Netflix Beef season 1 recap guide: All episodes explained

One of Netflix’s most ambitious series of the year so far is Beef, starring the wonderful Steven Yeun and Ali Wong. The 10-episode dramedy comes from A24, following a feud between two Los Angeles residents after a road rage incident spirals into something neither of them could have ever imagined. It was reported that Netflix acquired the rights in 2021 after a bidding war between streamers, and we’re sure Beef will be a hit with fans of offbeat comedies.

Living in two vastly different worlds, main characters Danny Cho (Yeun) and Amy Lau (Wong) struggle with where they’re at in their lives, feeling unsatisfied with their careers and personal relationships. Danny is a contractor desperate to find work, while Amy is a successful businesswoman with a husband and a young child. But despite how different their lives might look on the outside, they both strive for meaning.

All 10 episodes of Beef are now streaming on Netflix and we’re breaking down all the biggest moments in each episode!

Beef episode 1 recap: The Birds Don’t Sing, They Screech in Pain

Trigger Warning: Suicide

The first episode of Beef does a great job setting up the backgrounds and storylines for our two main characters, Amy and Danny. We first get to meet Danny, who’s in line at a store called Forsters waiting to return sets of hibachi grills. It becomes apparent he’s been in this situation before, having bought and returned the items multiple times in the past. But this time, he can’t find the receipt, so he has to leave. Frustrated, he gets into his car and starts backing up, almost hitting another driver. Instead of leaving it alone, he proceeds to follow the car after the driver honks and flips him off, and a road rage incident ensues. Eventually, the other driver gets away, but not before Danny takes down their license plate number.

The other driver turns out to be Amy, a business owner trying to sell her store Kōyōhaus. She gets home and confides in her husband George about the road rage incident, who suggests she gets back into gratitude journaling. Clearly, the two are on different pages, but Amy tries to entertain George’s suggestions. The couple has a young daughter named Junie and they live in a luxurious, expensive home.

Meanwhile, Danny gets home and also vents about the road rage incident, explaining what happened to his brother/roommate Paul. Paul’s younger than Danny and the two don’t always see eye to eye; as we learn in this scene, Paul makes money off of crypto and Danny doesn’t approve. We also get to know a little bit about their parents who live in Korea. Danny FaceTimes with them and his mom tells him he should find a nice Korean girl to start a family with. That’s easier said than done.

Danny’s contractor business isn’t doing well, and he meets up with his cousin Isaac to ask for money. Isaac is three months out of jail, and we learn that he was involved in Danny’s parents’ failed hotel. They got into something illegal, and Danny’s parents are stuck in Korea now because of it. Though he’s hesitant, Isaac offers Danny $20,000 because he feels bad about what he did.

While Amy’s business is thriving, she has other issues in her personal life she struggles to deal with. For instance, her mother-in-law Fumi doesn’t seem to like her. She gives her backhanded compliments and their relationship seems very strained, while Fumi and George are as close as ever. That’s no doubt difficult for Amy to navigate. Determined to sell her business, Amy and George go to a woman named Jordan’s home for a dinner party. As it turns out, Jordan is the CEO of Forster’s, the same chain store Danny visited at the start of the episode and to who Amy wants to sell her business.

We learn that George’s late dad was a famous artist, which Amy’s peers think is super impressive. Jordan tells Amy there’s an offer being drawn up to buy the store, but that the whole thing could take a while. Though Jordan seems interested in buying, she also doesn’t totally seem trustworthy.

Later that night, Amy scrolls through social media and notices someone uploaded a video of the road rage incident. Though you can’t see her face to identify her, she’s understandably shaken up. During the night, Junie has a nightmare and Amy comforts her, also opening up about how unhappy she is. She’s tired of being so stressed at work and of pretending. Though Junie might not understand what her mom’s saying, this really gives us a good glimpse of how much Amy is struggling.

Danny finds a property he wants to buy to start a new construction company, and obsessively calls and leaves voicemails for the realtor while eating Burger King burgers on the side of the road. Though their circumstances are very different, Danny’s also going through a grim period like Amy is.

