“Right where it starts, it ends,” sings Phoenix over the final scene of BEEF Season 2. The millennial-favorite band’s lyrics couldn’t be more accurate as Episode 8 comes to a close. In the finale’s epilogue, viewers are confronted by a familiar scene: We’re back at Season 2’s central setting of Monte Vista Point country club. Much like the opening few minutes of the season premiere, there’s a fundraiser afoot; loyal club member Troy (William Fichtner) once again grabs his wife, Ava (Mikaela Hoover), a drink; and the club’s general manager, alongside their spouse, delivers another well-received speech. The ants are, quite literally, marching along. 

But Josh (Oscar Isaac) and Lindsay (Carey Mulligan) aren’t the ones on the podium, as they were in Episode 1. BEEF jumps eight years into the future, and former underling employees Ashley (Cailee Spaeny) and Austin (Charles Melton) have seamlessly stepped into their predecessors’ footsteps — complete with simmering tension on the drive home in a luxury vehicle. Ashley is now the general manager, and it’s Austin’s job to smile for club members as he holds their son, Ashton. 

Still, Melton cautions viewers against assuming they know everything about Ashley and Austin’s marriage from a single scene. “It’s all our perception. Someone can be tired, and everyone thinks they hate their life,” he says. “It’s okay for Austin not to 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?” 

Josh and Lindsay are asking themselves similar questions as BEEF Season 2 ends. One half of the former couple tastes freedom for the first time in years, while the other checks up on her ex from the wallpapered comfort of her British country home. Are they happy? What even is happiness amid the rising temperatures of BEEF? And how did one billionaire’s plotting take these characters from the frying pan and drop them directly into the fire? Keep reading as series creator Lee Sung Jin and the rest of the cast answer your burning questions.  

How does BEEF Season 2 end? And what does it mean? 

Initially, Lee planned to close the finale with Chairwoman Park’s (Youn Yuh-jung) mournful speech at the grave of her late husband. Like all the couples of BEEF’s latest installment, the scheming billionaire and her partner were assigned a representative season: winter, a fitting end for anything. But Lee realized that Park’s words may not be the send-off Season 2 needed. 

“Even though the billionaire is regretful, [she’s] not necessarily someone in our current climate that you want to root for and be like, ‘Thanks for that lesson, evil billionaire!’ ” Lee says on BEEF: The Official Podcast. After all, Park orchestrates the death of her stepson Woosh (Matthew Kim), covers up a malpractice death at her husband Dr. Kim’s (Song Kang-ho) Seoul clinic, has said husband killed, and abducts our two central couples, among many other crimes. 

So Lee, director Jake Schreier, production designer Grace Yun, and the rest of the BEEF team put together their “collective brains” to come up with the perfect final shot of Season 2. The image is inspired by the samsara paintings Lee looked at while writing the episodes; samsara is the Buddhist and Hindu belief in a continuous cycle of “eternal love and death and life and suffering,” as Lee explains. The paintings are presided over by the god of death, and “have this circle with these vignettes of life.” 

In BEEF’s version of samsara, we see slices of the cast’s journey: Austin and Ashley lounging on chairs, Josh and Lindsay arguing, Troy and Ava sitting at a table. As the camera spins above these vignettes, you can hear recognizable dialogue from earlier in the season — including Josh and Lindsay’s barbs — as well as the chatter that comes with a life lived fully. A visible illusion, as Phoenix says, indeed. 

What do the ants mean? 

Ants bookend the beginning and end of BEEF Season 2, and appear throughout its episodes. Lee encourages viewers to consider their own theories about the critters.

“Season 1, we had the crows. Season 2, I think there are a lot of context clues about the ants. They’re hive mind bugs,” he says. “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.” 

Why doesn’t Austin give Ashley the red Gatorade? 

In Episode 4, Austin is faced with a conundrum: give a stranger the red Gatorade she demands or save it for his ailing partner, Ashley, who prizes it above all other flavors. In the next shot, Ashley is handed the yellow Gatorade she detests. So, why did Austin hand over the prized bottle, knowing his beloved wanted anything but yellow? 

“Because in that moment he was trying to please somebody else. If Ashley were there, he would’ve pleased Ashley first,” Melton says. “He’s a people pleaser.”

Why did Dr. Kim kill someone at Trochos? 

At the end of Episode 2, Chairwoman Park is deep in a phone call with her husband, Dr. Kim, who runs Trochos, a prestigious skin clinic in Seoul. It’s revealed Dr. Kim didn’t commit the mortal sin of buying a Rolls-Royce, like the chairwoman angrily assumes — he merely killed a patient, who is now lying bloody on his operating table.  

