Beef Has Some of the Most Intriguing Characters I’ve Ever Seen on TV. Beef - Netflix Review

Steven Yeun is mostly known as Glenn from The Walking Dead, even with his highly regarded work in Burning and Minari, he's still yet to match up to his breakout role. Beef has changed that and his acting as Danny may have eclipsed anything he's previously done.

I've never seen Ali Wong's work before but she is fantastic in her role and all I can say is that this show has S-tier acting and characters across the board. I can see how relatable they are and it's likely many watching are thinking to themselves "that's so me" each time a character shows one of their traits or flaws. It feels real.

"I hate pretending that I don't hate things"

There are little nuggets like this that strike a chord with us. Right now we are in a place socially where everyone feels like they're under a microscope because of social media and everyone's watching one another. It's tough for people to show negative emotions because well, you might be branded 'toxic' or 'problematic' for that. Though, have no doubt many of us feel that anger inside. Some take it out on their co-workers, some people take it out on the gym, and many decide to shit-talk strangers on the internet. That anger has to go somewhere, right? Though, this isn't the only thing at play here. Danny represents being at the bottom of the ladder in society, having everything go wrong, and seeing those with everything he dreams of still fucking with him. It's relatable for anyone that's been in those situations, they know- when it rains, it pours. What's more is he feels like a failure with his past girlfriend now being happily married with a child, whilst he's barely managing to make ends meet in his late 30s. Through his fears of being alone and left behind, he sabotages his brother and we see that there is good and bad. How he treats his brother and what he does to Isaac are his lowest lows. But the same guy felt guilt after talking to George and tried to do the right thing, he also mentally collapsed after seeing Junie in the car he was about to set on fire.

Amy on the other hand has her own issues. She does have the kind of money most dream about, she also has a family and let's be honest, her husband is a catch. Though, you can have it all and still be unhappy. She married a guy she loved and had a child with him but unfortunately love sometimes just isn't enough. Getting old is one thing, but the act of slowing down and suburban monotony is another. Amy is simply bored with her life, and she has to work non-stop at a job she wants out of. But worst of all, she still hasn't dealt with the trauma of her childhood. She witnessed her father cheating and her parents arguing led to her being indirectly told that she was an accident, they never wanted her. One thing that I love about these two is that they seem to have a great read on the other, they can read them like an open book. Danny does this in episode 10 when he asks if parenting is like pissing down all your trauma. This reminds her that just like her father, she also cheated on George. She also spends a lot of time at work like he did and because of this Junie is a lot closer to George. There's always this unspoken awkwardness between Junie and Amy, likely coming from her being scared to pass on her toxic traits like she believes her father did to her. Though, there is a level to this where she probably understands her dad because she has her own issues with parenthood after she realised children just aren't what you think they are. They don't love you unconditionally, and they don't fill that hole in your chest.

This is where both characters intertwine and we see the worst of them come out. They act self-centred, manipulative, and frankly psychopathic. Both of them are deeply insecure and feel lonely because they think no one understands them, until they meet one another. As much as they deeply hated each other they also served a purpose. For Danny, Amy was a goal he could set his mind on. For Amy, Danny was someone she could take her anger out on and feel alive. George even pointed this out early on and asked her, "are you having fun?"

I'm not going to talk about all the symbolism with the opening art, many others could do that better than me. Though there are little details in this series that really make me love it. These two are clearly angry with their own lives but it's the little things, those everyday little things that irritate us all and eventually add up over time. It's the drivers who cut you off in traffic, it's the people who get in the elevator at the last second, it's the people that don't tell you when to turn as you're driving them home. These aren't more than just little annoyances, but for these characters it feels more like death by a thousand cuts.

With all of this said, you would believe it's all about anger and trauma, it mostly is, but with that comes a layer of honesty.

"Sometimes I just feel like a fraud, you know?"

Viewers may dislike George because he is Amy's husband and they could blame him for her unhappiness. But he is a caring likeable guy. His goofy smiles as he befriends Zane are kinda heart-warming in a way. This man just wants a friend. He is essentially the lonely neglected housewife.

Another loveable character is Paul. Yeah, he can be a dick but it's hard not to like him. He's a young himbo that lacks any direction or drive yet he clearly wants to do something, he just doesn't know what that is.

"It's Isaac Hyung, bitch."

Please tell me I'm not the only one. The second this guy strolled in I couldn't help myself from thinking it's Chris Pontius' long-lost twin. I don't know if it's the looks, the voice, or the general vibes. Just me that can see it?

Even the smaller side characters such as Ashley and Fumi come with their own set of flaws and have time to show why they might act the way they do. Chef kisses all around on the casting, writing of characters, and jobs the actors did. As well as all of that there's definitely a great song to every episode, one that flows with the themes of what just happened. The music, art, characters, filmography, everything, all of it was fantastically done.

Beef is one of the best TV series I've seen in a very long time and I'm completely undecided on if I want another season. Some shows really don't know when they've outstayed their welcome and you always worry that if a season 2 is released, Netflix might just do a 3rd, 4th, 5th, PLEASE LET THIS SHOW END 6th, 7th, and so on. But the end did wrap up someone thematically with the show. We see the honesty of these two characters admitting that they know they're shitty people, they realise they have a bond because of their "broken-ness", whether it was romantic or not we don't know. And really, many things are unknown like the outcomes of other characters, everything's kind of messy in that sense, but that was the theme of this show. Anyone can be unhappy, people aren't all good or bad, and most of all, life is messy.

"You met me at a very strange time in my life"