South Korea. For bread and butter, Danny works as a contractor and helps others with their household chores. In reality, he hardly gets anyone to work for him and often gets called a handyman. Besides, he suffers bad Yelp reviews and wishes to bring his parents back from Korea and get their motel business up and running. He asks Isaac for money, who rather makes him feel guilty for even asking. Still, Isaac offers 20k from his side.
Danny keeps looking for property options but fails since his credit score is low due to not having a consistent income. He looks at his investments which continue to be volatile. He is not good at his work either, and his regular customer is on the verge of getting rid of him. On the other hand, Amy spends her day in her highly-profitable miniature plants business. She feigns a professional smile throughout the day while boiling with rage from the inside. Her white secretory, Mia (Mia Serafino), keeps buttering her up for raise while unknowingly being racist.
Later, Amy attends an event organized by the Forsters Corporation. The CEO, Jordan (Maria Bello), announces that she has decided to partner with several non-profits to grow her business of foraging mushrooms. Amy can’t help but notice the evident pretentiousness of it all. Suddenly, Jordan’s sister-in-law, Naomi (Ashley Park), raises a toast to Jordana to steal the limelight. Amy strikes up a conversation with Jordan since she is interested in buying one of George’s father’s pieces. Amy wishes to get it sold and make Jordan happy so that she can get financial help for her business.
Back home, Amy wakes up in the middle of the night to get ahold of their gun. For some reason, she can’t get into the safe. Turns out, George changed its code. But after hearing about her concern, he shares the new code with her. Later, when she is alone at home, she takes out the gun and masturbates with it. Meanwhile, Danny gets tired of his endless battle of raising money for the property. So, he decides to end his life by suffocating himself. Turns out, he bought the Hibachi grills for the same reason. But just as before, he backs out from his suicide attempt.
By then, Danny learns the address associated with the license plate from the road rage incident. He drives to Amy’s place and scares her about an electrical hazard to let him in, saying he can fix it. Danny enters as a contactor and looks around the house and its expensive interior design. He also learns that Amy’s husband is Japanese. He enters the garage and learns that Amy is driving the white car that drove past him.
Besides that, Amy opens up about her anger toward her present life. Anyhow, Danny decides to take his revenge. So he goes into her bathroom, pisses all over the floor, and leaves in hurry. After he leaves, Amy notices the piss and runs after him with a gun. But he reaches his car by then and drives away.
Episode 2: The Rapture of Being Alive
Enraged by Danny’s stunt, Amy returns home and looks for his license plate online. She finds his business details, gets his contact number, and calls him to threaten him for what he did to her. However, Danny does not get even the least bit concerned by her threat and cuts her call. So, Amy puts her gun on her phone as if she is shooting Danny through it. George returns home just then and finds her in this weird position. While George cleans the floor himself, Amy puts negative reviews online for Danny’s business. Meanwhile, she also tells George that Danny was angry knowing that he is Japanese. As a result, they both go out to look for him.
The residential address leads them to the motel that the Cho family once owned. That’s when Amy and George realize that the Chos moved out of this place due to a police raid related to some illegal activities. On the other hand, the bad Yelp review makes Danny worry that he won’t be able to return Isaac’s loan in time. So, as per Isaac’s suggestion, he gives the title of his truck to Isaac. Meanwhile, he helps Isaac with some menial chores. Later, he decides to start a new contracting company with Paul and to get it under Paul’s name.
Paul suggests targeting orange county folks and suggests connecting with Danny’s ex, Veronica (Alyssa Gihee Kim). Danny is not yet ready to face her and blames the family responsibilities for his breakup with her. Still, since Paul insists on meeting her, Danny drives to Veronica’s place. It looks like she still has feeling for Danny. She also invites him to their church. But her possessive husband Edwin (Justin H Min) wants her to keep her distance from Danny.
While Danny is still in her house, Isaac calls him to tell him about an Asian couple looking for him. He gets angry that Amy is still following him despite having all the riches one could possibly want. Meanwhile, Naomi meets Amy at her house. During their dialogue, she shows a recently viral road rage video from their neighborhood. Naomi has no idea that Amy drove that white car, and Amy does not reveal it either.
