Why Beef Season 2's Dr. Kim Looks So Familiar
Contains spoilers for "Beef" Season 2, Episode 2 – "A New Starting Point for Further Desires"
Season 2 of Netflix's anthology series "Beef" is treating audiences to another wild story. This time, it's country club manager Josh (Oscar Isaac) and his wife Lindsay (Carey Mulligan) being blackmailed by club employees Ashley (Cailee Spaeny) and Austin (Charles Melton) after the young couple catches them in an explosive fight. However, there's also a concerning story unfolding with the club's new owner, Chairwoman Park (Youn Yuh-jung), and her second husband, Dr. Kim (Song Kang-ho).
The doctor specializes in plastic surgery, performing the procedures that tennis coach Woosh (BM) sells in wellness packages to women at the country club. However, due to a slight hand tremor, he makes a mistake that results in the death of one of his patients. Chairwoman Park tries to cover it up, wanting to force her husband into retirement to prevent more deaths. On top of the probes into their company finances, it's another hassle Park doesn't want to deal with.
If Dr. Kim looks familiar, it's because Song Kang-ho stars in Bong Joon Ho's Oscar-winning movie "Parasite." The film is a discussion on society and class status, following a lower income family as they infiltrate a wealthy one by becoming part of their house staff. Song plays Kim Ki-taek, who becomes the family's driver. He's a completely different character than Dr. Kim in "Beef" — while Dr. Kim comes across as likeable, regretful, and nervous, Kim Ki-taek is more callous and opportunistic. If you've already seen it, we recommend giving it a rewatch, because there are plenty of things you only notice the second time you see "Parasite."
Song Kang-ho has worked with Bong Joon Ho many times over the years
"Parasite" — which won the Academy Award for best picture, in addition to the awards for best director, best original screenplay, and best international feature film — may be their best-known collaboration, but it wasn't the first time that Song Kang-ho worked with Bong Joon Ho. Prior to "Parasite," Song starred in the Bong's films "Memories of Murder," "The Host," and "Snowpiercer," which all received critical acclaim.
2003's "Memories of Murder" is based on true events and sees Song star as a police detective investigating the murders of real-life serial killer Lee Choon-jae, which were unsolved when the film was released. For the final shot, Bong had Song stare directly into the camera, believing that the killer would watch the film when it came out. "That's why we shot that last shot where the failed detective looks into the camera, so that he's looking out at the audience and at the killer in the theater, and the killer is looking back at him," the filmmaker said (via IndieWire).
2006's "The Host," one of the best Korean horror movies of all time, stars Song as a food stand vendor whose daughter is taken by an amphibious creature that lives in a Seoul river. 2013's "Snowpiercer," which was Bong's English-language debut, is set during a new ice age created by humanity via an ill-fated attempt to reverse global warming. What's left of the human race lives inside a self-sustaining circumnavigational train created by a reclusive rich person. Song plays Namgoong Minsoo, the man who designed the security features on the train.