- Netflix's "Beef" ends with an introspective season one finale.
- The ending is conclusive enough, but there's still the possibility of a second season.
"Beef," Netflix's new A24 series, ends on a high note — and a bang.
The series stars Steven Yeun and Ali Wong as Danny and Amy, two dissatisfied people who find themselves wrapped up in an all-consuming, invigorating feud after they engage in a road-rage incident. The series takes a sharp turn in its final two episodes, with a tonal shift — and high-stakes series of events — upping the ante for their two characters.
The series hasn't yet been confirmed for a second season, despite the fact that showrunner Lee Sung Jin told Rolling Stone that he has two more seasons of it mapped out in his head. While "Beef" could end with its 10th episode, it leaves the door open for Danny and Amy's stories to continue.
Here's a rundown of everything that happens in the finale, and what questions still remain.
Warning: Major spoilers ahead for all of season one of "Beef."
Episode 10 starts with a payoff from all the crow references throughout this season of 'Beef'
After the shootout at Jordan's mansion, Amy and Danny end up in yet another car chase reminiscent of their first encounter. This time, however, they both end up tumbling off the road and into a valley, leaving them both injured and stranded.
Above them, two crows remark that "the female and the male are unwell," their caws translated into human-speak via subtitles. The birds share collective knowledge with their brethren about the pair: One remembers Danny feeding it years ago, while the other says that Amy pointed a gun at its uncle. After conferring with other crows in the area, a group of them swarm Amy as she pursues Danny.
Crows come up several times over the course of season one of "Beef": Amy threatens a crow above her terrace in episode two, Danny's cousin Isaac's collaborators talk about crows' ability to remember faces in episode five, and in episode six, Isaac tells the story of Danny nursing a crow back to health as a child.
Danny eventually pushes Amy down a hill, and the pair wander around the wilderness as the sun begins to rise. Eventually, they run into each other again, and after a juvenile screaming match, they decide to work together to make it back to civilization. After breaking each others' limbs while wrestling for control of Amy's gun, she ends up with the weapon and orders Danny to find them food.
Danny and Amy's hallucinations culminate in a stark body-switching sequence
Danny and Amy's berry-induced trip culminates in a moment where their consciousnesses seemingly merge. The show eases viewers into this moment by layering Yeun and Wong's voices over each other as they recount one of Danny's memories in tandem. Eventually, their voices split — but this time, it's as if Danny is inhabiting Amy's body, and Amy is in Danny's.
The physical and mental boundaries between the two blur, with Amy's lower back tattoo appearing on Danny's body as Amy (speaking as Danny) explains its meaning.
While Danny and Amy may not have actually switched minds, the moment crystallizes the bond between the two. Despite their mutual contempt — or perhaps, because of it — they are the only people in each others' lives who have understood the depth of their individual sorrow. This merging of their consciousness during this sequence signifies that level of comprehension.
Danny and Amy eventually escape, but Danny is left critically injured
Having survived the night, Danny and Amy eventually wander into an area with cell-phone reception, receiving a flurry of texts hinting at legal trouble for Amy and revealing that Danny's brother Paul is alive.
Post-hallucinatory episode, Amy and Danny have reconciled, with Amy offering to help Danny with legal defense and money. However, halfway through the tunnel Amy's husband George finds them. Panicked, he shoots Danny, in a quite literal Chekhov's Gun scenario that hearkens back to Amy's masturbatory session with the weapon in episode one.
The season ends with Danny in a hospital bed, non-responsive but still alive. Clips of the pair's memories, such their interaction in the parking lot of Forsters from episode one and their conversation at George's party, briefly play in clips or voice-overs. Eventually, Amy climbs from her chair in the hospital room to lay with Danny in bed, her head laying on his chest. In the final seconds of the episode, his right arm moves slightly, as if to hold her as well.
The ending is fairly definitive, but also leaves things open for a potential continuation of Danny and Amy's story. Lee, the showrunner, told Rolling Stone that he wanted the season to end conclusively "just in case" the show wasn't renewed for another season.
"There are a lot of ideas on my end to keep this story going," he said.