We learn a little bit more about just how tough of a time Danny is going through when he returns home and turns on all of his hibachi grills on his floor. He keeps buying the grills because he wants to kill himself, but when his carbon monoxide alarm goes off, he decides against it. He ends up finding the receipt.

Danny then decides to look up Amy’s license plate to figure out her identity, and once she finds her address, he impulsively drives over. Meanwhile, Amy tries to open her and George’s safe but it doesn’t work, and when she asks George about it, he tells her he changed the combination. Though we don’t understand now, he tells Amy she should know why he didn’t tell her.

Amy tries to crack the safe and ends up opening it using George’s mom’s birthday, and she proceeds to play with a gun that’s inside. But before more can happen, the doorbell rings and Danny’s at her door. He tells Amy he’s a contractor working down the street, and that he noticed her roof might be an electrical hazard. Believing George might’ve been the one he got into the road rage incident with, he checks out her garage and asks if Amy’s husband is home. She shocks him when she reveals he’s not, and that she’s the one who drives the white SUV.

Before Danny leaves, he asks to use the bathroom, and then weirdly runs out the front door as Amy asks to exchange numbers. Amy heads to the bathroom and sees liquid on the floor, discovering Danny peed all over the bathroom floor. And it’s a lot of pee.

Enraged, Amy runs after Danny down the street, but he’s able to get into his car and drive away as Amy memorizes his license plate.

Written by Natalie Zamora

Beef episode 2 recap: The Rapture of Being Alive

Amy is understandably shaken up from what just happened with Danny, and she angrily looks up his license plate and finds him online. She calls him and yells at him, and he hangs up on her. George gets home and is confused about what happened. When Danny goes home, he tells Paul about Amy and then realizes she’s giving his contractor business negative Yelp reviews.

As George cleans up the bathroom floor, Amy informs him if they pay $80 they can obtain Danny’s address. George seems alarmed by this, but she convinces him they should go over there and say something. They show up at Danny’s address and are surprised at how rundown it looks. A man approaches them and tells them about the place, and we learn this is the hotel Danny’s parents used to own. He says someone was selling things illegally from the hotel, which is why it was shut down.

Meanwhile, Danny tells Isaac what’s going on, explaining that because of Amy’s Yelp reviews, she’s ruining his business. Isaac suggests Danny should start a new business, offering to let him use his name to apply for one. Instead, however, Danny asks Paul to start a new contracting business together, and when Paul seems excited about it, Danny says he’ll put it in Paul’s name. Paul says they should look into business in Orange County, which is where Danny’s ex-girlfriend Veronica lives.

Amy starts hanging out with a new friend named Naomi, who’s Jordan’s sister-in-law. Naomi is also a mom to a young child and they live nearby one another. Later on when Amy and George are getting ready for an art gallery event, Amy gets a threatening voicemail from Danny. She then finds his contractor business on Instagram and decides to catfish him out of spite. She creates a fake Instagram account as a woman named Kayla using her employee Mia’s photos, but when she gets a message back from Danny’s account, it’s Paul. He sends her a shirtless picture of himself.

Danny and Paul head out to Veronica’s to pitch their new business, and we see that Veronica is married to a man named Edwin and they’re expecting a child. Danny later gets frustrated when they’re on a job and he’s doing all the work. Paul shows Danny the person he’s talking to on Instagram, and Danny tells him it must be a bot.

Jordan shows up at the art gallery and tries to buy a chair made by George’s father, but George turns her down. This clearly annoys Jordan and she leaves, which frustrates Amy. They get into a fight at the gallery, with Amy telling George that he doesn’t understand how much she does for their family. She also calls him out for liking Mia’s photos on Instagram and he responds with a dumb excuse. George asks her why she keeps taking the gun out of the safe, and Amy tells him that she uses it to masturbate because he’s so vanilla in bed.

Amy feels like she makes so many sacrifices for their family and George couldn’t even give up a chair.

