'Beef’ Season 2, Episodes 7-8: Burnt Ends

Summary

The Prestige TV Podcast: ‘Beef’ Season 2, Episodes 7-8 (“Burnt Ends”) Recap

Podcast: The Prestige TV Podcast
Host(s): Joanna Robinson (“Joe”), Rob Mahoney
Date: April 24, 2026
Episode: ‘Beef’ Season 2, Episodes 7-8 (“Burnt Ends”)

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Episode Overview

This episode serves as the wrap-up and final deep dive into ‘Beef’ Season 2, covering episodes 7 and 8, titled “Burnt Ends.” Hosts Joanna Robinson and Rob Mahoney reflect on the season’s dramatic tonal shift in its concluding hours, dissect the major character arcs and thematic swings, field listener mail, and wade through favorite—and most questionable—moments and choices. They also touch on the overall structure of ‘Beef,’ its recurring motifs, and what the coda might mean for ongoing patterns in relationships, happiness, and cycles of self-destruction.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Mailbag & Listener Feedback ([03:15]-[12:53])

• The hosts clarify they only cover shows they actually like: “Here’s how you know when we don’t like a show…we don’t cover it.” (Joe, [03:53])
• Running jokes emerge about the hosts’ tastes (Flight of the Conchords, Leonardo DiCaprio movie marathons), fan suggestions for naming the DiCaprio event (e.g. “Leo Decapathon”), and debates on “the spice of life.”
• Quirky feedback on country club employee numbers, cardamom’s status as “the spice of life,” and mullet fashion are addressed with humor.
• Memorable quote on mullets in the show:

  “He’s so about that farm life…the mullet takes on a different tone when it's a farm boy rocking it.” (Joe, [09:05])

2. Season 2’s Tonal Pivot & Last Two Episodes ([13:52]-[17:27])

• Both hosts agree there’s a bold, somewhat jarring turn in the final two episodes—described as feeling like “a completely different show.”
• Rob: “It did not really work for me. I didn’t feel like it was of a piece with the first six episodes… it just didn’t capture my imagination or my interest in any way.” ([14:36])
• Joe admits the overt thematic speeches worked for her more here than in other recent prestige dramas but recognizes the divisiveness of the ending’s big swings.
• Notable moment: The laboriously choreographed action “oner” (one-take fight sequence) is considered impressive but out of step with the show’s tone.

  “Just pause and think, do I need this? Is this going to be interesting thematically or technically exciting? … I was not impressed by it, honestly.” (Joe, [18:47])

3. The Eight-Year-Later Coda & Relationship Cycles ([19:22]-[25:11])

• Extensive breakdown of the flash-forward showing Ashley and Austin (now “Ashton”) living out roles previously occupied by Lindsay and Josh (country life, “saving the bees,” familial ennui).
• Hosts disagree on how unhappy the new couple truly is, but agree it’s likely a “bad path.” Key quote:

  “We’ve seen so much with Austin and Ashley… it’s hard to watch everything that transpires and not feel like both of these people have trapped themselves in a life and relationship they really don’t want.” (Rob, [22:06])

• Discussion of knowing one another’s “shit” as a relationship sticking point:

  “There’s something to be said about knowing someone else’s shit.” (Joe, [24:45])

• Lindsay’s new domestic life in the UK is “bittersweet” and, for both Lindsay and Josh, suggests that separation and selflessness may yield healthier outcomes—even if not perfectly fulfilling. Josh’s closing arc (“I hope the people I love are happy”) lands as surprisingly redemptive.

4. Themes: Cycles, Divorce, and Settling ([29:09]-[30:02])

• The coda and closing visual tableau suggest “the cyclical nature of all sorts of relationships, specifically romantic ones” (Rob, [29:19]).
• Joe raises the idea: “Is the message of Beef… Divorcing? It’s good, actually?”
• Rob recalls a critical line repeated by women in the story:

  “Men only try when they absolutely need to, or when it’s too late.” ([29:27])

5. Superlative Categories & Standout Moments ([33:33]-[66:46])

Worst Decisions

• Josh: “Thinking that Troy is actually his friend.” (Rob, [33:37])
• Lindsay: “Flushing the phone.” (Both, [35:23])
• Austin: “Buying into this life he doesn’t even seem to want,” and “swallowing the USB.” (Both, [36:24])
• Ashley: “God, everything.” (Joe, [38:06])—notably, pushing for a baby to avoid emotional abandonment.

Whitest White Nonsense ([39:23])

• “Asking for a bowl of white rice” at a fancy Korean dinner is read as both a digestion aid and a classic “please just give me something bland” behavior.

A24-Est Moment

• The gruesome, showy fight “oner,” and the closing swirling camera tableau that references Buddhist “Samsara” paintings (“big showy visual that I guess is supposed to bring it all home.” Rob, [43:21])

Diabolical Manipulation

• Ashley manipulating Austin—especially regarding having a child despite looming breakup—is dubbed “supervillain monologue” level:

  “There are bits of truth in it…but it felt like the germ of truth within the supervillain monologue.” (Rob, [26:21])

Himbo Moment

• Austin’s inability to keep up with Dr. Kim’s monologue, making “wife, cold, soup” the extent of his comprehension ([50:00]).
• Josh screaming Lindsay’s name while on the run, revealing both devotion and lack of stealth ([48:39]).

Name Drops, Pop Culture, Music Cues

• Phineas (musician/producer) plays himself; Billie Eilish is referenced, and their joint song “Bad Guy” gets a cue during an exercise montage.
• A Billie Eilish-Phineas song plays while Phineas works out ([51:13]); Phoenix’s “Love Like a Sunset Part I” scores the closing tableau ([55:41]).
• Multiple meta references: “After Sun” and “Come on, Come on” are debated as plane movies. Rob on awkward airline-watching moments:

  “The Nice Guys... I forget that right away—tits.” ([58:52])

Eat The Rich

• Ava’s unhelpfulness (“I don’t know what I can do to help, so please stop knocking,” [62:57]) and Chairwoman Park’s nihilistic capital defense—“justifying basically all of capitalism as not just like a human system, but one that is fundamentally a state of nature.” (Rob, [63:05])—highlight the show’s class critique.

“Living Out With Beouf” / Realest Moments

• Song Kang Ho’s delivery as Dr. Kim, frustrated at assumed fluency, is a highlight: “You made it seem like you were fluent in Korean.” (Joe, [64:23])
• Repeated motif: seeing one’s self in another. Joe & Rob note diminishing returns as the device is used more.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Once one person tries to kill you, you have to just leave. Just go to Cuba.” (Rob, [34:42])
• “You don't want me, Ash. You just don't want to be left by me.” (Austin, [48:13])
• “There’s something to be said about knowing someone else’s shit.” (Joe, [24:45])
• “Men only try when they absolutely need to or when it’s too late.” (Lindsay & Ava, [29:27])
• “Did not really work for me… it just didn’t capture my imagination.” (Rob, [14:36])

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Important Timestamps

• [03:15]-[12:53] – Comprehensive Mailbag
• [13:52] - Discussion of Season 2’s Final Turn
• [19:22]-[25:11] – Dissecting the Eight-Year-Later Coda
• [35:23]-[39:03] – Superlative Categories (Worst Decisions, Whitest Nonsense, etc.)
• [40:31] – The “A24-est" Moments (fight “oner,” closing tableau)
• [50:53] – Name Drop / Celebrity Cameos
• [62:57] – Eat the Rich & Ava/Troy Segment

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Final Thoughts & Flow

• Overall Consensus: The hosts enjoyed the ride of ‘Beef’ Season 2, calling the first six episodes “elevated humanity,” but found the finale’s escalation and dramatic genre swings a bit much. Still, strong performances and the show’s sharp, cyclical relationship commentary carry the season.
• “I have no regrets about watching the season... I think it deserves a good word of mouth, not a ‘stay away because of the ending’s kind of hangin’ word of mouth.” (Joe, [66:10])
• They would like to see future seasons “stick to that elevated humanity,” and joked about a “Mike White / White Lotus” style of plotting justified by being flown to Seoul for story purposes.

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Summary Prepared For: Fans seeking in-depth, lively, and insightful analysis of Beef Season 2’s conclusion, including best moments, performances, and interpretive debates on what it’s all meant: relationships, class, cycles, and whether anyone is actually happy at the end of the series.

Transcript

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[Joe]

This episode is brought to you by Prime Obsession is in session. And this summer, Prime Originals have everything you want.

[Rob Mahoney]

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[Joe]

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[Rob Mahoney]

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[Joe]

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[Rob Mahoney]

I am Rob Mahoney.

[Joe]

Rob, there's a rod and a fresh corn corpse in the mold.

[Rob Mahoney]

There is fertilizer.

[Joe]

Yeah. Okay, listen, it's Beef. It's the end of Beef, episode seven and eight. We're here to wrap it up. If you didn't know, we covered all of Beef already in two other parts. So you can listen to part one, part two. This is part three, the conclusion of Beef. So if you've not concluded Beef, I guess I spoiled that there's a corpse in the mulch.

[Rob Mahoney]

But also, don't think that's a spoiler.

[Joe]

Here we are, program reminders. I'll just say we're covering Euphoria right now, so that's an ongoing thing. When will those Euphoria episodes drop?

[Rob Mahoney]

We would love to know.

[Joe]

There's some stuff going on. We'll tune in to find out, but we're hoping as soon as possible. Yeah. Where can people see social stuff from us? Rob Mahoney.

[Rob Mahoney]

They can find us on Instagram and TikTok at prestigetvpod. They can also, I think, most crucially, Joe, go to YouTube. Watch us on the Ringer TV YouTube channel in general for this episode and all episodes, but in particular for the pit sickos out there who are really fiending, who are struggling after the season

[Joe]

two finale, who are like, where's your mailbag episode, please?