Amy tries to divert her mind from thinking about this road rage incident. She tries to get close to George. But he does not reciprocate and leaves her high and dry. As a result, Amy again starts thinking about revenge. She makes a fake Instagram profile under the name of Kayla and uses Mia’s photos. Then she sends a text to the Cho brothers’ Instagram handle. She starts flirting, and Paul starts flirting back.
While Paul continues to be unsupportive of Danny in their business, he wastes his time speaking with this stranger. Later, he goes out with Danny for drinks at a club. Danny expects Paul to settle down and make their parents proud of him. Paul, however, does not want to follow these arbitrary rules and says that Danny should not feel its self-imposed burden either.
Meanwhile, Amy goes to the exhibition of George’s father’s artworks. Jordan arrives there to buy a particular chair. But George refuses to sell her no matter how much she chooses to pay. Amy gets angry since it damages her relationship with Jordan. She lashes out at George, who says that she is just hungry for money and does not care for his sentiments. She gives him a reality check and makes him see how his privileged childhood made him not care for money. Since he is still hung up about the gun incident, she reveals that she wanted the gun to masturbate with – since sex with him was vanilla (joyless or boring).
While George storms out in anger, Amy leaves the exhibition and goes to the club where the Cho brothers are. She gives Danny only a glimpse of her to scare him off. Then she goes out to paint ‘I am poor’ and ‘I can’t drive’ on his truck. Paul still wants him to forget about it and enjoy their time. But Danny refuses not to be worried for their well-being. Because of their heated argument, Danny leaves on his own and drives up to Amy’s place with a hammer.
Episode 3: I Am Inhabited by a Cry
Danny decides to enter Amy’s house, either to destroy the interior or to harm her or George. However, he realizes that he will be caught by security cameras and returns home. He tries hard to wipe the paint on his truck. Then, the next morning, he drives up to Amy’s place, intent on burning down her car. However, he notices June (Remy Holt) inside the car and aborts his plan.
Meanwhile, Amy and George go meet a marriage counselor. She apologizes for her impulsive behavior and talks about her father, who kept his emotions bottled up, which exploded after years. During the Vietnam War, the situation was so dire that her mother even had to eat birds. So, it made Amy feel guilty. Amy takes this first step toward getting better. So, her conflict with George gets settled for the time being. Still, she continues to stay in touch with Paul with the hope of getting closer to Danny.
On the other hand, Danny decides to visit Veronica’s Living Glory church even if it is far away from where he lives. He joins the congregation and listens to Edwin’s Christian music track. Danny experiences catharsis and starts sobbing in no time. Veronica notices that. She later approaches him and asks if he could visit the church regularly. She even asks Danny to join their basketball game. However, Edwin tries to keep Danny at distance. He is so scared of Danny’s threat to his marriage that he even undermines Danny’s job as a contractor. Danny bounces back by saying that he would love to help their church with some charity work!
Meanwhile, Amy goes to meet Jordan, hoping to still attract her toward her business, and gets only a diplomatic response. She gets angry over how Jordan is using the chair as leverage. She speaks with George about it, hoping to find a solution. Instead, she finds out about his interest in her assistant, Mia. She goes to speak in person about why he forwarded Mia’s thirst trap. By the time he comes out, she flirts with Paul on the text a little more. They soon get on a call where she connects with him over their anger at their respective parents. But she backs out just when she feels that she is going a little too far with this thing.
Later at home, Amy opens up about her suicidal feelings with George. He consoles her by saying how he embraces the sadness of being a stay-at-home father. While the couple gets vulnerable with each other, Danny also speaks with Isaac about the futility of always being a ‘good person.’ Maybe his dialogue with Paul made him think of this. Maybe it is his petty arguments with Amy. But he feels that he need not be burdened for being good all the time. Since no bank offers him a loan as an individual, he decides to take advantage of the Living Glory church to get the money. He convinces Pastor Kim about it and says that he will do the repairs pro bono.