Dr. Kim did not intend to kill the patient. He has a hand tremor that has affected his ability to properly perform surgery. Viewers see Dr. Kim’s hand shake later in Episode 2 as he tries to eat breakfast. In that same scene, Chairwoman Park asks Dr. Kim why he continued to do surgeries after she warned him that his “tremors would get worse.” Dr. Kim explains he kept working because he fears how he would survive if the chairwoman ever left him. 

What is going on with the invoices in BEEF? 

The country club serves as a nesting doll of embezzlement and betrayal. The first instance of fraud comes from Josh, who has been filing “misc.” — not “mist,” Austin — invoices for $4,999 for someone named Marta Diaz. Eventually, it is revealed that Marta is Josh’s late mom, and the money is going to a bank account Josh can access. Josh knows the invoices are unlikely to be noticed, since he, as MVP’S general manager, is the only person who has to approve them. 

Josh plans to use the “skimmed” money to reignite his dreams of owning an Ojai bed-and-breakfast with his wife, Lindsay. Josh thinks he now has the perfect scapegoat in Ashley — “an underqualified, entitled little Gen Z with no attention to detail,” as he calls her — since she’s the only other person who mails the invoices. 

Only Josh doesn’t realize he’s a small fish in a much bigger pond of corruption. … 

What’s on Chairwoman Park’s phone? And what does it have to do with everyone else in BEEF? 

Chairwoman Park — the head of the shadowy, ultra-powerful PK Group — is in dire need of free-flowing, hard-to-trace cash in the wake of Dr. Kim’s accident. Conveniently, Josh has already identified a weakness in MVP’s financials. The chairwoman exploits that loophole after Ashley tells Eunice (Seoyeon Jang) about the “misc. services” invoices. Chairwoman Park quickly realizes Josh is stealing money. Yet, the chairwoman doesn’t fire her general manager. Instead, she orders him to follow her instructions — no questions asked. 

In Josh’s last scene of Episode 3, we see him writing invoices to new, mysterious people — like “Yang Jihoon” and “Jeong Hwayoung” — for $4,999 with the “misc.” note. The suggestion is that Josh is using the same embezzlement scheme as before, only to pay off individuals related to Dr. Kim’s malpractice killing. 

At the start of Episode 7, Eunice winds up with Chairwoman Park’s cellphone. By this point in BEEF, Eunice is suspicious of her boss, particularly after the sudden, unsolved death of Woosh (more on that below). Eunice realizes the phone contains evidence of the death at Trochos and the subsequent bribes paid through the country club. This makes the phone one of the most valuable items in the world for Chairwoman Park. The billionaire is immediately suspicious about the missing phone, since she cannot erase it remotely. 

Chairwoman Park becomes sure that either Eunice, Austin, Lindsay, Ashley, or Mikaela must have the phone. Determined to retrieve the device, the chairwoman has her security team detain everyone upon their arrival in Seoul. 

What’s on the USB, and who has it? 

While the chairwoman is focused on finding her phone, she has no idea another threat is looming. Before Eunice and Austin boarded the plane to Korea, they backed up Chairwoman Park’s phone on a laptop and put that information on a USB. They bring that USB on the trip to give to the authorities. 

Initially, Eunice held onto the USB. But she flees the chairwoman’s clutches, recognizing the danger brewing in Korea. “It was really refreshing to see her be able to do that,” says Jang. Eunice slips the USB to Austin, who immediately swallows it. Once the device is back in Austin’s hand — and out of his bowels — he debates what to do next. But the next morning, before he’s made a decision, he notices that the USB has vanished. The stick’s disappearance just so happens to coincide with Austin’s most difficult conversation with his fiancée, Ashley. During the discussion, Austin tells Ashley he’s no longer in love with her and would rather be with Eunice.

Following a harrowing series of events — including a violent brawl with the chairwoman’s security, which results in Dr. Kim’s death — Austin and Ashley are held within Trochos. There, Ashley gives Austin the USB she stole.  

What does Woosh have to do with Trochos? And why does Woosh die? 

Woosh is the canary in the coal mine of BEEF. Before anyone gets on a plane to Seoul, the bleached blond’s death in Episode 6 is the proof viewers need to understand just how cold Chairwoman Park can be. 

At the start of BEEF, it is clear that Woosh was brought to California to act as a tennis coach and Trochos recruiter under the chairwoman. However, Woosh’s final episode gives us the most insight into his relationship with the chairwoman, who is also his stepmother; Woosh's parents are the chairwoman's late ex-husband and a woman he dated after Park. In the last scene, Woosh tells the chairwoman that Seoul authorities have contacted him about the death at Trochos. While she tries to downplay the legal catastrophe at hand, Woosh says it will be difficult to maintain that story once police learn that bribes are being laundered through the club. 

