Episode two, entitled “The Rapture of Being Alive” of Netflix’s Beef picks right up where we left off from episode one. Amy, played by Ali Wong, angrily storms into her house after watching Danny, played by Steven Yeun, drive away. This scene is reminiscent of the recognizable scene from the film Mean Girls when Regina George bursts into her bedroom to change the burn book. Amy is seen talking to herself, thinking over her conversation with Danny, and mimicking him. It is evident Amy will not take this interaction lightly.
Episode one ended with a parallel of Amy memorizing Danny’s license plate number, just like he did to her. In episode two, this sequence of parallels between Amy and Danny continues when Amy looks up the name of the license plate holder, just like Danny did to her in episode one. After finding Danny’s identity, Amy looks up the name of his business and calls him. Amy tries to scare Danny, but Danny pays her little attention and then hangs up on her. This was a mistake on Danny’s part because it infuriates Amy even more.
Amy decides to start writing fake negative reviews on Yelp about Danny’s business. Later in the episode, Danny claims that Amy’s bad reviews have affected his business, causing him to not have as many clients. However, it seems that Danny hasn’t actually lost any business considering that in episode one, he has only one client and is desperate for business. Despite Danny being hard-working and setting goals for himself, he takes any opportunity to blame other people for why he isn’t as successful as he should be. All of the financial issues Danny has causes him to ask his friend for money. When he asks his friend, he blames Amy for his financial hardship. His friend suggests that Danny legally start a new company only this time in someone else’s name.
Danny takes his friend’s advice and convinces his younger brother Paul played by, Young Manzino to start a company with him and put it in his name. Danny doesn’t tell Paul the real reason why the company needs to be in Paul’s name. Paul suggests that their first clients together be Danny’s ex-girlfriend Veronica played by, Alyssa Gihee Kim, and her husband Edwin, played by Justin H. Min. When Danny and Paul go to Veronica’s house, Danny is visibly uncomfortable and Edwin tries to come across as okay with the fact that his wife’s ex-boyfriend is in their home asking for business; however, this act fades when he declines their services. In this scene, the audience doesn’t need to hear Danny’s thoughts to understand what he is feeling. Danny is uncomfortable because he is watching a more successful man live the life he always thought he would have, with the woman he always thought he would have it with. After a long day, Danny and Paul go out to a club together.
While Danny is dealing with his issues, Amy is attending an art show for her mother-in-law with her husband George played by, Joseph Lee. In retaliation, Danny sends Amy an angry voicemail and she decides to catfish his brother Paul on Instagram. As she waits for Paul to take the bait, she puts on a fake smile and converses with the other guest. Amy’s boss shows up at the event and Geroge embarrasses Amy which leads to an argument between Amy and Geroge. Talking to Paul helps Amy track down the location of Danny, and just when Amy thinks she can’t take it anymore with her husband, she leaves the art show and goes to the club Danny is at, giving him the jump scare of his life.
In this episode, it is again made clear that on the surface, Amy and Danny are complete opposites. However, internally they have so much in common. Looking at their daily lives and their accomplishments they seem very different from each other. Amy is wealthy, married with a child, and has a good job. Danny is in poverty, single, with a struggling business, and has parents he needs to take care of. Even with these differences, they are the same internally when it comes to their emotions, how they view their lives, and how unsatisfied they are with their lives. Both Amy and Danny feel like they are not doing enough for their families but also feel like their families do not appreciate them for the things they do for them. They both are constantly thinking about money and how to be more successful career-wise. All of these similarities keep the audience wondering: if Amy and Danny resolved their issues with each other would they be friends?
Rating: 8/10