The Ending Of Netflix's Beef Explained
Netflix and indie powerhouse A24 recently teamed up with South Korean writer-director Lee Sung Jin for a darkly comedic thriller series called "Beef" that takes road rage and revenge to new levels of wild obsession. The series follows Danny (Steven Yeun) and Amy (Ali Wong) — two people who live vastly different lives but become entangled with one another after nearly hitting each other in a parking lot. Their road rage causes them to become obsessed with getting revenge on one another and leads them into an intertwined downward spiral. As their anger grows, both Danny and Amy begin to have cathartic revelations about themselves that reflect their own unhappiness in their separate, but similar lives.
"Beef" is a revenge epic like no other that has its characters go to great lengths to tear each other down. Danny and Amy take ugly new forms throughout their journey together and there are some harrowing consequences they face from their all-out assault on each other's lives. Their actions result in some thrilling sequences that leave viewers on the edge of their seat and meaningful moments of self-realization that see these two dissect themselves in fascinating ways. In short, there's a lot that happens throughout "Beef" and the last few episodes deliver some of the biggest shocks of the series. Thus, it's worth delving into the ending of "Beef" to see what Danny and Amy really get out of their revenge.
Total spoilers for Season 1 of "Beef" lie ahead.
A look into the past
In Episode 8, the series brings viewers into Danny and Amy's past to help flesh out some of their lingering problems and the decisions they've made. Amy's flashback takes viewers to the moment when she discovered that her father was having an affair. Now that Amy finds herself following in that same path, she heads home for the first time in years to confront these feelings. Unfortunately, she's met with resistance from her parents and her mother even tells her to just let it go. It's another major instance of Amy unsuccessfully trying to confront the closed-off nature of her family and tackle some of the lingering trauma leftover from her upbringing.
As for Danny's flashback, we see that he struggled to make friends growing up. Often, he's all by himself with only a young Isaac as his "friend"-slash-bully. Once Paul (Young Mazino) was born, though, things began to change for Danny and he finally felt that he had a real companion. However, as they became older, Paul was ready to move away to college and start his own journey in life. Danny felt afraid of not only losing the person closest to him, but also having Paul lead a better life than him. This leads Danny to his coldest move yet — he grabs Paul's college applications and throws them away. Both Amy and Danny clearly have troubled pasts that continue to affect them in the present.
Who started the fire?
One of the most devastating moments in Danny's story comes when the house he built for his parents burns down. Just as he's driving up to it, he sees it engulfed in smoke and flames. With his parents just sitting in the backseat shortly after they arrive in the U.S., it's a truly gut-wrenching moment. Danny literally did everything to get this house built — including getting Isaac (David Choe) thrown in jail — and now it's all for nothing. With the house gone, there's only one question on everyone's mind — who burned it down?
By this point, Danny's list of enemies has only grown. At first, he believes that Amy could've done it since Paul confronted George (Joseph Lee) about sleeping with her. Another possible suspect is Edwin (Justin H. Min) since he certainly feels negatively towards Danny after he basically takes over the church and Danny sees him at the burn site. However, Danny's confrontation with Edwin only unveils his petty jealousy. Frankly, it's even worth wondering if Isaac somehow planned this from jail as revenge, but it turns out that the fire was accidently caused by Danny. Apparently, Danny installed faulty wires, and now he's out all that money and has no home for his parents to live in.
Danny's big mistake
After learning that he caused the fire to happen, Danny finds himself in quite a predicament. He doesn't want Paul to lose faith in him, so he says Amy is the one who set their house ablaze and that police found a gas can and a pair of gloves nearby. To make his story seem true, Danny goes to Amy's house to plant evidence, but his plan doesn't go as expected. George knows that Danny has been lying to him about who he really is, and his sudden arrival at his house definitely spooks George enough to take action.
Once Danny is allowed in the house, he goes into the bathroom to plant the gloves but, as he exits, he runs into George pointing a gun at him. Danny is able to get close enough to George to knock the gun away and the two skirmish. Ultimately, Danny comes out victorious as he knocks George out by hitting his head against the wall. Unfortunately, George has already called the cops and their sirens can be heard getting closer. Danny bolts it out of there, but only finds his situation getting worse when he sees that June (Remy Holt) is sitting in the backseat as he's driving away. Danny's hastiness and determination have totally backfired on him.