Meanwhile, Jordan comes to Amy’s house to share the new investment plan. Amy realizes that she is supposed to keep working for another 5 years if she agrees to it. However, she wanted to get the deal so she could stay back with her kids. Seeing her back out, Jordan makes her greedy for more than what she has. She also makes Amy consider how the gender roles are reversed in her relationship, where she will continue to be a provider.
Later, Paul shows up at her work, expecting to see Kayla. Since he notices Mia and recognizes her face as Kayla’s, Amy takes him out of the store. She says that she created that fake profile because of her broken marriage. Maybe because of their earlier conversation, or maybe because of this sad story, but Paul feels for her and, thus, goes on to kiss her. Meanwhile, back home, George jerks off while looking at Mia’s photos.
Episode 4: Just Not All at the Same Time
Amy drives Paul back to his place, hoping to know where Danny lives. While Danny throws out his garbage, she notices him. So, even if she tells Paul to keep his distance from her, she allows him to kiss her. Meanwhile, she looks at Danny with boiling rage. Later at night, Danny speaks with Isaac that he wants to apologize to Amy. He also worries about Paul, who is always talking about Kayla. As far as Danny knows, Kayla is a white woman. So, he does not want his brother to get too involved with her.
Amy messes up her family trip plan for dropping June down from her lap. So George cancels the plan and tells Amy to leave for Vegas. She travels alone and spends time with Jordan, who gives her lessons about the importance of maintaining a public image. Jordan invites Amy to a panel discussion that is supposed to happen the next day. Amy tells about this panel to George, who makes her feel guilty for being away from their daughter. Still, he begrudgingly chooses to support her career.
Meanwhile, Paul talks about Kayla being in Vegas and asks Isaac and Danny to drive there and meet her. Instead, he ends up enraging Isaac, who makes fun of him for getting lured by a white girl. Later, when the two go to sleep, Paul steals the car keys and drives away. Since Danny and Paul need that truck for the next day’s delivery, they rush out to catch Paul. Danny drives through Vegas and uses Paul’s password to get access to his phone’s location. He gets the hotel address but does not know the exact room number.
By then, Paul goes up to Amy’s room. She warns him that they won’t do anything sexual. So, he suggests getting high since she is free for a few hours. Then, they order food and vent out the resentments from their lives. Amy contemplates the decision to sell her business for $10 million. Paul opens up about his feelings toward his brother. He believes Danny keeps worrying for others and never for himself. Amy says how selfish it is for broken people to spread their brokenness. While she empathizes with Danny in that way, she cannot let go of her anger toward him. Anyhow, she and Paul have a good time together.
Soon, Paul notices the notification saying that his phone is lost and gets an alert about it. However, he decides to stay in her room and keep talking to her. Since he becomes vulnerable about being pressured by Danny, Amy sympathizes with him and says not to live his life in fear. Soon after, he leaves the room and walks to the basement floor. Isaac notices him from the buffet and starts following him with Danny. Paul runs up to Amy’s room and gets inside. But Danny & Isaac manage to barge in and start scolding him for his irresponsible actions.
Back in the basement, Danny notices Amy speaking at the panel and decides to take his revenge. He gets hold of a mike and starts blabbering about the road rage incident with a white SUV. Soon after, he starts insulting her. Amy handles the commotion like an expert but realizes the danger she is in with Danny. Meanwhile, Danny and George run out while security follows them. They soon catch them both, and Amy gets her winning moment for the time being. On the other hand, Naomi gets a hunch that Amy drove the SUV involved in the road rage incident.
Episode 5: Such Inward Secret Creatures
Danny decides to use another way to get close to Amy’s family. He poses as Zane and joins George on a bicycle ride. Subsequently, Danny decides to steal one of George’s or his father’s artworks as revenge. He shares this plan with Isaac, expecting his help. However, the two end up blaming each other for the recent troubles they got caught in. He then pitches the same art heist idea to Isaac’s friends, Michael (Andrew Santino) and Bobby (Rekstizzy), and they agree to help him out.
