Under Review: Netflix’s BEEF (spoiler-free)

Watching BEEF, one of the most hyped Netflix TV shows of 2023, has been an interesting journey for me. What instantly drew me to the project right when it came out was without a doubt Steven Yeun who has been murdering the TV and cinema world after he departed from The Walking Dead. All I knew going in is that Yeun and Ali Wong were the leads of the show, Danny and Ammy, and story-wise they had a confrontational relationship, cause that’s not so hard to figure out from the title, the poster of the show, and countless LA billboards with the actors’ faces in the full rage mode.

The fact that so many people, and even critics (because critics are not people) liked the show played a reverse psychology trick on my mind, especially with BEEF being a Netflix-produced show. I don’t know what it is, and who am I really to judge Netflix for going in the direction they’re going, but I’ve been burnt too many times by their shows. Either I immediately hated them, or I loved them to death, but they kept getting canceled for no reason.

So, back in April, I watched the first episode called "The Birds Don't Sing, They Screech in Pain" directed by Hikari, and was deeply unimpressed. It left me with such a bad aftertaste of pretentiousness, so I decided right then and there that I won’t like it, it’s not for me, and everybody else is stupid. I watched the first two episodes barely having hope in the series and quit. I was sort of in a hectic place in my life myself (when am I is not the real question). But I kept hearing these rave reviews and thought I should get back to it one day. Then my friend told me she watched BEEF and liked it, and that was a sign from the universe to give it another chance.

Dramaturgically (this word is totally coined by Jeremy Strong forever now), it’s not very hard to guess without even watching the series that the main characters should get into BEEF and find a way to come out on the other side of it through some sort of life-altering realizations. But the real trick and the magic of tv and film is not about what’s going to happen, but how it’s going to happen. And that’s where the BEEF magic lies, too.

I decided to pick up BEEF in June, and after episode 3 or 4 I was fully in. Maybe that’s because I finally went into it without prejudice and with an open mind. Maybe that’s because the characters went completely insane over a petty road rage incident, and I just live for hyper emotions like these. What I love most is how BEEF shows two completely opposite characters with similar fundamental cracks inside. And in the end, your financial status doesn’t make a difference if your decisions in life come from hatred, resentment, self-pity, and discontent.

Now, that is not to say that I can call the TV show my favorite. BEEF has a good length, although could’ve been shorter, some of the twists were insane, the lead actors smashed their roles, the side characters seemed interesting enough, and the soundtrack did not disappoint (except for one little missed opportunity). But even with that, quite a few jokes on the show were too on the nose and flat for me, and the pace only picked up after the third or fourth episode.

(spoilers) My one tiny personal critique that is maybe totally unjustified, is that the creators didn’t close episode 6 "We Draw a Magic Circle" with Kelly Clarkson’s magical hit “Since You've Been Gone”. When they mentioned in the episode that the rice cookers play that song, I thought for sure this is going to be a perfect song to top off the episode. Then the final scene was Danny visiting Isaac in the prison after he’d set him up, and I again thought that FOR SURE, what words could fit better to finish this scene if not: “Since you've been gone, I can breathe for the first time”? But alas, maybe I’m wrong. But I do think they had their chance, and they blew it.

Anyways, I ultimately give BEEF 3 out of 5 stars and would recommend it as a satisfying Netflix show.