Warning: Spoilers from “Beef” Season 2 ahead…
Both seasons of “Beef” start with a spark of anger that spirals into something much, much bigger.
Creator, writer and director Lee Sung Jin pulled both seasons’ inciting incidents from personal experiences.
“I’m one of those writers who has a limited imagination. I need life to show me things,’ he tells TODAY.com.
A memorable brush with road rage inspired Season 1. For the second season, which was released on Netflix April 16, Lee drew from an argument he overheard in his California neighborhood.
“A couple’s heated debate coming from their home, I found that debate not too interesting. But people’s reactions to it — fascinating. The younger generation was aghast and asking if (they) should call 911. People my age and older were like, ‘What’s the big deal?'” he recalls.
That dichotomy was interesting enough to base an entire eight-episode show around, he says.
And so, “Beef” Season 2 and its two central couples were born. In the second season, Carey Mulligan and Oscar Isaac play Lindsay and Joshua, a married couple who help run a high-end members-only club. Charles Melton and Cailee Spaeny portray Austin and Ashley, engaged employees who work for the club.
One night, Austin and Ashley witness Lindsay and Joshua fighting. (Seriously fighting — a golf club is raised.) They initially react to the spat with concern and intervention. Then, when they fall into a desperate health situation, they use it as a tool for blackmail.
When asked how he would handle the situation that Ashley and Austin stumble upon, Lee laughs.
“Oh, man, that’s a good question. That’s kind of a trap. What would I do?” Lee asks himself.
“You know, I’m a millennial, Gen-X cusp. I gotta stay true to Josh and Lindsay. I would leave it alone and move on,” he says.
BM, who stars in Season 2 as a tennis coach named Woosh and was also present for the interview, agrees. “I would have left it alone too,” he says before explaining that he has seen couples argue.
“It wouldn’t have been too crazy to me,” he adds.
But then, of course, there would not be a show.
While the main storyline involving Joshua, Lindsay, Austin and Cailee takes place in Ojai, California, part of the season also unfolds in South Korea, which was inspired by another fascination of Lee’s. Before shooting Season 2, Lee filmed a music video for RM, a solo artist and leader of BTS.
“I wanted to shoot there. No matter how I got there, I knew I had to get back there to shoot with a crew,” Lee shares. “I was being exposed to aspects of Korean society that I had never seen before. I just remained open and took those textures into the show.”
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