Danny enters George’s house as Zane and tells about a leak in their basement. Then he texts Michael and Bobby to come there posing as plumbers. Soon after, Danny walks into the basement and notices George’s art. George asks Danny for his honest opinion about it. Somehow, their dialogue leads George to open up about his imposter syndrome. He says how he feels like a fraud. Danny feels pity for him, and thus, he calls Michael to call off their plan.
Michael still arrives at George’s house with Bobby – both expecting to get in as plumbers. But George smells something fishy and refuses to let them in. He vents about it with Mia and then starts saying how he would have rather loved to spend time with her instead of Amy. Soon after, Fumi arrives at Amy’s store to find Mia instead. She looks around at the display and heavily criticizes it. On the other hand, Mia is worried about losing her job due to the recent acquisition. So, she tries to butter up Fumi hoping she will help her get another job.
Fumi ignores her and goes up to speak with Amy. She catches Amy off-guard while Amy is taking a picture of her butt. When she comes out of the room, Fumi invites her for a lunch as per their plans. Amy asks to reschedule it. So, Fumi is left by herself at the restaurant and gets ignored by the waiters. Despite fighting this loneliness, she picks up a call and projects as if she is extremely busy. Tom looks at her finances and suggests that she should sell the Tamago chair that George has kept for sentimental reasons. Anyhow, considering the situation, she decides to speak with George about it.
On the other hand, Paul keeps flirting with Amy and eventually gets invited to her house. This time, they have sex even if she told him repeatedly not to get physical with her. After his fight with Danny in the hotel room, Paul started staying somewhere else. Now, he hopes Amy to lend him some money to find a new apartment. Paul sees it as just the roadblock that keeps him away from achieving success like her. She refuses to give him money that easily and tells him how hard she worked to reach where she is. He insults her and calls her a bitch. So, she throws him out of her house.
Meanwhile, Naomi acts on her hunch that Amy was driving the white SUV involved in the road rage. She flatters their neighbor Firouz (Bernard White) into getting the exact details about the SUV. Later at night, Fumi calls Tom to speak about selling the Tamago chair. She believes it to be the reason Amy and George are getting a divorce. So she considers the sale crucial to saving their marriage.
Right then, she overhears someone enter the house. While Michael and Bobby enter the house to rob the artworks, Fumi procures her gun and shoots at them. The two save themselves and start running out. Fumi follows them but unfortunately falls down the stairs. So, after spending this lonesome day, she gets hospitalized.
Episode 6: We Draw a Magic Circle
Isaac and his friends come up to the Living Glory church. Isaac gets his check, plus a storage option at this place. Meanwhile, Danny scolds Michael and Bobby for breaking into Amy’s house to steal vases. Later, when they sit across from Edwin & Veronica, Isaac praises Danny to make Edwin jealous. Once they leave the church, he hands over the loan amount and tells Danny to trust him with his business plan. Danny returns home and tries to restore a friendly relationship with Paul. Paul reveals that he broke up with Kayla.
On the other hand, Fumi is hellbent on making George notice his broken marriage with Amy. She does it in front of June. So, the couple gets worried about how they should explain it to her. Later, Amy asks George to get the deal papers from Mia. He meets Mia outside the store and then breaks up their affair.
Meanwhile, Amy learns that Naomi is asking around about the SUV from the road rage incident. She soon comes to Amy’s place and shares her theory that Amy was driving the car. She reveals that two men working for Daniel Cho’s business broke into her house the night before. What other possible reason can there be for their revenge? However, Amy hates Naomi’s insinuation. So, she makes her feel worthless for not having any job, unlike her, who is always busy with something.
On the other hand, Paul seems hurt by Amy calling out his immaturity. So, he asks Danny to get him to help with their job. Since the business is in Isaac’s name, Danny advises Paul to apologize to him. Isaac lets Paul off the hook and allows him to work for him. Meanwhile, he tells Danny about his plan to get out of conviction for the hotel incident. He plans to smuggle money from his rice cookers and trusts Danny with this plan’s information. He hopes to expand their business and support everyone once the issue gets resolved.
