Netflix’s Beef season 2 is ‘a bridge between West and East’, says director Lee Sung-jin

Lee Sung-jin shares how the new season of the hit drama, with Oscar Isaac and Charles Melton, explores a mixed-race character’s Korean roots

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Beef director and screenwriter Lee Sung-Jin at the season two premiere at The Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles, on April 8, 2026. Photo: EPA

Published: 6:15pm, 12 Apr 2026

The award-winning Netflix series Beef, which swept categories at the Emmys, Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards, returns on April 16 with its second season.

Korean-American director and writer Lee Sung-jin said in an online interview that he was excited but found season two “even harder than the first” season to make as he aimed to “take some big swings and risks while retaining what is special about the show”.

Unlike season one’s road rage feud between lonely strangers, season two unfolds at an elite country club where a young couple witnesses a shocking fight between their boss and his wife, and the web of blackmail that follows involving both couples and the club’s owner, Korean billionaire Chairwoman Park (Youn Yuh-jung).

While season one focused on Korean-American stories, season two explores a mixed-race character’s Korean roots.

“It’s a bridge between West and East,” Lee said. “Charles [Melton’s] character is half Korean, caught in an identity tug of war as he’s pulled into the upper echelons of South Korean society – the world of chaebol [conglomerate] families.”

Netflix’s Beef season 2 is ‘a bridge between West and East’, says director Lee Sung-jin

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Lee Sung-jin shares how the new season of the hit drama, with Oscar Isaac and Charles Melton, explores a mixed-race character’s Korean roots

Lee Sung-jin shares how the new season of the hit drama, with Oscar Isaac and Charles Melton, explores a mixed-race character’s Korean roots