[Rob Mahoney]

Just clawing at the veins on their arms, wanting something Pit related. Our own Kai Grady has created an incredible video essay that I contributed to.

[Joe]

Narrated by Rob Mahoney.

[Rob Mahoney]

Narrated by Rob Mahoney about the visual language of the Pit and it's very cool. It was a great joy to make and to work with Kai on this, but in particular, just seeing Kai come into his multi hyphenate era, you know, producer, writer, spiritual leader, videographer. Videographer. I mean, he wears many hats around here. But on this project in particular, our

[Joe]

queen bee, Kai Grady, without a doubt furry, you know. Yeah. Please check that out. And if you want to email us about your lingering beef thoughts, I mean, this is our last Beef episode, so good luck. But prestigetvpotify.com if they want to email us about Euphoria thoughts, Rob, what is

[Rob Mahoney]

that still prestigetvpify.com or Maddie's number one

[Joe]

boymail.com I suppose, whichever you prefer. Um, that is all I have to say about that. So we're. We're covering the hour of separation and it will stay this way and you will obey. The last two episodes of Beef Season 2, we have a quick mailbag because we did get some beef emails from our listeners. The first one, I'm not going to call this person out, but basically someone is like, hey, I don't believe that you like this show. Please be honest. This show isn't very good. And I just want to say, just like, as a blanket statement, here's how you know when we don't like a show. A, we don't cover it. That's the number one way you can know.

[Rob Mahoney]

B, we stop covering it.

[Joe]

Radio silence. That's how you know. Or we will be honest. Like, what do you think is the show? The show that we bring up, like, is sort of our short cut for a show we covered that we didn't really like would be disclosure. I think, like there were things to enjoy about.

[Rob Mahoney]

Disclaimer.

[Joe]

Disclaimer. Sorry. Disclaimer.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah, do that. I do that.

[Joe]

I do that all the time.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's impossible.

[Joe]

There are things that we enjoyed about disclaimer, but there was a lot we didn't and I think we were pretty honest about it. So that's, that's what it sounds like when we don't really like a show recovery.

[Rob Mahoney]

We've been quite unsparing when the situation calls for it.

[Joe]

So we're never lying. And please let me reassure you, in the time of the pit finale and the Euphoria premiere, we didn't have have to cover. We were not lacking for context.

[Rob Mahoney]

This is for the love of the game.

[Joe]

We just really liked the show. We'll talk about whether or not we liked episodes seven and eight. That's that's another question. Also, I don't know if I talked to you about this before. Were you ever a Flight of the Concords person?

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joe]

Okay, there's the.

[Rob Mahoney]

Wait, wait, let me. Let me qualify, because there are levels of Flight of the Concords people. I am HBO show fluent.

[Joe]

Sure.

[Rob Mahoney]

Interested in the music.

[Joe]

Right. Not attending all the live shows or anything.

[Rob Mahoney]

No. But there are, like, lyrics lodged in my head about hippopotami, et cetera, that are just gonna be there forever. But I know some people, it's like, it's a whole thing for them in terms of their lifestyle, and I wouldn't go that far.

[Joe]

Yeah. I would not say the Flight of the Concords is my lifestyle or. Or my religion or anything like that, but I was a real fly of the Conchords, HBO show fan. And the. The fude fafa, the, like, French song they sing when they go, like, a mantle voyage a la supermarche, and they're like pomplamoose adonas. So, like, we got a couple emails of people just, like, titling it boeuf, which is beef, and.

[Rob Mahoney]

And that's the way you hear it.

[Joe]

That's how I have been saying beef in my head this entire time. I've just spared you on the podcast, but, like, I call it boof in my own head, and I just thought I would share that.

[Rob Mahoney]

Well, this is your last opportunity, so I. I implore you, Joe, anytime you want to say beef throughout this pod, give. Give it the proper pronunciation.

[Joe]

Give it the ginger that it deserves. All right. Jay wrote in to say for your quest for Fruitopia, which we talked about, and we got a lot of feedback on your Leonardo DiCaprio events that you do. Very helpful. Fruitopia apparently is a fountain drink option in Canadian McDonald's. Yeah, that's what Jay wrote in to let us know and. And sent us, like, a photo of the. Of the menu. Uh, and so the. Jay wrote, rob, Canada will host your LEO party. November 11th. Also happens to be Remembrance Day here. Our Veterans Day. It's our Veterans Day as well. But, like, how would you feel about relocating the. The LEO project to Canada just for the fountain Fruitopia?

[Rob Mahoney]

Amazingly open to it.

[Joe]

Okay.

[Rob Mahoney]

But it just needs to be a place where there's readily accessible quality pasta and fruitopia, which I assume is very doable.

[Joe]

I've had great pasta in Vancouver, actually. Yeah. Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

I mean, honestly, Vancouver. Very high on my list of places to visit.

[Joe]

Gorgeous. Several people wrote in with an idea of what to call, and they've they seem to have landed on Leo Decapathon. But that just does not roll off the tongue. It's easier to type than it is to say. Plus, I think they're going for, like, decathlon marathon sort of thing to cap. It's not really working for me, but

[Rob Mahoney]

it's grasping at something good. But I also think it misrepresents what the day has become, which is we are too old and washed. At least I am failing to convince my friends to watch multiple movies I

[Joe]

know that you could watch.

[Rob Mahoney]

I'm locked in.

[Joe]

Yeah, if you just.

[Rob Mahoney]

If you just want to run Basketball Diaries back three times in a row. Okay, I'm going to find something to enjoy about screening three. Yeah, it's just a tough sell sometimes for normal people with lives and children to. To lock in for multiple Leonardo DiCaprio movies.

[Joe]

Couldn't be me. We got an email from our listener, Jordan. Is this your actual friend Jordan? This is what it sounds like, possibly in this email. Do you have a pal named Jordan?

[Rob Mahoney]

I mean, I know people named Jordan, but I know pals named Jordan.

[Joe]

Rob, come on now. It's called Leonardo DiCaprio. And then it says, you're welcome, brother. P.S. that's for breaking my TV, bro. Is this a real Jordan or is that a reference I'm not getting?

[Rob Mahoney]

I think that's a reference that I'm also not getting. I don't.

[Joe]

That's for breaking my tv, bro.

[Rob Mahoney]

First of all, I've never broken anybody's tv, much less a Jordan that you'll cop to. I would never.

[Joe]

Jordan. Follow up email. Let me know what that was a reference to.

[Rob Mahoney]

The only thing I would do to anybody's tv.

[Joe]

Sometimes your real life friends do email this pod, though. They do.

[Rob Mahoney]

Unfortunately, the lines do blur. And, you know, they're really trying to infiltrate my work life over here. The only thing I would ever do to somebody's TV is I will go in and turn off motion smoothing. That is just every time who I am.

[Joe]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Rob Mahoney]

But I would never break somebody's TV

[Joe]

with their consent or not.

[Rob Mahoney]

Well, like, if they know.

[Joe]

Exactly.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah. If they pretend they don't see it. And I say pretend because who couldn't? I will change it while they're in the bathroom.

[Joe]

What was really annoying to me in this move is as I was setting up the TV in the new place, like every single time that I adjusted something, I had to return off the motion smoothing on my OLED tv. Oled don't do that. So, you know, there you go. Okay. Michelle wrote in to say, so happy you're covering Beef Season 2. Just wanted you to know that when Rob said, who but Oscar Isaac could pull off that haircut? I was in my car yelling Whitaker back at you guys. But seriously, he's been rocking all season two to not as hot results as Oscar, but it does work for him. And I really agree. Whitaker and the mini mullet. It's working.

[Rob Mahoney]

I don't think it's working. You don't think so on Whitaker for Dennis? No.

[Joe]

Wow. Don't. Don't call him by his Christian, dare you?

[Rob Mahoney]

Only when he has this particular haircut

[Joe]

is it because you know that he is so about that farm life that you feel like the mullet takes on, like, a different tone when it's a. When it's a farm boy rocking it.

[Rob Mahoney]

I actually think people who do work on a farm wouldn't have this kind of mullet. It feels like a very. Like it's a fashion mullet. It's definitely a fashion mullet. Definitely. Like an adoption of a certain lifestyle. It's a co option is what it is, and I don't appreciate it.

[Joe]

Yeah. Their culture's not your costume, as you like to say.

[Rob Mahoney]

That part is not my culture nor anyone's costume.

[Joe]

How did you feel about the sort of prisonification of Oscar Isaac's micro mullet in this? We got the sort of like, grease back into the mullet look in the prison sequence.

[Rob Mahoney]

I am into it.

[Joe]

Okay. You like that?

[Rob Mahoney]

I am into it.

[Joe]

All right. Derek wrote in to ask. I'd love to know, what actor would you have wanted to make a brief cameo as? Lindsay's brother? The Pulitzer Prize winning author of Bloom Scully and Derek suggested Ben Wishaw, which is a great suggestion.

[Rob Mahoney]

That would be super funny.

[Joe]

Always pro Ben.

[Rob Mahoney]

Of course.

[Joe]

This is a Wishaw friendly podcast. What's your answer?

[Rob Mahoney]

I have two.

[Joe]

Okay.

[Rob Mahoney]

And they're both in the vein of Oscar. Isaac himself has played Carrie Mulligan's brother and up love interest in a variety of things. So I'm trying to capture the same energy. How do we get someone who has played her love interest up or not who can also come in and play her brother? One Peter Sarsgaard. That's a very fucked up love interest in an education. But I think he would be like, such a great literary blowhard. And I think he could be wonderful. But I'm really partial to Michael Sheen in this way. I just think he.