That’s when Danny receives a text from Amy asking him to meet. She says that Michael and Bobby got caught wearing the t-shirt of their company. It implicated Danny’s relationship to the scene. Since their road rage incident destroyed her neighbor’s lawn, she asks him to take the fall and say that someone else was driving the SUV in exchange for $25k. He half-heartedly agrees to it. On her way back home, she gets a call from Naomi, who apologizes to her. Apparently, Fumi called Naomi and said that she was driving the SUV that day. Besides she also sells the Tamago chair to Jordan.
Back at home, Amy and George console June, who thinks that they are getting divorced. Then she calls Paul. At the time, Danny gets hold of Paul’s phone to masturbate to Kayla’s photo. When Danny picks up the phone, Amy tells him that the deal is off the table since she found another solution. It means that Danny will get charged without getting any money. To keep himself safe, Danny plots to get Isaac arrested by sharing an anonymous tip – saying that Isaac was driving the truck.
Once Isaac is in jail, Danny says that Amy may have guessed it from the license plate, which is now registered to Isaac’s name. Isaac requests Danny to get him out. But Danny rather decides to use Isaac’s plan to grow their business and become a sole owner. On the other hand, Amy thanks Fumi for covering for her and also for selling the chair. Fumi lectures her about her failing marriage and how she should work to sustain it – by giving an example of her own.
Episode 7: I Am a Cage
The narrative shifts to eight months later. By then, Danny had started a successful construction business, thanks to Isaac’s plan. He calls his parents from his new lavish place. Despite doing this, they keep asking him about Paul and are concerned about his life. While looking forward to their return to the country, Danny keeps working on expanding his business. One night, Edwin arrives at his place and insinuates that Danny grew the business so fast because of some shady deals. But Danny stands by the legitimacy of his business and says that he built it with a lot of hard work.
Meanwhile, Amy lives peacefully with George and June now that she has sold her business. Also, the sale of the Tamago chair relieves another burden from her shoulders. Still, they struggle with intimacy. George shares that he was having an affair with Mia and says he felt connected with her on a deeper level. Amy gets surprised by this. However, she does not wish to ruin what they have now. So, she forgives him. Maybe she feels guilty for not being as open with him. But she chooses not to let him not feel guilty about the affair.
Later, Amy visits her therapist to speak about George’s affair with Mia. She dwells upon her past from the time she met him and decided to marry. She married him, thinking he could help her find salvation and feel loved. Now she is staying with him out of guilt for not being as good as he has been to her. She talks about making some unforgivable mistakes that make her feel unworthy of his love. However, she does not touch upon any actual details about it.
On the other hand, the newfound success makes Danny rethink his life choices. It makes him introspect on how he has been hustling all his life to the point he knows no other way to live. It hits a nerve and reminds him of his childhood when he did not feel loved & accepted by his parents. After his dialogue with George about these struggles, George invites him for a gathering back at his place. So, Danny enters Amy & George’s place as a successful businessman.
Besides his success, there are some interesting new developments in their lives. Jordan and Naomi got engaged, which may have to do with their conversation about the Tamago chair. Anyhow, Naomi now gets a chance to look down on Amy. Meanwhile, George introduces Danny as Zane to Amy. Then the two petty souls start talking after months. Due to his success, Danny has the ambition to reach the heights that Amy reached with her business. Amy tells him how everything is ephemeral and ends the conversation.
She goes back to the party and bends down to gather the parts of a broken glass. That’s when Danny notices a tattoo on her back and recalls the photo from Paul’s phone. He calls out Kayla’s name, and Amy looks back. He realizes that Amy was catfishing Paul back then to get close to him. So he storms out of her house, and she follows him. He calls her out for using naïve Paul as per his wishes. She accuses him of not giving Paul the right direction. Their argument leaves her boiling with rage.
Back at home, Amy suggests to George that they should move to a different house. Meanwhile, Danny tells Paul that Kayla, aka Amy, was the same woman that got into a road rage incident with him. Paul realizes that Amy was only using him to get close to Danny. So, he goes up to her house and shouts at her security camera, saying that he had an affair with Amy. By the time she returns home, George leaves along with June. On the other hand, Mr. and Mrs. Cho returns to the US and are proud of what Danny has achieved. However, when they drive back to their place, they notice that it has been set on fire.