Danny and Paul hit up the club and Paul ends up inviting Amy, who he thinks is “Kayla,” out. When Amy leaves the gallery alone, she calls Danny and leaves him a voicemail, telling him that “actions have consequences.” Danny sees Amy in the crowd at the club, but before she can confront him, he leaves with Paul and two women. Things escalate, however, when they get to his car and see someone spraypainted things like “I can’t drive,” “I’m poor,” and “I’m a b***h” on his truck. Of course, it was Amy.

Danny and Paul get into a fight while Amy gets home and talks to George. He tells her they need marriage counseling, to which she agrees. The episode ends as Danny drives over to Amy’s house, but we don’t see what he does next.

Written by Natalie Zamora

Beef episode 3 recap: I Am Inhabited by a Cry

The third episode starts out with Amy and George in marriage counseling, where Amy explains she must just be stressed with the deal, while George says the things she said to him at the art gallery must be coming from somewhere. Amy goes along with it, but it doesn’t seem like she’s actually taking the counseling seriously.

We learn why Danny was driving to Amy’s house at the end of episode 2, and he ends up almost setting Amy and George’s car on fire until he sees Junie in the backseat and runs away. Danny confides in Paul and learns he’s still crushing on “Kayla,” who, of course, is Amy.

Danny decides to go to Veronica’s church and has a surprisingly emotional experience, breaking down in tears while singing in the service. Though Veronica and Edwin urge Danny to come back soon, he tells them he lives pretty far away. Edwin tells Danny they’d use a handyman at the church to work on some things.

While at Jordan’s home trying to sort out the deal, Amy gets frustrated and calls George to update him on the situation. But while they’re on the phone, George accidentally texts Amy a screenshot from Mia’s Instagram and then lies about why he has it in his camera roll. So cringe-worthy.

Amy then decides to continue messaging Paul as Kayla, and when she tells him she can’t FaceTime him, he asks her to talk on the phone. The two have a short conversation, but an impactful one as they bond, which leads Amy to hang up when she realizes what she’s doing is wrong.

Back at home, Amy and George try the intimacy practices suggested by their counselor, and Amy tries to open up about the struggles she’s facing. But she tells George that if she came clean with everything, he wouldn’t understand. She doesn’t think they’re on the same page, and the tension between them only grows when George says he sometimes imagines what life would be like if they had never met. Though he says it innocently enough, it, understandably, hurts Amy.

Jordan comes over to Amy’s to discuss the term sheet of the sale, but Amy is surprised to hear the board wants her to stay on as the face of the brand still. Jordan invites Amy to Las Vegas for a conference so she can discuss it with the board.

Danny decides to trick Veronica and Edwin’s church, planning to ask them for money to make renovations but actually pocket it to pay for the down payment on the property he wants. He gives them an estimate and says he’ll do the work pro bono, making himself look even better to the church.

Over at the store, Amy talks to Mia about the deal and how she doesn’t want to stay on. Paul suddenly shows up and asks if someone named Kayla works there, forcing Amy to confess. She tells Paul she was actually catfishing him, but Paul is still attracted to her and they kiss.

In the third episode’s final moments, we see Danny playing guitar at the church, soaking in the sense of belonging he now has there and his upcoming betrayal.

Written by Natalie Zamora

Beef episode 4 recap: Just Not All At the Same Time

After officially meeting, Paul wants to spend more time with Amy but she shoots him down, telling him she’s married and has to go to Las Vegas on a business trip. As Amy drops Paul off at his place, she sees Danny off in the distance and kisses Paul in the car so they don’t notice each other.

As Danny’s church scheme progresses, he works with Isaac on how it’s all going to go down. Isaac helps him steal a bunch of tools and wood necessary for the renovations, and then he’ll be able to keep the money the church gives him. Paul gets it in his head that he wants to go to Vegas to see Amy, and Danny proposes that the two of them and Isaac all go together on a boys’ trip. Paul and Isaac end up getting into a fight, however, and Danny tells Paul to help him with the church gig so he can pay his own way to Vegas.