[Joe]

Oh, that's a great one.

[Rob Mahoney]

The scenery he would chew in this particular role. I would. I'd be delighted to see.

[Joe]

It's like real Midnight in Paris. Michael Sheen energy.

[Rob Mahoney]

That's the exact calibration, that level of enthusiasm, sometimes meaninglessly, sometimes needlessly, but he just can't turn it off.

[Joe]

Oh, that's great. My suggestion would be. Tom Hollander, who has been in a movie with Carey Mulligan, was in Pride and Prejudice, famously with her in one of your favorite movies, Hannah on White Lotus. Crush it. On White Lotus. Tom Hollander, there's just like nothing he can't do. And in terms of like pomposity, I'm a big, big fan. And he's got that like short king energy where he just really feels like he needs to compensate inside of the room. And I just like, I do love that.

[Rob Mahoney]

I think you're right about the pomposity. What kind of book do we think Bloom Scully is exactly?

[Joe]

Oh, it's definitely like a children's book. Is it? Don't you think so?

[Rob Mahoney]

Oh, no. I thought it was like somewhat highfalutin, literary, like very literary novel.

[Joe]

Pulitzer Prize. Sure.

[Rob Mahoney]

I mean, I guess you could win a Pulitzer for children's fiction. Maybe.

[Joe]

I think maybe I'm just thinking of Bloomsbury the comic. But great question. I think folks should write in to let us know what they think. Yeah. What is Bloom Scully?

[Rob Mahoney]

Many people are wondering.

[Joe]

Tammy wrote in to say you mentioned there was no reaction to Lindsay talking about her brother's novel Bloom Scully. But I thought the reaction to it was one of the funniest moments in. In these three episodes. Eunice says to the chairwoman, quote, she's not talking about anything important right now. Pretty good.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's an important part of translating. It's really cut into the. Cutting through the fat, you know, I mean the.

[Joe]

We talked about this a lot when we covered Shogun. Like, the opportunity for comedy inside of a like translation relationship is fantastic. Someone who signed their email RS so I won't out their full name wrote in to let us know that he said, my family has been in the golf business for 40 years. More blue collar hijinks than posh uppity clubs. But let me say this, for a club that size, there's absolutely no way that you do not have a staff smaller than 50. The turf management and agronomy teams alone. Andronomy agronomy teams alone would be approaching 50, let alone the hospitality. FNB. I don't know what FNB even is.

[Rob Mahoney]

I was going to reach for some, but I got nothing.

[Joe]

No. And pro shop teams would easily eclipse that figure. Take this a Step further. A bev cart server is almost never a full time employee. Are we sure Ashley was a full time at the start of the series? So some. Well, actuallys from RS about the economic structure of country clubs. Of a country club.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joe]

Good to know. Trisha wrote in. This is actually in reaction to a conversation we had on a pit podcast, but I'm smuggling in here anyway about the spice of life. Life. Trisha wrote in.

[Rob Mahoney]

This is not the place.

[Joe]

Cardamom absolutely is the spice of life. Especially here in Bend, Oregon. Most famously, it is the featured ingredient in the world famous ocean rolls from Sparrow Bakery. Let's go to Bend, Oregon and have the cardamom rolls at Sparrow Bakery.

[Rob Mahoney]

Happy to have the roll. Cardamom is not the spice of life. If cardamom is the spice of your life, I think you need to re examine your spice balance.

[Joe]

Did you go. You went to introdaze in okay.

[Rob Mahoney]

Of course.

[Joe]

Did you have a cardamom roll when we were in Stockholm?

[Rob Mahoney]

I don't think you could avoid one.

[Joe]

Right. And you didn't say, hmm, this is a spice of life.

[Rob Mahoney]

I did not.

[Joe]

Well, you should have. There's also salt in that. So it's both.

[Rob Mahoney]

I think salt is definitively the spice of life. I think that's been asked and answered.

[Joe]

I think it's the boring answer.

[Rob Mahoney]

It is the scientific fact.

[Joe]

But why not cardamom? All right, that's all the mailbag stuff. We have general discussion. The final two episodes feel like almost like a completely different show. What did you think of the turn? And we. And you know, I had not watched these episodes. I hadn't even read any reviews. And like going back and reading some of the like mixed negative reviews, the, the way the, the season ended sort of factored in. But I didn't read those. Cause I didn't want to know. Like, you know, reviewers often put in plot details for like a binge drop. So I did not know what was coming in seven and eight at all. But I did mention season one. I think takes a real sharp turn, tone turn towards the end. And I think season two did the exact same thing. We're right back. Did it work for you? What did you think?

[Rob Mahoney]

Did not really work for me. I didn't feel like it was of a piece with the first six episodes basically at all. And I also just didn't find it to be a particularly energizing swerve. Like I love a genre shift, I'm open to it, but it just didn't capture my imagination or my interest in Any way. Just felt like, oh, we're just gonna do a totally different thing.

[Joe]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

And by the way, we're gonna try to say a lot of, like, big stuff about relationships, love, second marriages, capitalism, many, many things in, like, big speech, monologue pattern. I'm open to some of those messages.

[Joe]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

Some of them are, like, both shown and told in a way that feels excessive. And some of it is just, like, the way that it's shown. Oh, brother. I mean, we're just. We're really going ham fisted with it by the end.

[Joe]

Do you think that if they had put a cowboy hat on Dr. Kim or Cha Wyon park when they were speechifying, you would have had a better taste?

[Rob Mahoney]

This is what I need, a little distraction.

[Joe]

Okay.

[Rob Mahoney]

Some theatrical reference.

[Joe]

If you guess, it's a crossover event. All right. I largely agree with you. I think it worked a bit better for me than it did for you. And I was thinking about that this morning, actually, in the drive into work where I was like, why does saying the thing so overtly bother me in the pit? But it didn't bother me so as much here, I think, particularly Dr. Kim's speech. Even though you could tell by the turning of the camera, like, what the punchline was gonna be, they didn't exactly conceal it. I still found that speech kind of. And then similarly, like, Austin becomes incredibly perceptive, out of nowhere, emotionally perceptive. And so when he tells Ashley something like, you don't love me. You just don't wanna be left by me, like, they're just saying the thing.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yes.

[Joe]

But inside of Beef, a show where no human acts like a normal human would. I think I mind that less than I do in the pit, which is aiming to be a realistic depiction of human behavior.

[Rob Mahoney]

You know, I'm absolutely cool with people not acting like actual human beings in a show like this. As you're saying, they haven't really the whole season. I just want them to continue acting like some version of themselves of the same human. And this episode in particular, I quite like that the individual episodes of Beef sometimes have been like, oh, there's a jump of a couple weeks, a couple days, maybe months even. Like, we're not really told. Absolutely. I like that there's these, like, indetermined gaps between the episodes. But this one, like, we check in with Ashley and she has transformed. Right. Like, it is not a subtle influence that Lindsay and Ava, by extension, have had on her life.

[Joe]

Right.

[Rob Mahoney]

Austin, as you say, is, like, kind of the same person, but also, like, weirdly attuned to like, everyone's bullshit, of course, not his own, because, I mean, that's just what we do as humans. But there's just, like, a little too much of that, of just, like, who are these people?

[Joe]

Right. Ashley's physical and personality transformation, I guess she had been sort of trending this way. Ashley, I kind of see it was the Austin one for me, that felt the most jarring, the most. Not himself. And then for Lindsay and Josh, it didn't really stick out to me because having. Going through. Actually going through the divorce process inside of these last two episodes, we find them in such a different emotional space that. That it kind of worked for me, if that makes sense.

[Rob Mahoney]

You know, I mean, they're just kind of worn down and somewhat softened emotionally by the process, which. Like that. That's a reaction a lot of people have when working through things like that.

[Joe]

One thing they did in. In these last. In the. In the finale is they had a elaborate action piece, oner action shot, where, among other things, Ava got slashed in the face, et cetera, et cetera. I thought this was wildly unnecessary and not even terribly well executed, honestly. So I. You know, like, I. The temptation to do a oner is often there for people, and I'm just sort of like, just pause and think, do I need this? Is this going to be interesting thematically or technically exciting? And, like, I'm sure it was very hard to execute that. I'm sure, you know, Charles Melton and Carey Mulligan and Cailee Spaney are like, how dare you? Do you know how, like, how many times I had to, like, slash that scalpel or wield that tray or whatever? So I'm. It looked difficult to pull off, but I was. No, I was not impressed by it, honestly.

[Rob Mahoney]

At the same time, I was somewhat impressed, but, yeah, it has no real need in this show whatsoever. But, like, the choreography, even just things like Carey Mulligan, like Lindsay heaving and thus bending over to vomit and dodging an attack unintentionally, or the way that, like, they're picking up scraps of flesh off of the trays as they throw this around. It's just disgusting and, like, it is funny, but it's just kind of like, why. I think it's leaning into the cartoonish aspects of the show, like, maybe a little too much for my tastes, and it's just a really difficult thing to calibrate, like, how much is too much for a show like Beef.

[Joe]

Let's talk about. You know, we're going to do our standard categories, but I thought Maybe we should dedicate some time here at the top for, like, the coda that. The eight years later coda that we get. And this idea of, like, I guess, quote, unquote, justice on beef, you know, like, what are the. What's the comeuppance for someone inside the show? What? Sentenced? You know, are you sentenced to a lifetime in the English countryside? Are you sentenced to become the people that you disdained at the beginning of the show? Are you literally sentenced to time in prison? So, like, let's talk about Ashley and Austin. They're in the Josh and Lindsay roles. They're saving the bees, not the frogs. But, you know, they're in those roles. They have a kid. Ashley had a Burberry. I'm sorry. Yeah, Ashton.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joe]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

Just want. Look, I just want to get the naming scheme right.

