The filmmaker noted that he ended up focusing more on character than the spectacle of what would happen. “Like, what is it ultimately heading towards?” he explained. “And it is really ultimately about, on [Steven Yeun’s character] Danny’s side, his relationship with his brother, on [Ali Wong’s character] Amy’s side, her relationship with [her husband] George. So in writing I really tried to hone in on what was the end emotional place I wanted them before we get them together in the finale.”
The show really does make a zero to sixty move in the last two episodes, and it works in part because of the collaborative efforts of Jin and Jake Schreier, who directed the penultimate episode. Their writing and directing efforts sync up really smoothly — as do Jin and Hikari, who also directed on the series — and it’s clear the pair both understand the heart of this story and what it needs to thrive. Schreier directing the majority of episodes in the series is no accident; it’s representative of a creative kinship, one that really blossoms in the show’s third act.
As Jin explained to Newsweek: “It was fun to write, it’s definitely a departure tonally, and it wouldn’t have worked without the excellent direction of Schreier. You write something like that and you’re like ‘Eugh, it’s not going to work.’ And then his direction and the cinematography of our DP really helped ground some of the craziness and made it feel true to this world.”
“Beef” is available to stream on Netflix.
