Beef sets up the explosive rivalry between Amy and Danny with a moment of road rage similar to what most drivers would have experienced—so is the Netflix series based on a true story? Of course, the consequences of the characters’ near fender bender were pretty extreme compared to what typically takes place on the road, but the rage felt by the duo is something many audiences could relate to. With all the stresses of the world, it’s easy to see even minorly reckless drivers as the worst possible humans on the planet, and this idea serves as the foundation for Beef.
With just one season, Netflix’s Beef made quite an impression. Ali Wong and Steven Yeun came together to demonstrate the impact of unexpressed rage and stress on a person and those around them, exploring complex, impactful themes in a sometimes hilarious and always nerve-racking way. The Netflix series managed a 98 percent “Certified Fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes and took the 2024 Golden Globe Award for Best Limited or Anthology Series or Television Film. In all, it’s clear that showrunner Lee Sung Jin knew just what he was doing with Beef, and all this success ties back to his real-world road rage experience.
Beef Ending Explained
Danny and Amy’s escalating feud reaches its resolution in Beef’s ending. Here is how season 1 ends and the real meaning behind their actions.
Beef Is Based On A Real Road Rage Incident
Lee, who created, wrote, and executive produced Beef (and directed the series’ final episode), explained in an interview with Today that he first got the idea for Amy and Danny’s story after having his own moment of road rage. He stated that this was a typical experience of on-road anger, in which the other driver honked, cursed, and drove off. Lee said that “for some reason,” he decided to follow the driver. “I justified it (as) ‘I’m commuting home and this person happens to be in front of me and if we go in different directions, I wouldn’t follow them.’” Lee said, laughing that he and the driver coincidentally happened to go the same way for 30 to 40 miles.
Lee noted that, from the other driver’s perspective, he must have looked like a “wild lunatic,” so it’s no stretch to imagine how this might have inspired the feud between Beef‘s characters. Though Yeun‘s Danny took his road rage far beyond casually following his adversary for a series of miles, the experiences come down to a similar idea—when confronting an invisible stranger in another vehicle, we are, as Lee puts “very much trapped in our subjective realities.” Lee’s experience made him realize this would be a fun idea to explore.
Much Of Netflix’s Beef Was Still Fictionalized
As relatable as road rage is, Beef takes this to an entirely different level. The series explores what happens when people reach their limit regarding stress in their personal lives and sees this come to a head for both Amy and Danny over a simple close call in a parking lot. It can certainly be assumed that Lee nor anyone he knew personally engaged in a rage-filled rivalry anywhere near what these characters experienced, and the two leads, their families, and everything they went through are entirely fictional. Still, the showrunner’s encounter served as the foundation for the exciting concepts Beef‘s first season explored—sometimes, our anger has really nothing to do with the person in the other car.