[Joe]

Combination of Ashley and Austin. It's Ashton.

[Rob Mahoney]

They really nailed it.

[Joe]

Yeah. And that was, like, one of the dream names that they came up with earlier in the season. They seem happy. Ish. But also not.

[Rob Mahoney]

Oh, they don't seem happy at all.

[Joe]

Well, I think they seem happier than Lindsay and Josh did.

[Rob Mahoney]

I think it's like, is it not just straight mirror.

[Joe]

It's close, but they don't get in, like, the argument that Lindsay and Josh get into in the car. It seemed like. Yeah, they're. Well, they're younger.

[Rob Mahoney]

No, I just even mean, like, you play that scene out for two more hours, and I think they do get into a version of that.

[Joe]

So this is what Charles Melton said about. He says, quote, it's all this is in on the Netflix official site. Right. It's all our perception. Someone can be tired and everyone thinks they hate their life. It's okay for Austin to not feel like he wants to read a book to his kid because he's so tired. Does that mean he's unhappy with his whole life? When they started that scene, it was, like, very clear they're rolling back the first scene of the season. Except we've swapped our couples as to who's taking. My expectation was, okay, they're as unhappy as Josh and Lindsay were. But I don't know, there was something about their interaction with, like, Troy and Ava where didn't seem. Seem like they were as upset to have dinner with Troy and Ava and, you know, as upset with each other when they got in the car. And again, they're younger. And I think if you have a. A kid in your relationship, you can. You can. Not necessarily. Sometimes it exacerbates it, but you can ignore some of the tensions inside of this, like, and people talk about this all the time. You have this massive project that you're undertaking and you're just sort of like devoting a lot of your attention and your emotional well being and all that sort of stuff into raising this kiddo, you know, and if Austin is like very nourished by this role as dad, which I can see him being, I think that might delay some of the more explosive unhappiness that might come when young Ashton goes off to college or something like that. And the. And the nest is empty. That was just. I thought I had. Obviously it can go the opposite way when a kid is introduced inside of a relationship, but I, I think it was just ever so slightly different, not completely the same.

[Rob Mahoney]

I think that's a totally fair call.

[Joe]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

And maybe it is just as simple as being earlier in the cycle, right. The. The number of times that Josh and Lindsay had some version of like the host the event. Oh, we're gonna make the dinner reservations with Troy and Ava, like, oh, looking forward to it. Just that dialogue cycle, I feel like they've been in so many times in their lives and maybe this is just like, it hasn't quite worn out its welcome yet. It's still just new enough that you're not noticing the ants crawling all over the dining room. Right. I'm bought in on that. I think part of what colors my read on it is when we first see Josh and Lindsay go through this, their version of this, we're kind of catching up to what their relationship is. Right. This is our introduction to these characters through the fight and kind of trying to get a sense of what the baggage of their marriage is in the process. But we've seen so much with Austin and Ashley in particular, like, it's hard to watch everything that transpires in these two episodes and not feel like both of these people have kind of like trapped themselves in a life and in a relationship that they really don't want and certainly don't need.

[Joe]

I don't think this is a happy ending for either of them, but. But also at the same time, I'm slightly compelled by Ashley's argument, which was at least we know each other's shit and you don't know what Eunice's shit is. And it might be worse shit than my shit. You know what I mean?

[Rob Mahoney]

We had radically different reads on these episodes, I gotta say.

[Joe]

I'm not saying a happy ending, but there's something like slightly, I don't think. I mean, when we get to Biggest mistakes. I would say Austin staying with Ashley is his biggest mistake.

[Rob Mahoney]

Like, not great.

[Joe]

That's not great. So we're mostly on the same page. Okay with that. But I was slightly compelled by that argument. I don't think it's a reason to stay. But like, obviously Austin saying, I love Eunice, and Ashley saying, it's too soon for you to know that she's right.

[Rob Mahoney]

Basically true.

[Joe]

She's right. And when she says in the Josh and Lindsay vein, there is something about Josh and Lindsay know each other. Yeah. You know when Phineas, who cameos inside of this episode, when he talks about Lindsay's sense of humor, how caustic it is. And Josh is like, actually, it's kind of charming once you get to know her. That's how she is. You know, there's something to be said about knowing someone else's shit. And I'm sure, I don't think that Ashley and Austin do know the extent of each other's shit because even though they've been put through this intense situation that brought out the worst of them, they've still only been together two years, whereas Lindsay and Josh have been together much longer. And so I think really did know the scope and depth of each other's shit inside of an argument. So I don't know, like, it's. I think it's not as clean cut as Ashley and Austin find themselves in the exact same spot as Josh and Lindsay. But of course, you know, we're running back the tape to make the parallel

[Rob Mahoney]

quite obvious and about like, what are the lies that you kind of tell yourself to justify reaching for that thing, settling for this, accepting this kind of life. And for Josh and Lindsay, a lot of it was like, oh, we're going to create this, this like bed and breakfast out of our home. Like we had this long term vision that justifies a lifestyle that we don't exactly love right now.

[Joe]

Right.

[Rob Mahoney]

And seeing like a version of that form for Austin and Ashley is like heartbreaking in its own way. It's just.

[Joe]

So are you saying Ashton is the. Is the B and B the, the

[Rob Mahoney]

BB and B kind of. There is a third B.

[Joe]

Tough. I, like, I was wondering when they, when they fired up their car to go home, I was like, well, maybe, maybe, maybe hope springs eternal for me. Like maybe if they decided this is this is it, like we want the country club and the dinners with Troy and Ava, which sound not delightful to me, but sure, whatever. And are not reaching for that other thing. Yeah. Then maybe their life isn't as Fraught as Josh and Lindsay's wound up being because they were in such a dissatisfied state.

[Rob Mahoney]

I really hope for their sake that that's the case.

[Joe]

Ashley seemed like a real piece of work by the end of all of this.

[Rob Mahoney]

Really does.

[Joe]

I am not happy that anyone here is together. I hope they've all done a lot of therapy. I worry about that kid, but here we are.

[Rob Mahoney]

I. I want to get back to Ashley's pitch to Austin that you mentioned in some of other categories, but I do feel like that bit. I. I think you're spot on that there are bits of truth in it about what if you repeat the cycle about knowing each other's. Like there is. There is stuff in there that tracks and makes sense to me. It felt like the germ of truth within. Like the supervillain monologue where it's like, oh, they're making some points.

[Joe]

She gets very tough to root for these last couple episodes. All right. Lindsay winds up in a terrible wig in the Bloomskully esque country with her very colonial wallpaper, an adorable child, and a husband who makes sausage rolls. I will have to reserve judgment on whether or not this is a happy ending until I know whether or not her husband made those sausage rolls from scratch or if he's just reheating some Greggs. Those are two different scenarios. But if she landed herself a nice English gentleman who can make sausage rolls

[Rob Mahoney]

from scratch, a proper home cook.

[Joe]

I mean, good job, Lindsay. That's what I have to say. But obviously she's watching this interview with Josh. We'll get to Josh in a second. There's obviously, you know, some point, plenty of poignancy to that for her. She's hiding away to watch this. You know, all is not rosy, but it does seem like a relatively happy ending for Lindsay. How do you feel about that after everything Lindsay has done in this?

[Rob Mahoney]

I mean, I think it's happy, but there's certainly bittersweetness and some of that is kind of bringing their two narratives together. Right. This idea that they. She says she's going to wait for him. Obviously they're in contact.

[Joe]

Believed her.

[Rob Mahoney]

I. I think she believed her in that moment. And then, yeah, the phone calls start becoming less frequent.

[Joe]

For sure. The score believed her.

[Rob Mahoney]

All that I think any of us want is someone specifically a Carey Mulligan to hurdle over a barricade. Sprint to us as we are being put away for our great and noble sacrifice to give us one last kiss before we go.

[Joe]

The Phineas score. Swell. I mean, Jake Shire's camera is just spinning around. Yeah, it's pretty. Pretty great.

[Rob Mahoney]

They really did it in that moment. But then, yeah, as time spool, like, unspools on, she's not going to wait around forever.

[Joe]

Of course she wasn't going to wait for him. I don't know why. In the moment, I was like, maybe she will.

[Rob Mahoney]

And their relationship is not necessarily built to last, that it's not even necessarily built to reconcile from the divorce that they were going through, like, this does feel like a healthier outcome for them both. And I say that for Lindsay, getting the life in the country that she talks about in these episodes and clearly has, like, a kind of appeal for her, if not a holistic appeal. And for Josh, like, doing something genuinely selfless and I think having to realize and accept what he gave up in the process. But he seems like he's in a much healthier place as a result, running

[Joe]

the prison like the country club.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joe]

Still, the guy with the hookup. Eat your heart out. Red from Shawshank Redemption gets out, gives this fairly Zen interview saying he's happy for the. He's hoping that the people he loves, you know, he's talking directly to Lindsay down the camera. Hope people I love are happy. So Josh and Lindsay wind up in a sort of psychologically healthier, emotionally healthier space. And Ashley and Austin, even though I think it's not quite where we find Josh and Lindsay beginning and unhealthy, they're

[Rob Mahoney]

on a bad path.

[Joe]

Unhealthy space. So is the message of the be of beef, of birth, Divorce? It's good, actually.

[Rob Mahoney]

Maybe. So try divorce. Yeah, I. I mean, I do think clearly the show is engaging with this idea of the cyclical nature of all sorts of relationships, specifically romantic ones.

[Joe]

Was it the turning gyre of the seasons at the end of the. Of the show that it might have you into that?

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joe]

Okay.