Episode 8: The Drama of Original Choice
The day after the fire, Fumi says that she will cover up for Amy if she confesses she only had text exchanges with Paul and that nothing sexual happened between them. More than Amy, Fumi does this for George since she is well aware of how his artworks are dispensable and how his marriage with Amy is crucial for his self-esteem. Meanwhile, Amy starts letting random people have sex with her and sees her as a witch in those sexual scenarios. However, there is a history behind why she feels that way.
Back in 2001, when Amy was a teenager, she saw a woman entering their house with her father, Bruce (Kelvin Han Yee). She saw this woman in the form of the same witch. Since then, Amy saw any of her misbehavior as her being this witch of a woman. In the present, Amy revisits their family home after staying away for years. She tries to bring up the subject of not feeling loved by them. But Bruce guilt-trips her by talking about the sacrifices he made. One thing becomes clear. Amy overheard her parents saying that she was unwanted.
Amy tries to speak with her mother – Han Trinh (Hong Dao), about her father’s affairs. However, her mother refuses to dwell upon the past and believes that it helps no one. This dialogue makes Amy think about how her family kept many secrets buried in their minds for several generations. So back home, she decides to come clean to George, not just about her affair with Paul, but about everything – from the road rage incident to Danny acting as Zane to the fatal robbery in their house.
After hearing that, George asks for a divorce. Amy lets him have all the property but wants to share June’s custody. As she told her therapist, she sees June as the only good thing to have come out of her life. However, George thinks they should let lawyers make the decision. Meanwhile, on the day of the fire, Danny learns that he won’t be insured if the fire was caused by arson. Paul starts panicking and confesses to having told Amy’s husband about his affair with her. George gets angry at Paul but instead diverts his attention to look for a culprit.
Instead of Amy, Danny decides to question Edwin about it. He terrifies Edwin, who reveals that he only pulled silly pranks on Danny – like ordering random magazines at his address and getting him charged for them. He confesses being jealous of Danny since Veronica is still in love with him. Seeing Edwin sob, Danny consoles him. It brings him back to his childhood when he often got bullied. Still, his parents told him to go to school despite the hurricane warning.
Back in the present, Danny learns that the fire was caused by faulty wiring. While it solves his issue about the insurance, he is not happy. He somehow wanted Amy to be at fault for this fire. Now, what will he do with his boiling rage? He decides to lie to Paul about the fire and tells him that it was arson. Paul gets emotional, and Danny gets to be his protective brother. So, it becomes a way for Danny to feel wanted or needed by Paul. Back in 2008, he did the same thing. While Paul aspired to go learn at some good university, Danny wanted him to support his business venture. That’s why he even threw away the college invitation letters that Paul received at the time.
In the present, Danny buys some gasoline and one of the Koyohaus plants in a supermarket. Then he drives to George’s place to surprise him. However, by then, George becomes aware of Danny’s real identity. So he does not let Danny come in. Instead, he calls the cops to get him arrested. Still, Danny barges in to use the bathroom. When Danny comes out, George puts a gun to his head and accuses him of all the crimes. Their fight eventually leads to George’s head hitting a wall. As a result, Danny leaves the house right away and starts driving. But a few moments later, he realizes that June had got in the backseat without his notice.
Episode 9: The Great Fabricator
After spending months inside the jail, Isaac is enraged at Danny for not getting him out before. Suddenly, he gets out because somebody called the authorities to tell them that Danny was driving the truck, not him. He goes straight to Danny’s house to confront him about it. Michael and Bobby join him. Danny was already trying to think about what he should do about June. That’s when they get an AMBER alert and realize that George has called the police to look for him. So they all decide to drive to Amy’s to return the kid in exchange for money.
Meanwhile, Amy meets Jordan at her house and comes clean about all her misdeeds. She asks if she can buy back the Tamago chair for George, but Jordan refuses to sell it back. That’s when George calls her to tell her that Danny came into their house and kidnapped June. He gets her to accept that Danny was driving the truck during the road rage and not Isaac. Then, she gets a call from Isaac asking for money. She says getting that huge sum is impossible in a short time.