For one moment, Woosh seems to win this duel with his stepmom. The chairwoman dangles the promise of being vice president of PK Electronics in front of Woosh. The suggestion is that Woosh will gain a powerful position of his own, as requested, in exchange for his cooperation and silence. He agrees. 

But Woosh is too blinded by the pull of the executive suite to listen to everything else the chairwoman says. She admits to regularly wondering what life would be like if she never broke up with Woosh’s father — which would erase Woosh from existence. The chairwoman laughs and smiles at the concept. Seconds later, the chairwoman’s fantasy is made a reality. A car zooms by the Park mansion, killing pedestrian Woosh. 

“I don’t think Woosh would ever have expected it to go as far as it did,” Kim says. “He never thought she would do that to him. This is family, right?” 

Why do Austin and Ashley stay together? 

In Episode 7, Austin decides he wants to leave Ashley and pursue a relationship with Eunice. In Episode 8, Ashley counters by telling Austin she’s pregnant and they’re now expectant parents. Austin starts to warm to Ashley again when she promises their baby will have his “smile” and “kind heart.” 

“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,” Melton says. “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.” 

Still, Austin needs to do some soul-searching. He doesn’t settle on a life with Ashley until he runs at full speed away from it. After getting the USB from Ashley, Austin breaks out of Trochos, hops in a cab to hand it over to the authorities, and calls Eunice. But, on the phone, Eunice refuses to say “I love you” back to him. Her simple “Love you too” doesn’t seem to suffice. 

“I think ‘Love you, bro’ or ‘Love you, homie’ isn’t the same,” Melton says. “It’s easier to say ‘Love you’ as opposed to ‘I love you.’ ” 

Austin’s face falls with the realization, and he asks the cab driver to change his destination. At the end of his journey, he hands the USB over to Chairwoman Park, saving Ashley in the process. 

So, in the eight-year flash-forward, Ashley and Austin are married with a young son named Ashton. They are now the figureheads of the club, ready to plan double dates with Troy and Mikaela and bicker in the car. The cycle continues. 

“Samsara means that’s just the circle of life and the seasons, right?” Melton continues. “Sometimes things are great. Sometimes there’s a season where things are not so great.” 

Why does Josh go to prison in BEEF Season 2? 

For Austin and Ashley to rise, their predecessors must fall. Although Josh’s breakdown takes place throughout Season 2, Episodes 7 and 8 dole out the harshest blows. First, he is abducted by one of the chairwoman’s fixers, who plans to kill Josh and cover up the homicide as a fake death by suicide. The fixer writes a note in which Josh admits to embezzlement allegations — some true and some exaggerated for the chairwoman’s benefit. The scheme falls apart, literally, when the rope breaks and Josh is freed. In self-defense, Josh kills the fixer and hides him in some mulch. 

Once Josh gets to Korea, he tries to save Lindsay, but his noisy antics only get everyone abducted again. In confinement, Josh and Lindsay have their kindest heart-to-heart of the season. Hoping to protect his wife — and recognizing his own part in the criminality of Season 2 — Josh turns himself in and takes full responsibility for whatever misdeed the chairwoman wants.  

In the flash-forward, we learn Josh has spent the past eight years in prison. He was found guilty of embezzlement and money laundering. The chairwoman wrapped up this crime story in a neat bow and added her late husband to the official telling. In the public version of events, Josh committed his crimes to help cover up the death at Trochos for Dr. Kim — who “took his own life.” Still, Josh found solace in prison by acting as the general manager among his fellow inmates, glad-handing and securing them coveted items like nail clippers. 

The last time we glimpse Josh, he’s enjoying his first day as a free man. He tells a news camera that he’s glad everyone he loves is happy — like, say, his ex-wife. ... 

Where is Lindsay at the end of BEEF Season 2? 

Viewers see Josh’s interview through Lindsay’s phone screen. She watches the video while hiding in her heavily patterned bathroom. She has a new (British) husband, a new (British) daughter, and new (British) bangs. Does that mean Lindsay returned home? “Yes, that’s England,” confirms Lee. 

Lindsay and Josh apparently tried to make their relationship work for some time after his arrest. But as Josh’s fellow inmate Gav (Vincent M. Ward) suggests, Lindsay eventually moved on. She stopped calling her incarcerated ex right around the time of her move to the English countryside. Now Lindsay has the marriage and child she always wanted. But is she happy? While that mystery is unsolved, at least Lindsay’s new husband made fresh sausage rolls to warm her heart. 

Savor the BEEF for yourself by (re)watching Season 2 now. And dig even deeper into the series by watching BEEF: The Official Podcast on Netflix, and wherever you listen to your podcasts. 

Watch the BEEF Season 2 Cast Read Deleted Scenes with Creator Lee Sung Jin