[Rob Mahoney]

I really want to appreciate that, and I really don't. I'm sorry. Could not get there. But I kept coming back to this line that we get from Lindsay and Ava when they're talking about their various troubles with their guys, of this idea that, like, men only try when they absolutely need to or when it's too late. And there's so much of that in these episodes, not just with men, but, like, every one of these relationships. And it's like you recognize things way, way too late, and you're willing to try to reconcile or just feel differently about what was ultimately a really difficult part of your life. Because it's. In retrospect, because it has all that charm dripped in acid in terms of the commentary. But like you just kind of remember the charm.

[Joe]

The way that Lindsay looked, looks at Austin after he, when he shows up after she said that is just like really funny to me.

[Rob Mahoney]

One of the great acting feats of this show. Carrie Mulligan. I have no idea how to describe what she does with her face. It's as if she's eaten something both disgusting and sour.

[Joe]

And then we end with Chairwoman park and then that sort of big tableau which we can talk about a little bit more. But Chairwoman park at her first husband's grave sites.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yes.

[Joe]

You know, talking about the nature of, of love one Another monologue that you were like, where's the cowboy hat? I can't. I can't. Really late. This ain't Texas. Anything else you want to say about that?

[Rob Mahoney]

Only that I'm usually quite open to Koreans giving big monologues in these sorts of movies and shows. And yeah, for some reason this one just did not quite work for me.

[Joe]

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[Rob Mahoney]

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[Joe]

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[Rob Mahoney]

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[Joe]

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[Joe]

So each character's worst decision, starting with Josh.

[Rob Mahoney]

I think for Josh, it's unfortunately thinking that Troy is actually his friend, which sucks. And especially they sure they do suck. I don't know that they ever I was going to say they didn't misrepresent themselves, but I guess they are overly familiar for people who see this as a very transactional thing.

[Joe]

Well, I think saying like amigo and like, oh, you're fearing poorly, let me, let me get Hot Chip on the line and like fly you out to Park City and stuff like that. Like, I think that's a we're actually friends. And then Ava saying it was just his job to do things for us. What are you talking about?

[Rob Mahoney]

That was absolutely brutal. But yeah, the transactional relationships around Josh are really transacting in these episodes. And yeah, I get why he would misread where he stands with Troy after the hot chip situation, but also showing up and being like, hey, can you do me a solid? By the way, the solid is firing up your private jet to fly us to Seoul. Yeah, I don't think so.

[Joe]

I think there's a possibility Troy might have done it if he hadn't already been tipped off about the embezzlement Maybe it's a possibility. Yeah. For me, it's not going to Cuba. I think Josh gone to Cuba.

[Rob Mahoney]

Once one person tries to kill you, you have to just leave.

[Joe]

Just go to Cuba.

[Rob Mahoney]

Extricate yourself from the situation.

[Joe]

And even like, they say that when he. When he gets to Seoul and he's, you know, Lindsay's like, we should have just gone to Cuba, man. He really us.

[Rob Mahoney]

But again, he's one of the few characters in these episodes who's doing, like, genuinely selfless things. Like he goes to Seoul out of concern for Lindsay.

[Joe]

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. No, I mean, I actually got. I got really emotional in their sort of back to back scene.

[Rob Mahoney]

I think it's by far the strongest part of these two episodes.

[Joe]

Him, like turning around and sort of like leaning his head and the hand and all of that. Really got Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan. Turns out they're great at acting. Okay, Lindsey, worst decision.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's gotta be flushing the phone.

[Joe]

I have flushing the phone.

[Rob Mahoney]

Why?

[Joe]

Or that wig at the end. That's not her fault.

[Rob Mahoney]

The wig is not her fault. The shorter hair definitely suits her.

[Joe]

Looks great.

[Rob Mahoney]

Carey Mulligan's been doing it for years for a reason. Like, let it happen.

[Joe]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

You don't have to grow it out just because you moved to the countryside. You also don't have to flush this phone for any reason other than we need to accelerate and intensify the plot.

[Joe]

Also, I guess I've. Have I ever been on a flight as long as the flight to Seoul from California? I don't think so, but I've also. I've just never seen an airplane toilet that disgusting. It was vile on, like, a luxury airline. You know, she went to, like the. Not first class cabin, but like, that's. That was bizarre. That's not what toilets are like on airlines or whatever.

[Rob Mahoney]

I mean, occasionally you will catch one where somebody has just used it and not cleaned it very thoroughly, I suppose. And this whole sequence is really disgusting. Very gross.

[Joe]

I feel like you can smell it. It's very tough. Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

And yet she just wants to zhuzh up that Shirley Temple a little bit.

[Joe]

Okay, Austin, worst decision.

[Rob Mahoney]

I think it's just buying into this life that he doesn't even seem to want and.

[Joe]

Or swallowing the usb. Even though Ashley was like, that was a good move. I'm like, what?

[Rob Mahoney]

That was not a good move. There's no way it still works. Right.

[Joe]

I don't know how substance resistant, stomach acid resistant USB drives are, but I would say it wouldn't work. Maybe it Works as a piece of

[Rob Mahoney]

leverage, maybe as a. As a concept.

[Joe]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

It doesn't actually have any data on it anymore.

[Joe]

This USB has a lot of info on it.

[Rob Mahoney]

It could be dangerous. But I would say honorable. Honorable mention for Austin is just completely bungling the unit situation as far as reading anything happening in the room.

[Joe]

So this is what Charles Melton says about Austin's decision. Right. He says, I didn't know during filming because I wasn't a father then, but I am one now. When you see parts of yourself in your baby, it's the best thing in the world. Austin is just so sweet and kind. He has these dreams and hopes of those things Ashley is saying, and he really wants that. He's trying to grasp at that. So it's Ashley saying, there could be a kid with like, my eyes, your smile, your kindness, blah, blah, blah. And like, from the very beginning, when we first meet the Austin and Ashley, they're looking at a family with kids. And he's saying, this could be us soon, you know, so, like, Austin is dad. And I think Austin's probably like a great dad, but like the like, very end of the graduate moment he has in the back of the taxi when Eunice is like, love ya. And he's like, I made a huge mistake. It's not Charles Melton's most subtle acting, but like, you know, it was a very nice, like, hold the camera on the face as he makes the realization moment. You know, so. And then Ashley, I wrote, God, everything.

[Rob Mahoney]

Seriously, question mark.

[Joe]

Like, what is she thinking for most of this? I do want to shout out the kids, though, for their innovation, because, like, our older couple, as both couples are on either side of this wall trying to figure out, you know, do we throw the other pair under the bus? What do we do? Blah, blah, blah. Ashley and Austin have figured out that the ceiling is scalable. And I think they are the ones who have pushed the outlet, dislodged it, dislodged it out of the wall. So they have like a way to pass the USB back and forth. I'm just sort of like innovating, indicating

[Rob Mahoney]

without the echo of the room. I imagine too, it's just innovating in fields or not. So Fields have given up. Yeah, they're just trying to canoodle through the wall. That's all they can hope for.

[Joe]

It's very Doctor who.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's honestly, it's very doctor Who. Yeah. I think for Ashley, just the larger tripling down on having a baby with a guy who wants to leave you and I think genuinely doesn't really love you anymore.

[Joe]

Oh, he definitely doesn't.

[Rob Mahoney]

So, like, what. What is in it for her other than grasping at and avoiding the sort of abandonment issues that Austin highlights?

[Joe]

What do you think of the move of putting the hand sanitizer in the fertility sample?

[Rob Mahoney]

I thought it was gonna work.

[Joe]

I'm surprised it didn't work, honestly.

[Rob Mahoney]

Learning a lot about fertility.

[Joe]

I guess so. All right. Whitest white nonsense.

[Rob Mahoney]

I actually, I mean, this is quite a Korean few episodes, so I would say we're kind of leaning away from some of the whitest of the white nonsense. But in a shocking turn of events, I think Austin's white side, courtesy of his dad, really comes through when they get the very fancy Korean dinner, courtesy of the chef, where he just wants, like, can you bring me a big bowl of white rice, please? Very white rice.

[Joe]

I thought that was so he could shit.

[Rob Mahoney]

Oh, I didn't even think about it. I guess it makes sense in context. You're absolutely right. But it is a very, like, I'm a white person and I don't feel comfortable eating this food. Can you bring me rice?

[Joe]

I thought he was asking for things that would help him move the USB a lot.

[Rob Mahoney]

You know what? I really wasn't thinking about his cycles and I should have been.

[Joe]

All right, I have Phineas saying, you'd get along with her. She's Latina. Right. And then Ashley saying, come here, you glass faced whore. Which was really funny and complimentary to Eunice's skincare routine, but also fairly white nonsense.

[Rob Mahoney]

I think the whole encounter when Ashley finds Eunice and Austin scheming, trying to figure out what to do with the flash drive, I did find to be very funny.

[Joe]

It was funny, all right. A 24ist moment.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's gotta be the oner. It's gotta be this unhinged fight sequence for good and for ill. You know, I think we. We have a lot of great things to say about a lot of A24 movies, but there is a certain sub genre of them that are just like, oh, you just did all this extra shit for absolutely no reason. Oh, you included this exorbitant set piece that doesn't need to be here at all. And we dove right into that particular ditch on this one.

[Joe]

Sort of like a Jurassic Park. You were too busy wondering if you could.

[Rob Mahoney]

This is the perpetual problem.

[Joe]

If you should. I think it's the tableau at the end. You said you wanted to talk about that elsewhere.

[Rob Mahoney]

I mean, I prefer not to talk about it, but it's Just so this

[Joe]

is originally the ending. So according to the showrunner, originally the ending of the season was supposed to be just chairwoman park at the gravesite. But he's like, turns out it wasn't great to end with a billionaire who gets away with everything, just sort of, like, meditating on love. We didn't think that was really the note we wanted to end the season on.