So Amy suggests Isaac come to Jordan’s place to steal the expensive stuff from her house. Then she calls George, asks him to withdraw the huge amount Isaac asked before, and tells him not to alert the cops. Jordan approaches Amy wearing one of her crowns, and rehashes the ‘everything fades’ monologue that Amy always tells. That’s when Isaac and Michael knock on their door and enter wearing Dick Cheney masks. Meanwhile, the brothers take Bobby’s life and then send June safely back to Amy’s car.
Meanwhile, inside Jordan’s house, Isaac starts panicking when they hear the cops’ sirens. Michael brings Danny and Paul inside. Isaac confronts them about Bobby’s sudden disappearance. During this commotion, Amy decides to save herself by getting on Isaac’s good side and convicting Danny and Paul for the crimes. Isaac locks the brothers outside the house. By that time, Naomi and Jordan start running toward their saferoom. Michael notices that and throws the Tamago chair at Jordan. She loses her balance and reaches the saferoom too late.
Naomi makes an error of judgment and closes the door before Jordan can fully enter the room. As a result, Jordan’s flesh starts quelching right at that entrance. Naomi is left with witnessing this horrifying death. By that time, Amy calls George to tell him that June is in her car outside Jordan’s house. Isaac threatens to kill Amy, and she manipulates him just the right amount to stop her from killing him. Soon after, the cops show up and start firing at them. Michael loses his life.
Meanwhile, Paul and Danny try to get out of the house by climbing up the wall. Paul gets up on the top, but Danny cannot. By then, Danny starts hearing the firing sounds and tells Paul to leave him. Due to his piled-up guilt, Danny confesses that he burned down the house and that it was not arson. He then opens up about the times when he held Paul down. He confesses to throwing out Paul’s college applications since he could not bear the thought of Paul getting ahead of him. Paul jumps down on the other side. All Danny hears is the firing sounds from the police.
Outside the house, Isaac gets arrested. The doctors try to check the blood pressure of traumatized Naomi. Amy comes out to realize that George left without getting her. Then she gets an alert about immediate and complete custody of June to George. A few hours later, Danny manages to secretly escape the house. He calls Paul but gets left a voice note. Then he sees his car and decides to drive away. On the way, Amy notices him, and they engage in yet another road rage.
Episode 10: Figures of Light
After a staring contest with Amy, Danny bumps his car into a tree. Amy gets out of her car and follows Danny to shoot him. While she almost finds him, he pushes her down a height and hurts her ankle. Then he keeps shouting, expecting someone would help him. In the morning, Amy regains consciousness and sees that her phone does not have a network. Danny’s phone does not have it either, and he is desperate to get in touch with Paul. She asks him to help her get back to the main road in exchange for helping him.
So eventually, Danny decides to carry Amy on his shoulders and starts looking for a way out. Soon after, they both notice Amy’s lost gun and try to get hold of it. To stop Danny, she hurts his leg without thinking how about her injured ankle, which makes her unfit to get out on her own. She puts him at a gunpoint and summons him to find some berries to eat. They both eat a couple of those and later realize that they are poisonous. They suffer dangerous symptoms and start hallucinating.
The two start talking about some random shit about several Asians being lactose intolerant to the nature of time. Soon after, they start talking about their fears and anxieties. Danny says that parents piss down their traumas through their babies. Since they belong to the same generation, they share the sentiment of being used as Guinea pigs so that the next generations can succeed.
They both slowly start spilling the beans. Danny feels bad for not letting Paul share his feelings. Amy confesses she hated Paul’s vases. While ruminating over their personal traumas, they imagine speaking for one another. Yet, they share the sense of how ephemeral everything in their life is. They speak about their ennui and resonate with each other’s flaws and feelings of utter emptiness.
In the morning, they get back to their normal state of being. They start walking back and find their phone’s network slowly returning. They notice a series of messages from their friends and relatives. Danny notices a text from Paul. It makes him feel happy that his brother is alive. So he decides to walk back home to meet him back at home. When he and Amy reach a tunnel, they notice George on the other side, waiting for Amy. George sees Danny with her and shoots him. As a result, Danny gets hospitalized and is put on life support. Amy, who sits next to him, walks up to his bed and lies next to him.
