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California transforms again into a rage-fuelled realm of bitching lovers and cutthroat opportunists with the return of Beef, Netflix’s darkly funny dissection of social dynamics. While the first season birthed chaos out of a road rage incident, the second outing kicks off from an intense domestic scuffle. What follows upturns not just the fortunes of an uppity country club, but spreads its toxins as far as the minimalist skincare clinics of South Korea.
Carey Mulligan and Oscar Isaac lead the series as the dysfunctional, yuppie couple whose scuffle is witnessed by a young pair on the payroll (Cailee Spaeny and Charles Melton). Like season 1, this new instalment is set in California but trades the San Fernando Valley for smaller cities and greener getaways outside of LA. Here’s where it was filmed.
The Monte Vista Point Country Club is real (kinda)
Much of the action is centred around Monte Vista Point Country Club, a summery retreat in the middle of an ownership deal by a shadowy Korean billionaire. While Monte Vista is fictional, the location was filmed at Montecito Club in Santa Barbara, California and Spanish Hills Club in Camarillo, California. Much of Monte Vista’s outdoor athletic facilities were recreated at Spanish Hills Club's tennis courts and golf courses, while Montecito provided the space for the lawns and clubhouse exteriors.
If you have that White Lotus money, you too can play golf here with a view of the Pacific Ocean. For showrunner Lee Sung Jin, the country club setting was inspired by his own visits to similarly luxurious establishments after the success of season 1. ‘As I started to catch myself getting a little bit comfortable, I started thinking maybe there’s something here,’ he tells Netflix’s turns TUDUM site. While Isaac and Mulligan scramble across the valley in search of their missing dog Burberry, Spaeny and Melton's characters contemplate stealing bottles of water from the club. It's Parasite at a country club.
The Korean scenes were filmed in Seoul
Talking about Parasite, the cast of the new season is stacked with some Korean heavyweights like Bong Joon Ho regular Song Kang-ho and Minari actor Youn Yuh-jung. She stars as Chairwoman Park, a billionaire who invests in the country club for sinister reasons; Song Kang Ho is her doctor husband in Seoul. The show’s thrilling finale was filmed at the sleek Conrad Hotel in Seoul’s Yeongdeungpo District.
Carey Mulligan and Oscar Isaac’s house was filmed in Calabasas, California
While Lindsay (Carey Mulligan) and Josh (Oscar Isaac) deal with the snobbiest of the Cali bourgeoise at Monte Vista, their own chosen home lies in the village-like city of Ojai. IRL, their cosy Ojai home was actually located in Calabasas.
For Lee, the reasoning for Ojai came from the fact that the money-hungry couple ‘probably got priced out of Montecito’ and settled in a 'millennial heaven'. Production designer Grace Yun also incorporating shades of 'English cottage’ design aesthetic to reflect Lindsay's British background.
Charles Melton and Cailee Spaeny's rented apartment was filmed at Newhall, California
Austin (Charles Melton) and Ashley (Cailee Spaeny) are your average Gen Z couple, renting out an apartment with scattered decor and piled-up insurance bills. Says Yun: 'Their approach to nesting is sentimental. It’s driven by memories they can make around certain objects brought from their family homes or that they thrifted together. It may not be luxurious, but it is their own.’
Pixie Grove Retreat
Troubled with the monotony of their country club, Lindsay and Josh plan a new money-making scheme and head out to a hipster-style retreat where they are exposed to an overdramatic acoustic cover of Tame Impala's 'New Person, Same Old Mistakes' (one among the many musical moments of Beef). A 100-acre retreat that leaves the couple more envious than relaxed, the property was created against the stunning backdrop of California's Agoura Hills.
Park Mansion
Chairwoman Park might have invested in Monte Vista but she has much finer tastes, preferring to live out her American stay at a cold, commanding seaside mansion in Malibu, California. Yun notes that the ultramodern residence captures Park's omnipresent power in ‘the architecture, the texture of the walls [and even in] the flow of the space’.
Troys’ Mansion and Ski Resort
The ensemble cast also includes character actor William Fichtner in a suitably sleazy turn as Troy, Josh's ultra-rich friend who believes in living life to the fullest (and booziest). When not playing cards with celebrities like Michael Phelps at the club, he’s at a SoCal mansion which was shot on location at a home on Mulholland Highway.
After a certain shocker in the middle of the series really shatters Josh to the core, Troy attempts to cheer him up by flying him off to Park City, Utah in his private jet. The destination for the party is Troy's ski resort with a special concert by Josh's favourite band Hot Chip. However, the Utah resort was actually filmed at an estate in Thousand Oaks, California.
Ojai Main Street
While Lindsay and Josh's Ojai home wasn't filmed at Calabasas, the show incorporates Ojai's exteriors, complete with the Spanish-style arches of Ojai Avenue.
China Bamboo House restaurant
When Austin strikes an unlikely friendship with Chairwoman Park's interpreter Eunice, a jealous Ashley plans a lunch at a local Asian restaurant called China Bamboo House. While the name is fictitious, the awkward meal was actually filmed at an actual Chinese restaurant named Garden Wok in Tarzana.
Where can I watch Beef season 2?
All episodes of Beef's new season started streaming on Netflix since April 16.
Beef season 2 soundtrack: the full tracklisting for Netflix’s dark comedy series.