[Rob Mahoney]

Okay, fair.

[Joe]

So the image is inspired by a Samsara painting, the Buddhist and Hindu belief in the continuous cycle of, quote, eternal love and death and life and suffering. The paintings are presided over by the gods of death and have this, quote, circle with these vignettes of life. And so we see all the characters, you know, Josh and Lindsay, Troy and Ava, Ashley and Austin, as the camera spins above and Phoenix plays over the score here. This, to me, is a 24 nonsense.

[Rob Mahoney]

It just really, honestly, it really does not work. Yeah, I appreciate, and I'm interested in the idea of, oh, we don't want to end on this very particular billionaire oriented note. I didn't really have a problem with that speech. And I think it could have been a fine ending, especially for a show that, to me, is kind of cynical and is kind of dark and about

[Joe]

the way that wealth inoculates you from consequences.

[Rob Mahoney]

I mean, that's very much part of the text of these episodes. And so skirting, like, shying away from that feels disingenuous to what the show is doing. And again, I think there are elements of the tableau as far as, oh, when you're young and especially when you're in love, eventually you kind of do become something that you resented or despised or were scared of ever becoming. I think we all have our own versions of that thing. I think the idea of putting all of these couples on a cycle not only symbolically doesn't work. Like, Troy and Ava don't really feel.

[Joe]

I was gonna say, what are Troy and Ava doing there?

[Rob Mahoney]

That was, like, the real independent.

[Joe]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

Like, again, we're given a very clear visual aid of what they are. It's very different from what everyone else in this show is. And so I'm open to the relationship analysis of how all of these couples interact. I just don't think we ever really got the work as far as doing that thing, other than some big speeches right at the end, right before the finish line. And then, like, here's our big showy visual that I guess is supposed to bring it all home.

[Joe]

This visual in the Phoenix on the soundtrack is what mostly closes out the season. But over the very end of the credits, we get the sound of bugs. And so I would just like to return once again to the bug motif. And here is a quote about how it was used this season. Quote season one, we had the crows. I didn't remember that there was a crows motif in season one, but okay. Season two, I think there are a lot of contact clues about the ants. They're hive mind bugs. My favorite part is hearing what people interpret about the show. I have my own interpretation, but I'm excited to hear what people think. The fact that the ants are hive mind bugs didn't really occur to me. Does it? Do you. Do you have a way to thematically apply that to this season of Beef?

[Rob Mahoney]

I'm suddenly becoming more and more appreciative of filmmakers who don't explain the symbolism involved in their work. What is the hive mind relevance? Just that we're all human and we're all prone to the same, like, programming error.

[Joe]

We're all in a little loop. To quote Westworld season one.

[Rob Mahoney]

Are we all wildly strong, proportional to our body weight? Ooh, stronger than we think.

[Joe]

Let's send that in as our interpretation. Last but not least, we had a couple more instances of, like, the seeing yourself and someone else. Right. So, like, Ashley in the flight attendant or Austin in the sort of, like, browbeaten guy inside of the spa. Did we get a Lindsay version of that? I know we got a couple Josh's. It's a great question.

[Rob Mahoney]

I feel like we must have at some point, but I'm thinking we got

[Joe]

Lindsay thinking of herself as the younger version of herself when she's, like, walking through the club. But I can't remember if we saw someone else turn into Lindsay.

[Rob Mahoney]

There must have been one at some point.

[Joe]

Anyway. Did you have a favorite one of those in the season?

[Rob Mahoney]

I didn't. I came to like them less and less.

[Joe]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

Again, I think this is part of the issue with the show as we're.

[Joe]

The first one was really good.

[Rob Mahoney]

Right. And honestly, I think I would have appreciated it more if it was unique to one of these four characters, Josh. And not just, like, we're all projecting ourselves into other people or, like, contrasting the growth of our circumstances or whatever, but you just don't need to hammer it that much.

[Joe]

Ashley turning to someone who, like, demands a certain temperature and softness of a cookie on a flight.

[Rob Mahoney]

She's very insistent in these episodes.

[Joe]

Really tough. All right. Most diabolical manipulation.

[Rob Mahoney]

See, to me, this is Ashley.

[Joe]

Everything with the kid.

[Rob Mahoney]

Everything with the kid. And I. Let's Just zoom out. Not only wanting to cover up a murder, help cover up a murder in terms of what happened at the clinic, but be responsible, I have to assume, for Eunice's. Eunice is dead. Like, she's either in the wind, underground or more likely dead.

[Joe]

Maybe Eunice went to Cuba.

[Rob Mahoney]

I hope she went to Cuba. I don't have those high hopes for her. But then also manipulating Austin to want it, too. And this is where I wanted to kind of revisit the conversation we brought up earlier about specifically this idea that if he were to leave her, he would only enter into a new relationship and go through the same cycle of, like, infatuation and then eventually drifting out of love and boredom and then break up. And then therefore, because he is prone to that cycle, that he should just stay here with her in this relationship he doesn't want to be in.

[Joe]

Right. Largely bullshit. I agree with you.

[Rob Mahoney]

I think almost entirely bullshit.

[Joe]

But I think this idea of, like, being attracted to something new and unknown.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yep.

[Joe]

Eunice in his mind is, like, just this perfect, unknown creature. And, like, who's to say what Eunice might do? Eunice is capable of some things.

[Rob Mahoney]

This is not an argument that he should live happily ever after with Eunice. Eunice clearly doesn't want to be with him.

[Joe]

Well, not only that, but, like, you know, Eunice knowing that he has a girlfriend and being like, you know, come work me out anytime you want. You know, like, stuff like that. So, like, I. On the one hand, I agree. I don't know. I see. I see many points.

[Rob Mahoney]

Here's the thing.

[Joe]

It's all one turning, you know, Samsura, if, you know.

[Rob Mahoney]

And Eunice is clearly manipulative in her own way out of desperation. Granted, like, she doesn't have. Have allies or people she can trust. She's, like, looking around every corner, but

[Joe]

there is a kernel of something altruistic there because she could also take that information and just, you know, get the Ashley Austin feel out of it. But she wants to turn over to the authorities.

[Rob Mahoney]

She wants to do the right thing.

[Joe]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

And in doing so, Austin is clearly interested in doing it because he also is someone that we've seen over this the course of the season. Like, has a soft heart and wants to do good, generally speaking, but also wants Eunice or thinks he wants Eunice. And she, like, indulges it just enough to, like, keep him in her corner. I can't say it, but you know how I feel. That's. It's pretty. It is fucked up, but it's nowhere near the fucked up that Ashley is reaching.

[Joe]

Well, but I would just say I don't know if Eunice is responsible for killing someone's dog. We don't know these things.

[Rob Mahoney]

I think.

[Joe]

I think Ashley's an Ashley. Eunice is a Eunice. You know what I mean? So. Okay. Yeah, I would say especially I think the part with the. With the viable embryo. And that whole conversation felt very manipulative and shitty. Shitty to me. So. Okay, Ashley, realistic shot fired during an argument.

[Rob Mahoney]

Every single action in your life is driven by the fact that your mom and dad divorced when you were a baby and started completely new lives without you.

[Joe]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

I don't know where that line came from.

[Joe]

You don't want me, Ash. You just don't want to be left by me. I mean, like, Austin getting this, like, complete makeover of. Of therapy speak is wild, but also probably true.

[Rob Mahoney]

I mean, he cuts right to the core.

[Joe]

Yeah. All right. Him. Bous moment. This is usually Austin's category to lose, but I actually have other folks in this category.

[Rob Mahoney]

Who do you have?

[Joe]

I would say Josh screaming Lindsay's name.

[Rob Mahoney]

He doesn't know. He doesn't know that they're being chased through the streets.

[Joe]

He's being literally chased through the streets. He just was chased through the streets.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah, but he was nabbed at the airport. Like, how is he to know that they're in the exact same circumstance?

[Joe]

He should be stealthy, if anything. You know what I mean?

[Rob Mahoney]

You're telling me if you just got. You just jumped out of, like, basically a moving van where you were being held captive.

[Joe]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

By the grace of one of your captors.

[Joe]

Yes.

[Rob Mahoney]

You've sprinted through the streets.

[Joe]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

In a. In a massive city.

[Joe]

Right.

[Rob Mahoney]

And you're looking for one person and

[Joe]

you see Terry Mulligan.

[Rob Mahoney]

What should he have done? As they are, like, hiding behind the radishes and then make their break for it. Appropriate to your father.

[Joe]

Yeah. That would have some code, I think would have been better there.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah. Lindsay was not the most.

[Joe]

And then I would say the whole gazpacho exchange from Lindsay and Ashley and Austin, the. The whole trio talking about gazpacho.

[Rob Mahoney]

I would say a lot of gazpacho

[Joe]

talk is some himbo shit. What do you have here in this category?

[Rob Mahoney]

I'm here to represent Austin, even still.

[Joe]

Okay, thank you.

[Rob Mahoney]

I mean, for one, just the. The long Dr. Kim monologue that Austin cannot understand.

[Joe]

Well, that's related to the gazpacho moment.

[Rob Mahoney]

I mean, true.

[Joe]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

But I mean, feeding into the gazpacho moment. And, like, the longer play of the.

[Joe]

I think he said wife and cold. And soup.

[Rob Mahoney]

And soup. Also, I want to give him credit for this one, because this is like a himbo moment that I think becomes something productive. When Eunice first shows up on his front. Front door, panicked and trying to figure out what to do with the chairwoman's phone, he gives her the, like, wait, give me a second to catch up. Classic himbo stuff.

