It takes some stomach work to watch Beef, the new Netflix series starring Steven Yeun and comedian Ali Wong. The characters these two played were, to put it bluntly, crazy as hell, and they couldn’t take it anymore. Lit by a road rage incident involving both of them, they unleashed aggressive fires, directing their rage at the villains they believed each other to be. Subsequent perceived slights (or overt attacks) are met with escalating retaliation, leading to a domino effect of bad decisions. If some entertainment (think Analyze This or The Office) causes visceral embarrassment that makes If people feel uncomfortable, then this program provides a more advanced form of instinctive viewing. It creeps me out – I can’t say no.
Beef begins when a down-and-out contractor, Danny Cho (played by the truly amazing Yeun) Nearly backing his pickup truck into a luxury SUV driven by Amy Lau (Wong) in the parking lot of a Home Depot-esque supply store. It’s an experience most of us have had, and most of us will recognize the outrage that such encounters can elicit: How dare you, anonymous idiot behind your vehicular killing machine, Threatening my well-being? ! That interaction is also the latest SNL skit with Quinta Brunson, which imitates people interacting with each other in a closed car Antics when roaring. Don’t get too upset, but this is no laughing matter: Road rage incidents (including incidents that lead to shootings) have skyrocketed in recent years. Chalk it up to the long antisocial tail of the pandemic, but many of us seem to be teetering on the edge.
Steven Yeun as Danny in Beef. Photo: Andrew Cooper/Netflix