Although the plan was for George and Junie to go to Vegas with Amy, Junie ends up having a fit when they’re trying to leave their house and they decide Amy will just go without them. When she arrives, she has a spa day with Jordan and they grow closer.

Danny ends up passing out after drinking and when he wakes up, he discovers Paul took the truck to drive to Vegas. He wakes up Isaac and they start freaking out because all of the tools they stole for the church renovations are still in the car. They decide they have to drive to Vegas to get it all back, but when they get there, Paul still isn’t answering his phone.

As she explains on the phone to George, Amy got to meet the board and is even scheduled to speak on a panel the next day, but she hasn’t talked to them about the deal just yet. Paul texts Amy that he’s there in Vegas, and she invites him to her room. Though they don’t get physically intimate, they spend the night together dancing, snacking, and opening up about their lives. Amy lets Paul sleep on her hotel couch and they hug goodnight.

The next morning, Danny and Isaac are at the hotel buffet after figuring out where Paul was staying, and they end up finding him. They chase after Paul as he runs back to Amy’s room, climbing flight after flight of stairs until they finally get to the floor. Meanwhile, Amy arrives at a hair appointment but realizes she left her phone in her room and heads up just as Danny, Isaac, and Paul are also on their way. But fortunately, Amy gets to her room and back faster than the guys, and she avoids seeing them.

Danny and Isaac are able to get the truck keys back from Paul and they start to head out, but when they pass by the panel Amy’s on, Danny can’t just walk by. She’s got a brand new look with blonde hair and looks super successful up on the stage, and Danny can’t let her get away with it, despite Isaac telling him to let it go. He walks into the room and during the Q&A section of the panel, he starts yelling at Amy and brings up the road rage incident.

Amy is able to play it off by calling security and telling everyone that Danny must be a drunk tourist, but Naomi looks suspicious. She pulls up the road rage video on her phone while wondering about what Danny said.

Danny and Isaac get kicked out, and Isaac ends up punching one of the security guards. A chase scene then ensues, which ends in Danny and Isaac being handcuffed. The whole situation must empower Amy because she tells Jordan she wants to stay on as the face of her brand.

Written by Natalie Zamora

Beef episode 5 recap: Such Inward Secret Creatures

After the events of the Las Vegas trip, Danny’s out for more revenge. He decides he’s going to befriend George, going bike-riding at the same time and on the same route as him. Danny strikes up a conversation and introduces himself as Zane.

Meanwhile, Isaac is on house arrest and is angry with Danny for making a scene and getting them in trouble. His friends Michael and Bobby are over, and when Danny comes to make amends with Isaac, he explains that Amy’s husband comes from money and they can steal art from him. But Isaac isn’t into the idea and tells Danny to go finish his work at the church.

George and “Zane,” a.k.a. Danny, become closer and George invites him over to his house. Junie recognizes Danny, but because she’s just a child, it doesn’t really raise any red flags for George. Danny tells George he believes there’s a leak in his plumbing, and tells him he’ll help find a plumber. He texts Michael and Bobby, who plan to rob the place. But when Danny bonds with George, he decides he doesn’t want to steal from him after all. George tells him he’s happy they met and that he feels lonely, which makes Danny feel bad.

But despite Danny telling Michael and Bobby that the job’s off, they still show up at the place and ring the doorbell after Danny leaves. They tell George that they’re plumbers and think he might have a leak, but George is skeptical. He sends them on their way.

George calls someone telling them about the supposed plumbers showing up, and at first, it seems like he’s talking to Amy. He tells the person he loves them, but it turns out to be Mia! Uh oh.

George’s mom Fumi shows up at Amy’s store looking for her, and when she walks into the bathroom she finds Amy taking photos of herself in her underwear. The two were supposed to grab lunch, but Amy forgot. Mortified, Amy tries to fix the situation, and they decide to take a rain check.

