From Class Conflict to Millennials vs Gen Z: Every Beef Season 2 Rivalry Explained

Image via Netflix

Beef Season 2 was a hot mess of multiple ideologies and generations clashing together in eight episodes of mayhem. Between a young couple, a middle-aged one, and an elderly woman, the show explored themes of class, capitalism, and relationships through various lenses.

Creator Lee Sung Jin wanted Season 2 of Beef to be about the passive aggressiveness one finds themselves in a corporate environment while pandering to the elite, and that is precisely what we got surrounding the rivalry between two intergenerational couples.

⁠1. Central Conflict: Two Couples at War

Oscar Isaac’s Josh and Carey Mulligan’s Lindsay go against Cailee Spaeny’s Ashley and Charles Melton’s Austin in an all-out war filled with grudges and vendettas. Josh and Lindsay are held hostage by Ashley and Austin after the young couple shoots an incriminating video of the older couple violently fighting.

The crux of the show begins when both couples attempt to navigate this situation without things getting out of hand. Josh goes to Ashley on the golf court and threatens her without knowing she has a video. The threat does not sit well with Ashley, leading to an awkward sit-down where she shows them that she has a video of the fight.

This begins the beef.

When Josh thinks that Ashley plans to lord the video over them for the rest of their lives, he decides to mess with her by not offering help during a medical crisis.

Ashley takes this a step further by trespassing into their house, messing with memorabilia, mixing her blood in with orange juice, and leaving the door open, unaware. This results in the fatal meeting between Josh and Lindsay’s dog with a coyote.

The beef takes a pause for a while until Lindsay overhears Austin freaking out over Ashley’s accidental killing of Lindsay’s dog. Returning the favour in a darkly humorous way, she mixes in fecal matter with Ashley’s drink.

2 Power Struggle: Employer vs Employee

A still from Beef Season 2 | Credit: Netflix

Beef Season 2 was marketed and promoted as a social commentary on workplace dynamics: employer vs employee. For the first half of the season, we see this take place between Chairwoman Park and all the protagonists of the show.

In an attempt to please Chairwoman Park, Lindsay and Josh go out of their way to make sure everything is spick and span for her arrival. However, she remains unimpressed, leading Josh to further worry if his contract will get renewed. Simultaneously, he has another struggle with Ashley.

The power struggle reaches peak heights when Ashley lordes the video over Josh, using it as a way to climb the corporate ladder. Despite making her way up to the position just below him, Josh permanently felt that he was the one under her “thumb.”

Chairwoman Park and Eunice take a liking to Austin, who naively makes his way to a top position as the wellness center’s head physical therapist. This is in part due to his Korean heritage and Eunice’s attraction to him, proving that workplace dynamics often cross boundaries.

3 Thematic Rivalry: Millennials vs Gen Z

A still from Beef Season 2 | Credit: Netflix

Perhaps the most striking comparison in the first episode of Beef Season 2 is how the two protagonist couples operate. The millennial couple can’t stand each other, fighting loudly and hurting each other with ugly words. Juxtaposing this is the Gen Z couple, offering only sweet words of love and affirmation, thinking they’ll be together forever in perfect harmony.

Beef was a wake-up call for both these couples. The Gen Z couple is strained by their financial troubles and Ashley’s goals for a better life. Losing sight of what’s important, we see them slowly drift apart despite using Gen Z phrases to justify this.

The millennial couple attempts to justify their violent fighting and neurotic marriage as “normal” despite knowing deep down they are incompatible. Lindsay confesses to Ashley in a drunken stupor that their attempt to have a kid was just a “band-aid,” offering advice to Ashley that a long-lasting marriage isn’t as pretty as you think it may be.

The intergenerational divide is very evident, with the millennials being cynical and existential, while the younger couple is full of love and optimism.

4 Class War: Rich vs Struggling

On one hand, you have Josh and Lindsay attempting to embezzle the country club’s finances to make their Bread, Breakfast, and Barn dreams come true. On the other hand, there are Ashley and Austin desperately trying to fight the system to make ends meet for a better future.

The two couples are strained from the struggles to survive in a system that is clearly rigged against them. Chariwoman Park is the only one benefiting from the whole thing, doing shady deals with the confidence that she won’t get caught.

Meanwhile, Josh is terrified to embezzle funds for his mother or himself because if he gets caught, he can’t afford to buy his way out. The juxtaposition is very evident here as Chairwoman Park uses him to do the very same: buy Dr. Kim’s way out of trouble using Josh’s signature to embezzle funds.

The ending of Beef Season 2 saw Chairwoman Park win. The rich remain on top of the food chain even at the end of the show, with Austin handing incriminating USB evidence to Chairwoman Park in order for Ashley and him to move up the country club food chain while still remaining under her thumb.

Beef Season 2 succeeded in telling a powerful story of intergenerational rivalry in a system that clearly favours the elite. In a White Lotus-esque manner, the show pits different classes of people against each other in deadly battles to see who comes out on top.

What did you think of Beef Season 2? Let us know in the comments.

Beef is streaming on Netflix.