Robbery gone wrong
You would think that Danny accidently kidnapping June would be the worst thing he has to deal with, right? Well, Danny's problems only get worse when Isaac gets out of jail with his own plans of revenge against Danny. With Danny out of money because he dumped everything he had into a house that burned down, Isaac hatches a plan to use June to his advantage and places a ransom on her. Amy doesn't have many options to match Isaac's high price, so she tells him to come to Jordan's (Maria Bello) house to steal her valuable art. Thus, Isaac and the crew make plans to rob Jordan and return June to Amy, but everything goes wrong.
Both Danny and Paul are able to escape briefly but end up back in Isaac's grasp after Michael (Andrew Santino) finds them trying to hotwire a car. The cops end up arriving, likely after George tells them where they are. Jordan and Naomi (Ashley Park) make a run towards the panic room only for Naomi to end up crushing Jordan to death with the door. Isaac's plan falls apart fast and only gets worse when the cops finally bust in. Isaac and Michael get into a huge firefight with the police, which results in Michael getting shot and Isaac arrested once again. Although it seemed like Isaac might've been able to get away with this one, the robbery is botched from the start.
Danny's truth to Paul
While Isaac's robbery is going all kinds of wrong, Danny and Paul are separated from the rest of the group and look for an escape immediately after hearing the cops shoot at Isaac. Paul comes up with a plan to have Danny raise him up to the top of the wall so that he can pull Danny up and they can run into the nearby woods. While Paul makes it up there, Danny can't jump high enough to reach Paul's grasp. Danny not only decides to tell Paul to just leave him behind, but he also reveals to Paul what he did with his college letters.
Danny decides that this is the best moment to tell Paul what he did to him years prior, and the truth clearly rocks Paul to his core. Paul had only recently gained newfound respect for Danny and the two seemed to be on a much better page than they had been for a while. So, this news understandably crushes Paul and causes him to leave Danny behind. However, shortly after Paul leaves, Danny hears some commotion and gunshots, leading him to suspect that Paul has been shot by the police for trying to escape. It's a sequence that could leave a huge lump in your throat and the lingering mystery of whether Paul is alive keeps the tension high throughout the final episode.
A tale of toxicity
There's no doubt that both Danny and Amy are dealing with underlying feelings of depression that started long before the road rage incident that brought them together. Amy finds herself unhappy with her married life and the fact that she's under the thumb of others just to find minimal feelings of success. Danny is filled with self-doubt and is constantly marred by his failures that have caused others to lose faith in him. It's even alluded to that Amy had suicidal thoughts before — which is why George doesn't give her access to the gun — and Danny nearly uses his hibachi grills to end his own life.
Their inability to find support from those around them has only made their depression worse and it's a big reason why they make a lot of toxic choices. In a way, this series is a great showing of how depression can severely cloud people's decision-making, which further isolates them by inevitably frustrating the people around them. Danny's negative outlook on the world is a clear indicator of this, and the attitude that "there's always something" that both of them have is a key reason why their depression runs so deep.
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988 or by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
The aftermath
After everything is said and done with Isaac's robbery, pretty much everyone is left in shambles. Isaac is carted off to jail while Naomi mourns Jordan, who she played a role in killing. Amy is happy to learn that June is okay, but reels at the fact that George has taken her away and filed for a motion to take June out of Amy's custody. Danny is able to escape outside through a small vent opening but is still concerned that Paul might be dead. Both Amy and Danny are truly alone again and face many consequences for their actions. However, instead of owning up to those actions and trying to mend things they've slowly broken, they decide to get into another confrontation on the road.
Once these two run into each other on the road, it's not too long until they're chasing each other down at high speeds, fueled by their mutual hatred. Danny and Amy simply can't help but engage in further road rage and it leads them down a really destructive path this time. As they continue to speed up, they fail to realize that the road is coming to an end and aren't able to stop in time before flying off the cliff down a hill.
From foes to temporary companions
It's safe to say that after Danny and Amy fly off the cliff, they've truly hit rock bottom — both literally and metaphorically. They've sustained some rough injuries from their crash and find themselves in the middle of nowhere with no help in sight. They've angered and hurt the people around them so badly that no one is coming to look for them and the lack of cellular reception makes it impossible for them to call for help. Danny and Amy are truly stranded and if they don't find resources to help them get back to civilization or at least survive in their current situation, they'll surely die.