Beef (Season 1) Ending Explained
Do Danny and Amy get revenge on each other?
After getting stuck in the middle of nowhere, Danny and Amy seek each other’s help hoping to get out and return home. They hurt each other and end up hurting the chances of getting back to their homes. Due to one event leading to another, they spend an entire day together while ruminating over the shared sense of pain, loneliness, and emptiness. They wish they could have talked about the differences earlier and stopped many tragedies. So, instead of seeking revenge, they become much closer by the end of the road.
What does the last scene mean? Why does Amy sleep next to Danny on his bed?
I believe there is no one right answer to it. Also, it feels futile to conclude their bond as purely romantic. Still, the end shows Amy walking up to Danny’s bed and sleeping next to him. She does it after thinking about the time they crossed paths with each other – about the time she honked at him and gave him a middle finger. Could they have stopped this conflict if she had reacted differently? Maybe. But neither of them can change what happened. They can only empathize with who they were at the time.
Both were on the cusp of breaking out because of their personal tragedies and took the situation of road rage to a terrible fate. So, the last montage, when Amy sleeps next to Danny and the days pass by one after the other, feels overwhelmingly emotional. Their embrace feels more like a poetic conclusion to their earlier catharsis.
Beef (Season 1) Themes Analysed
Generational Trauma
Throughout the season, Beef explores how trauma gets passed down from generation to generation, and so do several harmful habits. Amy’s mother considered secrecy better than speaking the truth. She made Amy feel guilty for expecting even the most basic joys since she led a difficult life. Amy’s father considered his sacrifices as a sign of his love. He also kept his emotions bottled up for years that got out in the form of rage. Amy’s petty rage is nothing but a reflection of the same. It is the result of undiagnosed issues and unspoken emotional troubles.
Childhood Trauma
Amy’s parents refused to have an honest conversation about their feelings, which made Amy grow scared of ever expecting or asking for love. She grew up seeking warmth from her partner and expecting the things that her parents deprived her of. Her boiling rage was a result of the same issue. On the other hand, Danny’s parents kept him at bay while giving more love and warmth to their younger son. It made him unwanted, empty, and hungry for love and respect from them.
Rage, Pettiness & Unchecked emotions
Much of the cause of Amy & Danny’s anguish results from their unchecked emotions. Their impulses get triggered whenever they see a threat and consider a fight-or-flight response instantly. They rarely got a chance to introspect about their lives and thus to think about how these impulses guide them in unflattering directions. Their rage and their pettiness are a result of their pent-up anger that finds an outlet for not knowing a healthier way to deal with it.
Beef (Season 1) Review
Lee Sung Jin’s ‘Beef’ is a rare masterwork in Netflix’s massive library. Starring Steven Yeun and Ali Wong at the center, it becomes a truly cathartic experience for more than one reason. Besides being captivating throughout its duration, it stands apart due to its richly layered script. It explores the themes of generational trauma while exploring their racial identities beyond the conventional tropes.
Every single episode is expertly crafted and filled with tension and suspense. The real success is its sheer unpredictability and how the writing derives it by digging deeper into the character motivations. The ninth episode, in specific, is a brilliant example of the same – where every new twist feels utterly believable since it makes sense as per the character’s mental state. Besides, the phenomenal direction makes this dark comedy a nerve-wracking experience.
The acting performances are yet another highlight of the show, where Steven Yeun and Ali Wong channel something unreal behind the surface. Ali’s eery smile expertly shows the pain buried underneath her character. While her comic timing is justifiably masterful, her dramatic work is just as remarkable. None of her tears seems empty, which is also the case with Mr. Yeun.
Steven channels pathos of Danny and portrays his guilt, pain, and utter emptiness without ever resorting to overt exposition. His mature handling of this traumatized soul puts forth more than what meets the eye. Just look at him in the church congregation, refusing to partake, almost mocking Edwin’s passionate singing, and then slowly getting swayed by the words to the point he achieves catharsis.
