Beef (Season 2)

⭐ 9/10

I wasn't sure if Beef needed another season, and its very easy to draw some lines between analogous characters in both seasons, but this is very much a worthwhile followup to the first season. It hits on a bunch of the same themes as well, but what's wrong with more of a good thing? In this season, there are two couples. One is Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan (Llewyn Davis reunion), who run a fancy country club. The other is Cailee Spaeny and Charles Melton who work at the club. The younger couple sees the older have an explosive fight, they record it, use it as blackmail, and we are off.

Melton is a revelation here! I loved him in May December, and here he is this dorky sweet jock, an unusual combo he completely nails. He is so funny, and so handsome, and so warm, I loved every scene he was in. Can't say I was an early stock holder but I'm all in now. Make this guy James Bond for all I care, I want to see him in everything. His dynamic with Spaeny is great, another young actress I love. They both change so much as the season progresses, in shocking but also believable ways.

The other couple is great as well, doing the classic rich jerk thing. I think they are actually given a bit less room to change as the season goes, but they are A-Tier actors and I loved what they did. Like the first season I didn't love the way the show ended, but the final note is also maybe not meant for me? Weird to say it that way, but I think there is a lot of Korean identity and cultural knowledge baked into this show that I don't think I picked up on. That's very true of the first season as well. Again that's where I liked the Melton character, biracial and kind of straddling both worlds. 

Hard to condense a whole season of TV like this, where so much happens, but this show is some of the best on right now, and made me laugh harder than I have in a long time. If I had to choose I think I liked season one more, but that's not a knock on this at all. It really expands on what season one is doing, and even if it lost me a couple times this is not some money grab sequel. Highly recommend.