It has been three years since Ali Wong and Steven Yeun locked heads over a road accident that turned into a deadly scuffle. After drawing rave reviews and a string of Emmys, Netflix’s darkly comic anthology series Beef returns for a second outing. Following an all-new set of dysfunctional characters in twisted relationships, the new season of Beef explores an equally nail-biting clash as a young couple crosses paths with their employers’ rocky marriage in unexpected ways.
Apart from pitting Gen Z-ers against the ‘boomers’, the show’s soundtrack also captures its diversity across eras, from Hot Chip’s nerdy synthpop to Billie Eilish hits. And much like Yeun belting out that soulful cover of Incubus’s ‘Drive’ last time, this deliciously dark scene also features a toe-curling Tame Impala cover. The tracklist is also quite the nostalgia ride for 2010s music aficionados with electronic bangers from Zedd, Daft Punk, M83, and Justin Timberlake. Dig in!
What’s on the Beef season 2 soundtrack?
Episode 1
You & Me (Flume remix) – Disclosure
Episode 2
Get Lucky – Daft Punk feat Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers
What Was I Made For? – Billie Eilish
Heads Will Roll – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Episode 3
Midnight City – M83
Boy From School – Hot Chip
New Person, Same Old Mistakes (cover) -Tame Impala
Clarity – Zedd featuring Foxes
Doomsday – Nero
Episode 4
In for the Kill – La Roux
Episode 5
Ready for the Floor – Hot Chip
Over and Over – Hot Chip
Real Love Baby – Father John Misty
Episode 6
It Takes Time to Be a Man – The Rapture
Episode 7
Bad Guy – Billie Eilish
All You’re Waiting For – Classixx
Episode 8
What Goes Around Comes Around – Justin Timberlake
Nobody Loves Me Like You – Low Roar
Love Like A Sunset, Pt. II – Phoenix
The new season features Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan as a couple running a lavish resort that hosts all sorts of high-profile guests, with the eyebrow-raising cameos by Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps and Selena Gomez’s music producer hubby, Benny Blanco. But in strictly musical terms, Hot Chip deliver a pleasantly surprising performance of their indietronica, alt-pop anthems.
In fact, Isaac’s broke musician-turned-country club manager Josh is introduced as a big Hot Chip head, annoyingly micro-analysing the drums and synth patterns in the band’s youthful electro-ballad ‘Boy from School’. Watching him try his hand at the keys and performing alongside the group, it marks a wholesome full circle moment in the series (that is of course, until chaos begins to snowball in true Beef style).
As for Charles Melton’s sincere but gullible personal trainer Austin, his playlist is quite straightforward with a blend of nostalgic hits and TikTok chart. Even if once in a while, he might be listening to a gymbro podcast, his comfort playlist includes Zedd’s EDM anthem ‘Clarity’ and even Billie Eilish’s tender Barbie ballad ‘What Was I Made For?’ for one of those gloomy days.
Who stars in Beef season 2?
While Ali Wong and Steven Yeun return as executive producers, this season favours an all new-cast lead by Oscar Isaac (Frankenstein, Inside Llewyn Davis), Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman, The Ballad of Wallis Island), Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla, Alien: Romulus) and Charles Melton (May September, Riverdale). With a good chunk of the story either set in Soul or centred around Korean-speaking characters, the ensemble also includes veteran actors from the industry like Oscar-winner Youn Yuh-jung (Minari, Pachinko) playing against type as the club’s cunning chairwoman and Song Kang-ho (Parasite, Snowpiercer) as her second husband and a not-so-gifted doctor.
Where can I watch Beef season 2?
All episodes are streaming on Netflix now.