Fumi then goes to lunch alone and it becomes apparent very quickly that she’s extremely lonely. She watches as other people eat together and decides to call up some friends, but no one answers her. Finally, she gets a phone call and is excited, but it turns out to be bad news. Her accountant reminds her that she’s running out of money, and advises her to ask Amy for a loan. She knows she needs to sell her late husband’s art, but George won’t allow it.

Amy sends a photo of herself in underwear to Paul and invites him over. They end up having sex, but their relationship comes crashing down when Paul asks her if she could loan him money. He wants to get his own place, but she tells him that money doesn’t come easy. He has to work hard for it. This leads to an argument and Paul calls her a “b***h.” Amy kicks him out.

Naomi is still suspicious about the road rage incident and after she calls Amy for a favor and gets blown off, she decides to start investigating. She finds the original poster of the video and invites him over to ask him some questions. She tells him she has a neighbor with a white SUV like the one in the video, and she has a hunch it could be her.

Later on, Fumi sneaks into Amy and George’s house to take a look at all the art and calls her accountant to tell him she’s ready to sell one of the pieces. But things escalate while she’s there because Michael and Bobby break in soon after to rob the place. Fumi confronts the burglars with a gun, but she ends up taking a pretty bad fall down the stairs. It doesn’t look good for her as the fifth episode comes to an end.

Written by Natalie Zamora

Beef episode 6 recap: We Draw a Magic Circle

Fumi is in the hospital at the start of Beef episode 6 after falling down the steps during the botched robbery attempt. George promises his mother she can stay with them until she gets better. Amy doesn’t look pleased, and she’s suspicious of why Fumi was at their house in the first place.

Once they return to the house, Fumi makes a pointed comment regarding George and Amy’s relationship, implying they will split up soon. A spooked George breaks things off with Mia to be safe.

Meanwhile, Naomi hasn’t forgotten her suspicions regarding Amy and the road rage incident. In light of the recent robbery, she forms a “neighborhood watch” committee and invites herself over to speak with Fumi about the attempted robbery. Amy gives Fumi one of her painkillers to knock her out and ensure she doesn’t say anything that would provide Naomi more reason to be suspicious.

But Amy gets a shock when Naomi pulls out a bunch of receipts and reveals her theory is that Amy is having an affair with Danny. The idea that Amy would sleep with Danny is so ludicrous to her that she bursts out laughing, which only pisses Naomi off more. She says she will tell Jordan everything, and she might reconsider their entire deal if she knows what kind of person Amy is.

With Naomi breathing down her neck, Amy calls Danny to meet up and make a truce. She agrees to pay him $25,000 if he’ll call the neighborhood watch tipline and take the fall for the whole road rage incident since the guy whose lawn they ruined wants to press charges. Danny agrees.

We later learn Fumi wasn’t asleep during that confrontation. She overheard everything and called Naomi to take the blame for the road rage fiasco, claiming Amy was trying to be a good daughter-in-law and cover for her. Naomi believes her and calls Amy to apologize. She still thinks one of the Chosen Brothers was involved in the robbery because Isaac’s goons stupidly wore Chosen Bros. shirts and got caught on the Ring cam. Naomi also reveals that George opted to sell the Tamago chair to Jordan.

George and Fumi’s actions make the deal Amy made with Danny unnecessary, so she calls him to tell him that the deal is off. Ironically, Danny is just about to masturbate to the sexy photo Amy sent to Paul (although Danny still thinks it’s “Kayla” since you can’t see Amy’s face in the picture). He’s pissed that Amy is backing out since he clearly needs the $25k. But Danny comes up with another plan and contacts the tipline anyway.

Pivoting to Danny’s storyline in this episode, Isaac has started spending a lot more time at the church because he gets a “religious exemption” for his house arrest. He insinuates himself into Edwin’s circle and their charity basketball league. Danny starts getting irritated by Isaac’s overbearing and controlling presence at the church.

