Spoiler alert: The following story contains plot details from “Beef” Season 2, now streaming on Netflix.
Netflix’s “Beef” is returning for Season 2. This wild anthology series revolves around two couples: Josh (Oscar Isaac) and Lindsay (Carey Mulligan), and Austin (Charles Melton) and Ashley (Kailie Spaeney). One of the most powerful scenes is in episode 5, when Lindsay’s dog Barbary goes missing after Ashley sneaks into Lindsay’s house and accidentally leaves the back door open. After hours of searching, Lindsay encounters a coyote attacking Barbary and kills it with her bare hands without thinking.
“That’s basically why I wanted to do it,” Mulligan says.
Creator Lee Sung-jin hadn’t yet fleshed out all eight episodes of “Beef” when Mulligan spoke with him over Zoom, but there was one thing he knew for sure. “He said, ‘But I know exactly what’s going to happen in episode five,'” Mulligan says. He pitched an entire episode where he loses his dog and ends up with a coyote. ”
“The shoot was a little crazy,” she added. “But I was so inspired by the idea of that scene.”
This season of “Beef” takes place at the exclusive Montecito Country Club. Isaac plays the club’s general manager and Lindsay serves as the club’s interior decorator. Gen Z couple Ashley and Austin work at a club, but the pay is rock-bottom.
“Beef” begins with Austin and Ashley witnessing Josh and Lindsey having a heated argument, videotaping it, and suddenly realizing they have some means of blackmailing the older couple. Things quickly become a spiral of lies, power relations, and despair. The conflict between Josh and Lindsey intensifies, and the coyote scene becomes a turning point for Lindsey and her marriage.
“Throughout all that time, she had no idea what she valued or what she was particularly good at,” Mulligan says of Lindsay. “I think that was a big part of what I found interesting about her, that even though she had built her life in this marriage, she didn’t really have an identity that she could hold onto.”
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Killing a coyote can be a helpless moment, Mulligan says. “She realizes that her marriage is completely over, and that this dog is the only person in the world who feels mutual love and understanding for her. So killing the coyote to protect the dog is this great act of love, but also the realization that that is all she has, and that she doesn’t have a human in her life.”
In the next episode, Lindsay changed. “She doesn’t really care what people think,” Mulligan says. “For most of the first half of the show, she was obsessed with how she was perceived. After killing the coyote, she was like, ‘Fuck you. I have to win somehow. I have to find a way to survive. So I thought this was a pretty liberating thing for her.’
Before filming, Isaac spoke with Lee to understand who Josh was and where he was in his career and marriage. “We started building the character together based on initial ideas of situations that happened on the show, and it was incredible.”
The exploration process with Lee was valuable for both Mulligan and Isaac in unraveling their respective backstories and understanding who their characters were and what drove them.
As for Josh, he seems to be bad with money and desperate to stay young. Isaac said, “He had this vibe. I’m a young, cool, hipster guy who’s got everything going, and it was really fun to explore what he was doing at home and the tension between them.”
Josh’s attempts to achieve a youthful vibe are also reflected at home. He has a mancave full of memorabilia and even owns a Moog synthesizer that once belonged to his favorite band, Hot Chip. In episode 2, he plays it, but he’s not good at it. A few episodes later, he’s on stage jamming with the band.
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The person Josh wants to be is also reflected in his hair. Yes, he’s rocking a small mullet. Isaac worked with hairstylist Tim Nolan, who suggested the style. “It’s also a great piece of work to speak to people who are trying to adhere to a certain image of young people,” Isaac says. “And it shows a sense of relaxation and energy, even though he was just being strangled the whole time.”
Josh begins stealing money from clubs to support his lifestyle and maintain his image. “He cares about his identity and he wants enough money,” Isaac says. “He will never be able to be a member of this club, but this is the closest he gets to it.”
Because Josh is surrounded by extreme wealth, he feels entitled and steals money from his late mother’s bank account. “So he’s already gotten desperate and polluted the boundaries there,” Isaac says.
“Like other wealthy people, he feels entitled to what’s his,” Isaac says. “Whatever that means.”
