All the hidden meanings and easter eggs in Netflix's Beef
Beef just dropped on Netflix and we are obsessed.
The comedy-drama starring Steven Yeun and Ali Wong follows two strangers who get involved in a bitter feud after a road rage incident and viewers are praising the ten-part series, with some calling it the best show of the year so far.
But, did you know there are loads of hidden themes and meanings throughout the series? From the set design to the wardrobe and episode titles, here’s are some meanings you might have missed in Beef.
The episode titles
Beef creator and showrunner Lee Sung Jin references influential texts, speeches and films to reflect the slightly unhinged behaviours of his characters.
Episode titles like ‘I Am Inhabited by a Cry’ and ‘Just Not All at the Same Time’ reference popular poems and speeches from the likes of Betty Freidan and Sylvia Plath, which help give an insight into the characters, their lives and emotional states.
George’s sculptures
George, played by Joseph Lee, makes abstract-looking sculptures in his and Amy’s home studio, and production designer Grace Yun says they represent George as a person.
“These amorphous blob shapes represented how George floats through life and doesn’t really restrict himself,” she told Tudum. “He’s very free-flowing and welcoming of what’s happening around him.”
Also, the choice of making sculptures over another, less time-consuming form of art represented that his character “has a lot of time” which is a point of resentment and envy for Amy.
Jordan, Amy and Danny’s houses
From modern mansions to well lived-in apartments, the homes of the characters reflect how different they are to each other.
“Amy’s world is very slick and clean and aspirational and Danny’s is much grittier,” said Lee Sung Jin and Grace Yun, while Jordan’s home is designed to reflect her “eccentric, unique, powerful” personality, with set designers adding items from Asia to show how she often appropriates culture.
Amy’s wardrobe
Head of costume, Helen Huang, made Amy's outfits warm or neutral in colour and shapeless, with Ali Wong telling Buzzfeed: “I think it is so interesting if Amy wears these clothes that are seemingly zen and neutral, but then she has these insane thoughts.”
Ali continued: “My costume already sort of felt like a cage in a way. And it wasn't supposed to feel like that — Amy chose those clothes, but it's like the person she wants to be and someone who she is not.”
Beef is streaming on Netflix now.
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