At home, Danny and Paul finally make up in the way only brothers can, with a nonsensical (hilarious) and impromptu game of basketball with household items and increasingly zany plays in and around the apartment. Once they’ve cleared the air, Danny mediates a meet-up between his brother and Isaac so Paul can start working again. Since Isaac’s name is on the company, Paul needs to play nice with their cousin.

Isaac clues Danny in on his latest scheme the next day at church. He’s keeping all his illegal gains inside rice cookers at the church, specifically, the ones that play Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone” and not the “Ode to Joy” ones. With the money, Issac says his lawyer has a plan to keep him out of jail.

Unfortunately for Isaac, showing Danny all that money leads to his downfall. With Amy’s deal off, Danny instead uses the tipline to blame the whole road rage thing on Isaac, who gets thrown in jail for real. But of course, when Danny visits him, he feigns innocence and blames Amy.

Written by Maddy Lennon

Beef episode 7 recap: I Am a Cage

Beef episode 7 picks up eight months after the events of the previous episode. During that time, Danny has more or less taken over Edwin’s position at the church and is the new frontman of the church’s band. (And yes, I do believe that is really Steven Yeun singing!). Danny has also started dating Esther (Andie Ju).

Amy is seemingly living the life in a beautiful vacation home purchased with the money she acquired from finally closing her deal with Jordan. George relenting and selling the Tamago really helped get it done. But despite having a gorgeous house, being able to work whatever hours she chooses, and her family appearing happy together, Amy still doesn’t seem all that happy.

Amy isn’t the only one with nice new digs. Danny has finally finished building the house on his parent’s land and is planning to move his parents back from Korea. Even Paul has a new apartment all his own.

But while Danny seems to be flying high, Edwin has more or less crashed and burned in the eight months since we last saw him. He shows up at Danny’s apartment begging for a job doing whatever it is Danny’s doing, implying Danny didn’t get his new house and Paul’s apartment legally.

Danny acts offended while simultaneously offering Edwin one of the Kelly Clarkson rice cookers, which we know are stuffed with Isaac’s ill-gotten gains. It’s a bold move, but it’s not like Edwin has the proof to call his bluff. Apparently, things aren’t going well for Edwin and Veronica these days since they’ve had the baby and are strapped for cash.

Even George and Amy still have some obstacles to climb at home as George finally reveals he’s been having an emotional affair with Mia, but he claims they never slept together or got physical even though he did tell Mia he loved her. Amy suggests they meet with their therapist, Dr. Lin, but she wants to go alone.

Throughout the past few months, Danny and George have gotten closer. Of course, George knows Danny as “Zane,” in this case, and Amy apparently tolerates their friendship. George even invites “Zane” to their house to showcase his newest artwork.

In an interesting twist, Naomi and Jordan are now engaged. Naomi goes from being Jordan’s sister-in-law to her fiancée. They both attend the party at Amy and George’s home.

Danny and Amy have a brief confrontation at the party since Amy doesn’t want Danny in their house. He happens to notice Amy’s tattoo while she’s bent over and recognizes it from the photo he thought was “Kayla” from Paul’s phone. Realizing that “Kayla” is Amy, Danny storms out of the house, and Amy follows him. Amy accuses Danny of being an awful person, stunting Paul’s growth, and being responsible for Isaac’s imprisonment. She knows he called the tipline anonymously to turn in his own cousin.

After Danny leaves, Amy tells George she wants them to move and start over fresh, someplace new.

At home, Paul has started going through their company’s invoices and notices they have more money than makes sense. The numbers aren’t adding up, which makes sense since Danny is basically using the construction company as a money-laundering front with Isaac’s cash. To distract his brother from digging deeper, Danny tells him the truth about Kayla/Amy, claiming Amy was using him this whole time just to get to Danny.

A pissed-off Paul goes to George and Amy’s house to tell George that he f**ked his wife and has all the texts and photos to prove it. Amy isn’t home when it happens, but she witnesses the entire exchange via the Ring cam. She rushes home to George, but by the time she gets there, he’s already gone, and he’s taken Junie with him.