That's why they're forced to work together to survive, regardless of how much they hate each other. Although Danny despises Amy, he's willing to carry her on his back since her ankle is severely injured and Amy claims to know which berries are safe to eat. At the moment, you wouldn't exactly call them friends since they're still at each other's throats, but this is certainly the most helpful they've ever been towards each other.
Bad berries
Although Amy initially seems like she's very knowledgeable about berries, it soon becomes obvious that she has no idea what she's talking about. Shortly after eating a couple of berries they thought were safe, Danny and Amy start vomiting uncontrollably. They're correctly concerned that they're about to die, but quickly face a new problem when they start to experience hallucinations, and even begin to grow paranoid about the conversations they're having. At first, they're absolutely terrified to feel their grip on reality start to slip away, but then they become more accepting of it. It's possible they even start to enjoy themselves.
In some ways, Danny and Amy eating these toxic berries makes them more open to talking about themselves and their growing problems. It's here that Amy and Danny are able to really start to share their trauma, become friendlier towards each other, and make meaningful steps towards personal growth.
Generational trauma
One of the big influences on Amy and Danny's depression and struggles to improve is the generational trauma passed on to them. It's clear that Amy and Danny have distinctive issues with their parents that make it tough for them to find support or paths forward. Danny is caught trying to please his parents by giving them a new home in the U.S., but it leads him to make choices that only hurt him, and his parents don't exactly seem to have their hearts set on a house. Meanwhile, Amy is still hurt by seeing her father's affair. With similar events unfolding in her own life, she's concerned that her relationship will fall into the same patterns of her parents' marriage.
More importantly, both characters' families have major problems expressing emotions, which drives Amy and Danny down darker paths because they don't feel they have an outlet to express their feelings. As the berries lower Danny and Amy's inhibitions, they talk more openly about how this generational trauma has greatly affected them and makes them wonder if they'll ever be able to be happy or if anyone is really happy. Even for all the bad things they've done to each other, the series doesn't let viewers forget how Danny and Amy have become broken. Their story reflects how hard it is to find self-improvement in an environment that doesn't even care to start real conversations.
Reconciled
With Danny and Amy able to talk more openly to each other, they're actually able to form a real bond and reconcile their feelings towards each other. Eventually after surviving the night and the effects of the berries, Danny and Amy walk up a hill and not only see some houses in the distance, but they also realize they've regained cell reception. They're both delivered a flurry of texts and emails and Danny is able to see that Paul is okay but that he's also blocking him.
Danny and Amy are able to eventually get to a tunnel where they rest for a moment, but then they see George walking towards them with a gun in his hand. Still believing that Danny is trying to hurt Amy and their family, George shoots Danny, but instead of dying, Danny winds up unconscious in the hospital. The final episode ends on Amy hugging Danny in his hospital bed hoping that he'll recover so that she doesn't feel alone again. Although Danny and Amy are finally able to know that they aren't alone and that there is someone who suffers the same way they do, it is a short-lived good feeling, and they can't fully escape the consequences of their actions.
Will there be a second season of Beef?
Netflix has yet to announce that a Season 2 of "Beef" is in development, but there are signs that point towards that potentially happening. On Netflix, this season of "Beef" is listed as "Season 1" — which implies that it isn't considered a limited series — so that could mean that there are plans for future seasons. At the time of this writing, "Beef" sits at the top of Netflix's Top 10 list for TV shows and the series has been extremely well reviewed. Many are saying that the series has a lot of awards potential, especially for Steven Yeun and Ali Wong, and its popularity could lead Netflix to do more with it. Now, Netflix is known for canning a lot of series after their first or second seasons, but they surely won't be able to resist giving "Beef" another season if it nabs some big awards.
In terms of story directions, Season 2 could easily follow the aftermath of Amy and Danny's feud. With George, Paul, and even Edwin now with legit vendettas against Amy and Danny, there are plenty of ways that the ripples of this revenge game could be explored and deliver more thrills. "Beef" has all the potential to be another tentpole series for Netflix and we could easily see more.