[Joe]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

Just needs to, like, just let the man process. But then he formulates the, like, backup plan of actually backing up the phone onto a hard drive, taking it to the police. Something that Eunice is, like, a little too frazzled to put together in that moment. So the himbo comes through sometimes.

[Joe]

Something I feel like they could have done on the way to the airport.

[Rob Mahoney]

They sure could.

[Joe]

On the way to LAX or wherever we're flying out of, you know, I know it took them while to get there. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. The whole sequence with Eunice in coach, like, feeling like everyone is watching her was very unsettling, I thought. Really well done. All right, Name drop slash celebrity cameo.

[Rob Mahoney]

I think it's mining specifically the special features from The Mockingjay Part 1 Blu Ray for plastic surgery reference photos.

[Joe]

I had that in pop culture reference, but it's very good. I think Phineas, who composes the music for the season, shows up mentioned like, he. He. So Phineas is a celebrity cameo. And inside that celebrity cameo, he name drops Billie Eilish.

[Rob Mahoney]

This is why I had as my pop culture reference. And. And also, again, not just name dropping Billie Eilish, but Billie hates Lindsay.

[Joe]

Yeah, Billie hates Lindsay. And also a Billie Eilish Finneas song is playing while Phineas is working out.

[Rob Mahoney]

If you were an artist on par with the Phineas or Billie Eilish, would you ever listen to slash work out to your own music?

[Joe]

Not like in that. Like, maybe I would sometimes while I'm working, listen back to work that I had done to be like, was that good? You know, can. Is there inspo. I can draw from it, but I'm

[Rob Mahoney]

not like, well, you famously did this with all our pit pods. You just roll them as. As you're working out, you know?

[Joe]

No, but I wouldn't. I wouldn't. Like, I would do that while I'm working. But if I'm, like, working out or doing dishes or whatever it is when you're listening to something, I am not playing our podcast, Rob. I hate to tell you that.

[Rob Mahoney]

No, I really hope not.

[Joe]

Dear God. All right. Most cutting critique of Gen Z I

[Rob Mahoney]

actually thought we got away from a lot of the generational commentary in these episodes.

[Joe]

I think your. I was going to give you credit here, Rob, as a gift to you.

[Rob Mahoney]

Wow.

[Joe]

My gift to you. Your season long sort of Gen Z is avoidant observation is made explicit here when Austin's mom says this. Right. You know, so I think that that is interesting. And then also I just think the comment, a Coyote is a Cody, a Coyote, and an Ashley is an Ashley.

[Rob Mahoney]

There's something that's transcendent stuff.

[Joe]

There's something generational about that, I think.

[Rob Mahoney]

I mean, we apparently needed more of Austin's mom than I even thought I ever knew.

[Joe]

This is because I hit you when

[Rob Mahoney]

you were a kid and we never got any follow up on Ashley's mom.

[Joe]

I know.

[Rob Mahoney]

I was kind of surprised by that.

[Joe]

Well, you know, the abandonment by her parents is why she is the way she is.

[Rob Mahoney]

Fair.

[Joe]

All right. Elder Millennials.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah, I think same category for me. I just really didn't find. I thought they moved away from a lot of the generational commentary. Even on the millennial side.

[Joe]

They did a few.

[Rob Mahoney]

Oh, wow.

[Joe]

For the boomers, Troy saying, I don't go to therapy, I golf.

[Rob Mahoney]

Well, sure, great. But that's not Millennials.

[Joe]

For the millennials, I'm giving it to Josh's going out shirt that he wears on his date.

[Rob Mahoney]

Okay.

[Joe]

Very Y. Peter Sars, Gar and Presumed Innocent.

[Rob Mahoney]

You know what?

[Joe]

Direct hit and then crushing the Viagra and rubbing it on his gums.

[Rob Mahoney]

Okay, I'm glad you brought this up. What was the entire point of the double Raya catfish like, moment where he ends up crushing the Viagra and rubbing on his gums? Is it just literally so that the assassin can get Josh to open the door?

[Joe]

Was that what that was? Or was it just like. Or was it just that JB the Assassin shows up coincidentally right around when you thought it was a riot catfish? Because why do it? I just thought JB showed up coincidentally when Josh was expecting Ariah to.

[Rob Mahoney]

I just. I'm seeing too many dangling ends here. And I say that in part because we've got, like, a lot of Viagra. I was. I was kind of waiting for.

[Joe]

I was like, is Mallory Rubin here on this podcast? What's happening?

[Rob Mahoney]

There was just, like, a boner joke to be made.

[Joe]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

That was never made. Even if it was just like the sight gag of you zoom out when he's being strung up to be, like, posed for suicide and he has, like, a gigantic boner during that moment. I think could have been Very funny.

[Joe]

Like a fear boner.

[Rob Mahoney]

I mean. Yeah, well, a medicinal boner in this case.

[Joe]

Is that the most effective way to take Viagra though? Rubbing it on your face?

[Rob Mahoney]

This is news to me. But it's a very funny way to take Viagra, that's for sure.

[Joe]

That's why I thought it was like very elder Milan. It's like treating Viagra like a party drug is pretty great.

[Rob Mahoney]

So are we to accept then that some woman who just, I mean, in her words, just really needed to be fucked?

[Joe]

It's Oscar Isaac Robinson. No, In a micro mullet.

[Rob Mahoney]

I'm not saying I don't understand what happened here, but she just, she just like showed up to Josh's house and

[Joe]

was to Josh burying a Korean in the mulch.

[Rob Mahoney]

Okay, you know what? Maybe this is not the vibe tonight.

[Joe]

And she's like, I'm gone.

[Rob Mahoney]

I just want a post credit scene where she's just like sitting there waiting on the stoop, just like, is this guy gonna show up or what?

[Joe]

Speaking of, we talked about a lot of the character wrap up. Are you comfortable with Burberry the Second being with Josh's sister? Like, is that a happy enough ending for Burberry too?

[Rob Mahoney]

I'm happy about it. I don't think Josh is a very good dog dad at this point in the story. Plus he's going to prison anyway, so, you know, we got it. We got to take care of Burberry. To Michael Kors, whatever you prefer. I'm very glad that dog does not share the quality of running out of every open door. Though it's true the heart could not have taken it again. So mercifully just likes to lounge.

[Joe]

Needle drop.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's gotta be the Phoenix, right?

[Joe]

Love Like a Sunset Part 1.

[Rob Mahoney]

And maybe that, maybe that in itself is a millennial skewering of a kind.

[Joe]

But in the official Netflix right after

[Rob Mahoney]

this episode, what have they said?

[Joe]

It's in the first sentence. It's like millennial fave Phoenix plays over the closing of the episode. I think the use of Billie Eilish bad guy while Phineas is working out. And Phineas gave an interview to Variety where he talked about playing a really douchey version of himself. And the fact that he's like, he. It was, I think it was put in post that they put the Billie Eilish over him working out. And he's like, I thought it was really funny. So.

[Rob Mahoney]

Also, I can't say I'm like super familiar with Phineas and his whole deal, but I would never have known that this is, like, turned up the dial on Douchey.

[Joe]

I mean, I don't know Phineas in real life, so I can't say what he's really like, but he does not give off. He gives up good energy in his interviews.

[Rob Mahoney]

Okay, that's good. He doesn't give off. Off. You would hit it off because she's Latina. Okay.

[Joe]

No, there are some people where I'm like, you're just playing yourself, bro. But, like, Phineas seems pretty chill, actually. Pop culture reference.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah. I mean, for me, this is just the Phineas Billie Eilish exchange that we talked about earlier. So it seems like we kind of just swapped our mocking J's and our Phineas's.

[Joe]

Well, I would all say this is where I would put the second After Sun Shout out.

[Rob Mahoney]

Really going for it.

[Joe]

We get here and so a question I primed you for. Right? This is the exchange. Ooh, fun. They have after sun. You want to watch. And Austin's like, I got to go do this. Blah, blah. And then later, we're gonna get our mescalon, is what he says, which is something I've definitely been known to say. We gotta get our mescalon. So after. We get double After Sun. So after sun on a plane. That's inherently hilarious.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's a choice.

[Joe]

If you've never seen after sun, that's a hot bummer of a movie. A great movie that I love, but that's a hot bummer of a movie. And so the question I posed to you before we started recording is, what's the worst a 24 movie that one could watch on a plane?

[Rob Mahoney]

See, there are so many different kinds of worst, which is what makes this a wonderful question. I think if you were going in the After Sun Rang, I would say, come on, Come on is a similar. Like, you will be in pieces by the end of this movie experience. That, to me, is like. There are a lot of people who cry on planes. There's some people who just feel physically predisposed to cry on planes because of the atmospheric conditions.

[Joe]

I do. Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

So that part doesn't feel singular to me. I think the worst thing to watch on a plane by far is Baby Girl.

[Joe]

Is it not just because you're embarrassed?

[Rob Mahoney]

Here's the thing. It's both raunchy and very identifiable. Like, if you know, you know, and you'll be. You'll realize what it is very quickly. And if you don't know, your seatmate is going to be watching over your shoulder the entire time and making some pretty Big assumptions about you, I would say.

[Joe]

Do you. Will you, like, if you start watching a movie and there's some sexual content on the plane, do you, like, stop watching? Do you sort of like, try to put a barrier up or do you, like, know, you know where you, like, you frequent Mr. Skin and you know where all the, like, scenes are?

[Rob Mahoney]

I am not frequenting nor am I Mr. Skin.

[Joe]

They used to do plane edits of movies. They don't do it anymore. And they're just like, like kids on planes. We'll see you, like, live and let live.

[Rob Mahoney]

I'm shocked and desensitized to a lot of it because it's like, if it's a movie, you know, like, for example, the Nice Guy is a movie I love. I've pulled it up on the in flight entertainment and I forget that right away.