But that’s not the only big gut punch at the end of Beef episode 7. Danny finally picks his parents up from the airport and prepares to take them to their new home, but when they pull up, they discover that someone has set the house on fire and the entire place is swarming with firemen.

Written by Maddy Lennon

Beef episode 8 recap: The Drama of Original Choice

Beef episode 8 is a little bit of a quieter episode that takes a second to pause and show us how Danny and Amy became such damaged, angry people before things really get crazy in the final episodes of the season.

The eighth episode starts with a version of Amy having anonymous sex with men she meets in online chatrooms. It’s a little unclear whether this is happening in the past or present. Then she sees a creepy, witch-like character reflected in the mirror. We learn that the person she’s seeing is a character from a storybook Amy read as a child.

Growing up, her parents often left her to her own devices as they were constantly arguing, her father was cheating on her mother, and no one ever talked about anything. She would hear her parents arguing behind closed doors, and they were never shy about the fact that they had never wanted kids and Amy was more or less a mistake.

At one point, Amy read a storybook with the creepy witchy character in it, and she started seeing that woman as a manifestation of her conscience. This “character” sees Amy during all her darkest moments and promises to never tell Amy’s secrets because if she did, no one would ever love her. Since Amy has grappled with being loved “unconditionally” throughout the season, we can see that it stems from her parents. Even as an adult, when she returns to visit them for the first time in years, nothing has changed.

After Paul’s confession, Amy finally comes clean with George about everything: Danny, the road rage thing, her affair, etc. It’s too much for him, and he asks for a divorce. Amy accepts that but just pleads with him not to take Junie from her.

On the flip side, everything in Danny’s life is also falling apart. Like Amy, he had a complicated childhood, though his trauma was more from being bullied and ostracized as a kid. He also always wanted Paul to stay on his level and never outperform him, which is why he threw all of Paul’s college applications in the trash to keep him close. He never told Paul.

Danny really wants the house thing to be arson because then he can cash in on the insurance money. He sees Edwin drive away from the house and follows him home one night, confronting him in his garage. A panicked Edwin confesses to pulling little pranks on Danny because he’s jealous of him. Apparently, his wife, Veronica, never got over Danny (they grew up together and had a thing as teens), so Edwin’s become resentful and bitter. But not to the point of starting a fire.

In fact, the fire investigator discovers that the reason the house burnt down is due to faulty wiring. He says whoever installed the electrical system was an idiot, and we know that Danny built the house, so it’s actually his fault.

But instead of accepting that, Danny tries to pin the whole thing on Amy. He tells Paul they found a woman’s glove and a gas canister at the scene, and then Danny plants the evidence to frame her, including going to George and Amy’s house to plant a matching glove in her bathroom cabinet. But now that George knows who Danny is, he doesn’t want to let him in the house.

Ultimately, George relents and lets Danny use the bathroom, but when Danny opens the door, George has pulled their family gun on him. They get into a fight that ends with Danny knocking George unconscious and driving away in his car, only to discover that Junie is in the backseat and he’s just accidentally kidnapped her.

Written by Maddy Lennon

Beef episode 9 recap: The Great Fabricator

The penultimate episode of Beef season 1 is incredible and totally bonkers. It begins with Isaac getting out of jail. After confessing everything to George, Amy decides to come clean on all other fronts, including telling the police that Danny was the one behind the road rage incident. Isaac has spent his time in jail planning how to kill his cousin since he’s figured out by now that Danny played him.

Meanwhile, Danny and Paul are freaking out because Danny accidentally kidnapped Junie. They’re totally blindsided by Isaac showing up with his goons, Michael and Bobby, who take over and decide to use Junie as a way to get Isaac’s money back. Isaac calls Amy, who is currently at Jordan and Naomi’s house telling them the truth, and demands she pay him $500,000 or he’ll kill Junie.

Amy can’t get her hands on that kind of cash in the timeframe he wants it, so instead, she tells Isaac to come to Jordan’s and rob her since she has millions of dollars worth of artwork and artifacts there. She promises to ensure the cops don’t come and nothing happens. Amy asks Isaac to leave Junie in her car seat in her car before they come inside.

