Does the Dog Die in ‘Beef’ Season 2?

The “Beef” Season 2 cast features heavy hitters like Carey Mulligan, Oscar Isaac, Charles Melton, Youn Yuh-jung, Song Kang-ho and Cailee Spaeny, the latter of whom’s performance feels less like a revelation and more like a confirmation of her seemingly limitless screen potential. And yet, nearly all of the season’s human stars are overshadowed at points by Burberry, the sweater-clad Dachshund dog that Mulligan and Isaac’s oft-feuding spouses both equally dot on and adore.

“Beef” is a show that is not afraid to go to dark places. It proved that repeatedly in its first season and even does so again in the first 10 minutes of its Season 2 premiere when a fight between Mulligan’s Lindsay and Isaac’s Josh spirals into a destructive, acid-soaked, all-out brawl that makes the famous argument scene in “Marriage Story” look tame by comparison. So it would be fair for well-versed “Beef” viewers to see Burberry so prominently featured in the show’s second season and start to feel a little… uneasy about the poor pup’s future.

Below, all you animal-loving viewers can find out what you need to know about Burberry’s story in “Beef” Season 2. Be forewarned, though, there are major spoilers ahead.

Does the dog die in “Beef” Season 2?

Yup! “Beef” Season 2 actually goes there.

At the end of the season’s fourth episode, Spaeny’s Ashley, grieving the loss of one of her ovaries and potentially her ability to ever have kids, gets a smug text from Isaac’s unknowing, oblivious Josh that reminds her that he could have helped her and prevented her loss. Enraged, she drives secretly to Josh and Lindsay’s house and sneaks in when they are not there. She scratches up one of Josh’s trophies, takes photos of some of his fraudulent club invoices and even spikes his orange juice with some of her period blood.

She runs out when she hears Josh pull into his driveway, but does not make sure that the house’s swinging screen door shuts behind her. The episode ends with Burberry running out of it, and “Beef” Season 2, Episode 5 follows Josh and Lindsay as they desperately search for him. Their panic sparks another argument, this time about who is to blame for leaving the door open, and Lindsay spends the rest of the episode searching desperately for her dog — partly with Ashley’s help — while Josh spirals out and ends up at a concert in Colorado with high-spending club member Troy (William Fichtner).

Despite everyone telling her she should give up searching, Mulligan’s Lindsay searches the hills for Burberry and — somewhat miraculously — hears his wounded yips in the distance. She rips Burberry from a coyote’s jaw and then, in a feat of supreme motherly love, actually kills the coyote. She takes Burberry to the vet and Josh arrives only for the doctor to tell them that the dog could not be saved. His death is what makes both Josh and Lindsay tearfully realize that their marriage is not working and they should get divorced.

In the same episode, the two are guilt-tripped at an animal shelter into adopting a Dachshund that looks just like Burberry. In the season’s sixth episode, as Josh and Lindsay are discussing their divorce terms, it is revealed that he will be keeping the dog, which he has named “Burberry,” much to Lindsay’s annoyance. That dog, thankfully, ends up living, as Josh drops it off offscreen with his sister before flying to South Korea in the “Beef” Season 2 finale. It is also Lindsay’s discovery that it was Ashley who left the screen door open that makes both her and Josh consider, if only temporarily, staying together.

So… yeah. It is a lot. Burberry the Dog does not make it out of “Beef” Season 2 alive. But his death does serve a major dramatic purpose in the season and continues the Netflix series’ ongoing exploration of the collateral damage caused by our own acts of selfishness, grief and rage. Not that any of that makes Burberry’s fate any easier to deal with, especially for all you dog lovers out there.

“Beef” Seasons 1-2 are streaming now on Netflix.

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