Thanks for your heartfelt commentary! It was definitely well articulated. However, I am not sure I agree with your take on the finale. At its core, this show was about the perverse shame these two felt and how it was actually the real reason for their self destruction. Amy cheated on her husband the same way her father did and instead of confront what she did, she bought a vacation home, and changed her appearance. Danny "cheated" on the church, and "cheated" on the house he built for his parents. He sent his cousin to prison, gave up on the insurance money and convinced his brother it was Amy just to avoid all that shame. These two people are living outside of themselves through most of the show. What was interesting, was every time they had a small internal revelation about something not quite right, other members of their community shut them down and put them back in place. So many scenes articulated this so beautifully. George's mother was the worst offender, and you got a small glimpse of what that shame did to her and forced her to have that hideous chair sold, at the expense of Amy in the eyes of her son. Also, in the same breathe she tries to save the marriage because she's ashamed of her son and in her mind, his lack of talent. What the ending does has nothing to do with religion or god, and everything to do with these two people, for the first time in their lives, letting go of the shame. It switched from being a tragedy to a romantic drama from that point forward. It doesn't matter if they view themselves as gods or living a meaningless existence, because it's the shame that was destroying them. Now that they are free of that, that signals real character growth and makes this one of Netflix's best shows.

I think saying the show "fails" is a bit too strong of a judgement, specially since it seems to me your criticism steams from what you wish the show had said, and not what it actually said and wether it was said well. Personally, I think it was aware of what it was doing, and executed it rather well.

I don’t think that the final message is about nihilism and hopelessness. For 9 episodes we are fed this feeling of hopelessness and being caught in a loop, but once they faced and acknowledged their darknesses, they understood it and each other better and could finally begin a journey of being better by having each other as an outlet to acknowledge and relinquish shame and work through their depression. For the vast majority of the series, we are convinced that there’s no changing, but in the final moments what was originally said as a pessimist comment “everything fades, nothing lasts” was spun to imply that that also applies to their negative relationship with each other, themselves, their hopelessness, depression, shame, and anger. 9.8 out of 10 episodes was meant to build contrast of deep hopelessness but then give you a glimpse that even when it seems pointless and grim, and history has shown that it’s not worth trying, a glimmer of hope is far more powerful.

I enjoyed the last episode a lot more after thinking about it a few weeks after my initial watch of it. Danny and Amy had this extreme escapist realization together, came to the point where they thought they would die... Then woke up the next day with the consequences of their actions ahead of them. The way they're talking about it on the way back implies they're READY to make a change, make amends and improve upon their lives. But then Danny's incapacitated and Amy's left in a world indefinitely absent of him. With the whole dark-comedy vibe of the rest of the series, it made sense to me that it ended in such an ironic but affirming way to the overall message given during the drugged-out scene. EEAAO is an obvious comparison in regards to how existential both it and BEEF got, and they're both very different but both end with a main character achieving a life-changing breakthrough that shifts their frame of thought, and then we're immediately shown that they still have to live through the circumstances of their life, choices, and experiences.

i've seen at least one post on every video/thread going over beef saying it should have ended on episode 9. While there's many reasons why I think episode 10 works, I agree that the show would have had just as much impact had it ended on a (literal) cliff hanger. I read somewhere that apparently (meaning, take it with a grain of salt) that the final scene of the final episode was written towards the beginning of production and that the whole story was written with the concept of two sworn enemies laying next to each other in the hospital. If it is true, I think Beef's main problem may have been simply having not enough time to tell the story it needed to tell, since episodes 8-10 (and especially 9) has enough plot movement and action to fill out at least 5 episodes. Having to cram an entire story into 10 30 minute episodes is hard in any capacity, and the fact that it's still a very very good end result is a testament to everyone who worked on the project.

I don't agree on calling the show a failure. It just didn't go where you wanted it to go.

good video, i think you misunderstand the ending but i never thought of it this way.

I loved this series. Surprised you hve bad things to say about it. I've lived this since late 1983 so I could totally relate. I wish my "beef" would end!

love the vibes of your video, thank you💜

I didn’t take the god scene as them reaffirming their own image that has been keeping them from advancing at all. I seen it as then realizing nothing has it out for them so the universal resentment they have dissolves. They even talk about how they can’t no longer blame their issues on issues and people around them. And this is this is reinforced when they willingly walk back towards their lives that are about to get way more complicated due to recent events and Danny even turns down financial assistance. He’s going to take it as it comes and not take it as the universe ganging up on him

Wow. You and I had a very different interpretation. As an Asian-American, I disagree with several of your points. I disagree that these two characters were as self-absorbed as you put in your analysis. Danny and Amy were doing everything for their family. They repeatedly repressed their own emotions for others' happiness, to keep the peace. Isn't that the opposite of self-absorbed? There is really nothing that religious in this show either. Korean church is where Korean Americans go to find community and acceptance, not necessarily religion. Danny isn't trying to find God, he just wants a community where he can be accepted. He isn't really a part of the church though, because just like Amy, he had to lie and con his way into the community. So the conversation at the end also isn't really about saying they're God, but more so about their identity. The show is trying to relate to the Asian American experience of loneliness and not really belonging anywhere and how we need to fake our way into different communities to survive in the US. The crows didn't seem like an deus ex machina. The crows were literally passing on their intergenerational trauma just like the characters. I also disagree that they didn't grow towards the end. I think it succeeds as a cautionary tale. It shows other Asian Americans that we can't continue our parents' ways of sweeping bad things under the rug. This story shows other Asian Americans that we need to stop repressing our traumas and taking on fake personas to please our families and communities, that we need to acknowledge the intergenerational trauma instead of trying to keep pushing it away until the anger and resentment explodes and affects the families and communities they were so desperate to protect.

Well thought out response, but I don't agree that its about nihilism or that the themes don't align. The story is about how two people who do both terrible things to themselves and their loved ones find their "twin flames" as George poorly explains with him and Mia. They recognize the unlovable parts within themselves and how they reflect within each other. They feel alive when they're being destructive and that kinship runs deeper than their facades of being good people because if you're not being true to who you are others can't truly love who you are. In one another, they learn to love the darker parts that make them feel unlovable because they finally found someone that sees who they truly are and still accepts them.

This is a great review. My feedback is incomplete, but I will say in the finale, when they reference the possibility that they are God, seemed to refer to the book fo Thomas - one of the books omitted from the bible that spoke about the kingdom of God within you. I also would say, it was possibly only season one. I found it a productive season with a possibly further route to explore for future season. While I thought your analysis was great, I thought it was a tad bit overtly critical for just one season of a show.

WoW!

I was surprised to see that this isn’t a more successful channel. Great video✨I personally think that the show feels incomplete due to it’s abandonment of positive character growth. I instinctually thought that their intention was to leave it open for a second season lol

It failed in a great way. That's all there is to say...

Maybe some people are just kinda bad people and that’s ok, that’s human. The main characters were made for each other.

I've watched the entire video. This analysis was 100% done with a strictly American point of view. You're missing a lot of nuances and subtleties associated with the Asian-American experience. For example, you think they're purely after capital & material gains. You fail to acknowledge the cultural pressures of providing for your traditional Asian parents. You don't touch on the generational trauma passed on between the first gen Asian immigrants to their kids born in America, which is the root cause for many of their desires. They're not just self-centered because they're selfish. But I don't blame you because you might be unable to relate to it unless you grew up with it.

Bleeping out suicide ? You think someone needs to hear. Retrospective but can’t deal with hearing the word suicide? If the eh can’t beat the word in a constructive video I’m not sure how you think they got through the show in order to even see this video.