Then Amy calls George and tells him to come to the house and pick up Junie from her car and not to ask any questions. She knows he has no reason to trust her, but she’s taking a leap of faith anyway.

Of course, George doesn’t entirely listen to Amy, and he does call the cops, which causes the entire robbery plan to go awry and fast.

Isaac and Michael bust into Jordan’s house, tying up her, Naomi, and Amy so they can ransack the place. In the meantime, Danny and Paul knock Bobby unconscious so they can safely put Junie into Amy’s car. Then they try to escape in Jordan’s Hummer, but before they can leave, Michael sneaks up on them and pulls a gun, dragging them both into the house.

Isaac gets distracted by Michael, Paul, and Danny outside the door, leaving Naomi and Jordan an opportunity to flee. Jordan tells  Naomi to run to her panic room, and they sprint toward it. But Naomi gets inside first, and she doesn’t wait for Jordan to get there. Just before Jordan gets all the way in, Naomi slams the button to close it, and Jordan is smashed in between the doorframe, halfway through. The door repeatedly closes on her torso, essentially cutting her in half as Naomi looks on in horror.

Back in the main room, the panic room triggers an alarm system that causes fog to fill the space. By the time the cops arrive, all hell has broken loose, with guns firing and Michael getting shot in the head. Amy is left inside with Isaac and tries convincing him to let her go so he’ll get less jail time. It doesn’t matter, though, because SWAT arrives and escorts Isaac out in handcuffs.

Outside the house, Paul and Danny try to escape by climbing over Jordan’s crazy high walls. Danny helps Paul get over the wall, but Danny can’t reach it on his own. He encourages Paul to leave without him, finally telling him the truth about burning down the house because of the bad wiring and even throwing out his college applications all those years ago. Paul leaves his brother behind, and just as he drops down on the other side, Danny hears gunshots go off.

Once everything is over, Amy rushes outside to find Junie, only to learn from an officer that Junie is safe. George already came and got her. When Amy gets back to her car, she sees an email noting that George has been granted an emergency custody order. Devastated, Amy drives off and sees Danny pull up beside her. He takes off down the road, and Amy chases after him, calling the cops to report one of the robbery suspects. They both drive as fast as possible down the dark street until they reach the end and go plummeting off the side of a cliff.

Written by Maddy Lennon

Beef episode 10 recap: Figures of Light

Everything slows down dramatically in the Beef season 1 finale, but, like, in the best way. The episode picks up after Danny and Amy crash land off the side of a cliff. Somehow, they both survive, but now they’re at each other’s throats. There’s a gun with them that Amy took from the house, and she pulls it on Danny, threatening to kill him.

He takes off running, but he’s wounded, so he leaves a blood trail behind. Danny is smart enough to notice that so he uses it to throw Amy off track, and then he surprises her and pushes her down the hill where she breaks her ankle. They both wander around in the canyon, lost for a while, until they stumble upon each other again. Danny helps carry Amy around since she can’t walk anymore, but then they get into another fight when they find the gun again.

This time, Amy breaks Danny’s arm in the fight. She gets the gun back and uses it as a constant threat to make him do what she wants, like hunt down elderberries for them to eat. The problem is, the berries Danny finds are actually poisonous, and they both get really sick and begin hallucinating. They spend all night talking and tripping on the poison mixed with starvation and dehydration.

But they manage to survive the night, and the next day, they work together to get out of the canyon. The second they’re back within cell phone range, Danny is relieved to see that Paul has texted him, meaning he didn’t die. They slowly make their way back to town, now leaning on each other and supporting one another, as this entire experience has to be the absolute definition of trauma bonding.

Once they reach a tunnel, George comes charging toward them out of nowhere and assumes Danny is hurting Amy so he shoots him. The episode ends with Danny on a ventilator in the hospital. Amy crawls into his hospital bed beside him. Right at the end, Danny wakes up just enough to wrap his arm around her.

Written by Maddy Lennon