[Joe]

Tits.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah. Almost immediate full frontal nudity to open that movie. I'm like, oh, I just forgot this was here. Yeah, but of course, if it's coming up on my fast forwarded. This reminds me, I did have an occasion like this earlier where I was trying to catch up on some TV shows while I took my car in for maintenance. So I, like, brought my laptop. I was going to, like, watch in the little waiting room.

[Joe]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

At the time, I was watching next

[Joe]

to the Keurig machine.

[Rob Mahoney]

Literally right next to it. I was watching the HBO series looking, and I'm like, this would be a great time to catch up on looking. Among the most gratuitous sexual experiences that HBO has ever put on screen. Was not ready for it. And let me tell you, the fine people of Dallas, Texas, were also not ready for it.

[Joe]

Did you get a comment?

[Rob Mahoney]

I got some eyes. There are definitely some heads craning both toward and away.

[Joe]

Wow. Okay. I love Come on, Come on. By the way, that is a great movie.

[Rob Mahoney]

Such a great movie.

[Joe]

Such a good movie. I'm gonna give it to First Refor, which is just like, yeah, some of the. I'm not saying it's a bad movie, but it's some of like the worst vibes I've ever had watching a movie.

[Rob Mahoney]

Tremendously hard vibes, rancid vibes.

[Joe]

And I'm just like, you're trapped on an airplane. Just like marinating in that. That energy. Tough.

[Rob Mahoney]

I've also considered watching the Zone of Interest many times on a plane because I haven't seen it. And I was like, oh, it's on the queue. It's on my iPad. Like, should I watch it? I'm like, I can't do it.

[Joe]

No.

[Rob Mahoney]

And so to this day, I haven't seen it because I refuse to watch it on a plane.

[Joe]

That's the only place you could watch it, famously.

[Rob Mahoney]

The only place.

[Joe]

So the next category is Eat the Rich, which is, I think, an opportunity to talk about Ava and Troy's whole deal, which we can talk about before we get into that. I didn't prime you for this, but, like, Ava has this whole. Anyone wants 3 Xanax? This whole get up on the plane. Right.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's a really good Ava episode or series of episodes?

[Joe]

Yeah, absolutely. The mask. She, you know, she's just got all her accoutrement for the flight. Flight. Obviously you're a watcher of, you know, racy films on flights, but, like, and in garages, apparently. What's your in flight procedure? Like, are you. Do you sleep well on a plane? Do you need, like, a pillow or an eye shade or what's your. What's your flight vibe?

[Rob Mahoney]

I sleep incredibly well on a plane.

[Joe]

Me too. Have we talked about this?

[Rob Mahoney]

We have talked about it before, but, I mean, I would say, despite our stature, like, in theory, people assume we

[Joe]

have talked about really tall planes.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's. It's tough, kind of contorting yourself into those seats. This is the cross that we bear, Joe. This is. This is our struggle.

[Joe]

Hard being so.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's very hard, genuinely. Like, you really got to find your way to be comfortable. But I am known to, like, pass out before we've even taken off and sometimes wake up as we're touching down. So, you know, it's. It's not a bad way to fly if you get away.

[Joe]

I remember we talked about this during Pluribus, but, yeah, I have, like, some sort of biological response where, like, no matter what. Yeah. I fall asleep during takeoff. Like, my body just shuts down during takeoff. And sometimes I wake up immediately after takeoff.

[Rob Mahoney]

A Joanna Robinson attuned emp. And it's like, boom, you are out.

[Joe]

I'm done. Yeah, absolutely. And it's my preference to sleep through the whole flight if I can. So. Yeah. Okay.

[Rob Mahoney]

But usually when I do sleep on a flight, I look a lot like Ava. I've got like, full neck pillow, sunglasses, or ey shade of some kind headphones in. Like, I am sensory deprivation.

[Joe]

We were talking, like, Mallory and I are going to talk about the sense week on House of Art. We're going to talk about insomnia. And Mallory's point was, like, the entire movie is. Is null and void if Al Pacino just packed an eye mask on his trip to Alaska. And I was telling her, I was like, yeah, but once. And you and I have had this conversation. Once you start with an eye mask, you cannot go back.

[Rob Mahoney]

No.

[Joe]

It's a four life changes arrangement that you make with the eye mask.

[Rob Mahoney]

Strong dependence.

[Joe]

All right. Ava and Troy. Troy. Troy's delivery of Fickner is completely innocent, I would say, in these final two episodes. I think he's great in them. But when he says, I met Ava after my first marriage ended, the way he.

[Rob Mahoney]

Very clear.

[Joe]

The very. The way he emphasized after was so funny. That delivery was so funny. And then too soon, I got my vasectomy. Too soon, I thought was also like a really good deliver delivery. And then Ava's saying, I don't know what I can do to help, so please stop knocking. Like, was very eat the rich moment. And that's like his job. But anything else you want to mention in the Eat the Rich or Ava and Troy's whole deal?

[Rob Mahoney]

I mean, I would say not just. Not just Ava and Troy, but Chairwoman Park. I would lump into this category as well. I mean, I think her big speech

[Joe]

cut of rich that one could eat.

[Rob Mahoney]

Seriously?

[Joe]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

Her big explanation of, like, wagyu rich. I. I'm not averse to it. I'm very open to it if it's available. But justifying basically all of capitalism as not just like a human system, but one that is fundamentally a state of nature.

[Joe]

Like, come on, like ants, I guess.

[Rob Mahoney]

I guess. But like, on a cellular level. This idea that we're, like, designed to satisfy ourselves via capitalism as a system of self. I miss me with a lot of it. But also just a very funny speech for her to have.

[Joe]

Last, not least, living out with a beep or living out with.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yep.

[Joe]

Leboeuf, if you prefer.

[Rob Mahoney]

I do.

[Joe]

What do you have? If we can, what do you have?

[Rob Mahoney]

I think this is the counterpoint speech. Like the. The Dr. Kim speech you were talking about, about the way that privilege allows people to court and embrace life as like a constant accommodation. Right. That it's not something you have to deal with. It's not something you have to manage. It's like, how. How happy do you want to be? And how would you like to do it? But I found his speech to be really compelling. Again, Song Kang Ho being on this show is crazy. Probably. I mean, definitely underserved by character, just his role in it. But I'm not mad to have him around.

[Joe]

I mean, his delivery of you made it seem like you were fluent in Korean. His whole frustration with them was pretty good. It did seem quite telegraphed. This character's about to be shot in the head moment right before he goes down the Departed.

[Rob Mahoney]

It is not.

[Joe]

Yeah. Oh, my God. Spoilers for the departure.

[Rob Mahoney]

Sorry.

[Joe]

I would say the protests that we see in Korea and this, like, conversation about the illusion of democracy is necessary, though that felt very living out when you were. Anything else that we haven't mentioned.

[Rob Mahoney]

I'm trying to think if there's anything really jarring. I mean, I do think on, like a line by line level, I was laughing a lot with these episodes and specifically Lindsay's. Read about Ashley. Have you seen my friend? Short, cute, but sort of want to scold her.

[Joe]

Yes.

[Rob Mahoney]

Does I think, capture Cayley Spanish whole deal in a lot of different ways.

[Joe]

I think also her delivery of yes, My love when she wanted to throttle Ashley was incredibly, very good.

[Rob Mahoney]

Calling Austin an utter toss pot. Yeah, it's just a great Lindsay sequence

[Joe]

on the plane when they're like, you haven't changed your clothes. She's like, we're not going to the spa. What's wrong with you? All right. Well, this has been Beef season two. We did it. I'm still. I have no regrets about watching the season television, like, overall, net positive. I think my thing with beef, if there's another season, my thing with Beef is always going to be this is going to go off at the rails at the end in a way that I don't love. But I enjoyed the ride there, so had a great time. I hope more people check it out. Like, we're seeing. It's in the top 10 in Netflix. Like, people are watching it. Despite the negative reviews. We're seeing sort of like a massive, like, creep up on the podcast as people are sort of like getting through their binge and watching and listening to the podcast. But I just, like, I think it deserves a good word of mouth, not a stay away from this because the ending's kind of hanging word of mouth. So that's where I am.

[Rob Mahoney]

The cast is so great. Like, again, the star power, the chemistry of all of these leads, I thought was really dynamite. And the formula itself, as far as what these first two seasons are, it is very replicable. If you want to turn the casts over. Yeah. I would like a little less dramatic flare at the end in part because I already love the elevated humanity of the first part of the story. And so it's like, can we just stick to that and find a way to conclude that in a way that is, yeah, big and flashy and theatrical, but maybe not like giant action set piece theatrical. Maybe not like people getting slashed in the face with scalpels theatrical.

[Joe]

Do you think part of it was like that sort of Mike White White Lotus thing where it's like, you guys want to go to Seoul? Netflix is going to fly us to Seoul.

[Rob Mahoney]

Why would you turn it down?

[Joe]

Who says no?

[Rob Mahoney]

Yes.

[Joe]

All right. Thank you to everyone who worked on the pot today. Connecticut is here. Dev Ronaldo's here. I don't know if Kai's helping us with this, but Kai Grady, shout out and thanks you, Rob Mahoney.

[Rob Mahoney]

Thank you, Joe.

[Joe]

We'll see you soon. Bye.

[Rob Mahoney]

Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile with a message for everyone paying big wireless way too much. Please, for the love of everything good in this world, stop with Mint. You can get premium wireless for just $15 a month. Of course, if you enjoy overpaying. No judgments. But that's weird. Okay, one judgment anyway. Give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront payment

[Joe]

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[Rob Mahoney]

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