So you’ve finally finished Beef—hopefully both seasons. The first is a raw, messy, existential collision of two strangers whose road rage spirals into mutual destruction, whereas the second is a raw, messy, existential collision of many strangers whose ambition to break through the capitalist fog spirals into mutual and self-destruction. The similarities between Lee Sung Jin’s two offbeat seasons of *Beef *are staggering, but the seasons feel very different. It makes excellent use of the anthology format while remaining focused on its main point.

After Beef, most people want to see more shows where each season (or episode) is a self-contained explosion of character, consequence, and uncomfortable truth. If you’re ready to dive into some serious television, here are the perfect anthology shows to watch after Netflix’s Beef.

David Fincher and Tim Miller co-produced Love, Death & Robots, an adult animated anthology of short films ranging from 5 to 20 minutes. Each episode is a bite-sized genre explosion spanning sci-fi, horror, comedy, and fantasy,** created by various animation studios from around the world**. While the stories vary, ranging from battling giant spiders to a robot tourist apocalypse, there are some constants, such as stunning animation, mature themes, and a willingness to go anywhere—which makes the show similar to Beef.

Beef is a tight series that never wastes a scene, and Love, Death & Robots is even tighter, as each episode is designed to be a short film. Both shows share concentrated doses of existential dread, dark humor, and unexpected violence, as well as themes such as rage, isolation, and human connection. If you, in particular, enjoyed the surreal dream sequences and abrupt tonal shifts of Beef Season 1, you’ll love the creative abundance of Love, Death & Robots.

Guillermo del Toro’s collaboration with Netflix has been fruitful over the years, and he has created so much brilliantly creative content that is still memorable. His horror anthology series, Cabinet of Curiosities, consists of eight episodes, two of which were directed by del Toro himself and the rest by acclaimed horror directors like Jennifer Kent, Panos Cosmatos, and David Prior, among others. Each episode adapts a short story from del Toro’s personal collection of “curiosities,” as well as a couple of stories by H.P. Lovecraft and other horror writers, adapting tales of cosmic horror, body horror, and psychological dread.

Beef, particularly Season 1, has a streak of surreal horror, and because Cabinet of Curiosities was designed as a horror series, it amps the same sort of horror Beef has into fully fledged supernatural terror. But beyond the terror and surreal sequences, both shows revolve around humans confronting forces beyond their control**, and both have deeply flawed protagonists who make terrible but human decisions. Del Toro’s penchant for practical effects and grotesque beauty will appeal to anyone who enjoys the raw, uncomfortable complexities of Beef.

Fargo, an anthology series inspired by the Coen Brothers’ film of the same name, tells a new crime story with each season. From a drifter who drags a small-town insurance salesman into murder and a 1970s gangland war to a feuding pair of twin brothers, 1950s Kansas City, and modern-day Minnesota, each season is jam-packed with dark comedy, shocking violence, and ordinary people pushed to extraordinary breaking points.

Beef is about how a small spark can start a wildfire of vengeance and regret. Fargo is a masterclass in the same dynamic—petty conflicts turn into bloodbaths, and ordinary people realize they’re capable of horrible things. Both shows are preoccupied with the randomness of fate, the gravity of choice, and the dark absurdity of human nature. The show’s iconic “true story” disclaimer is entirely fictional. Creator Noah Hawley used the “this is a true story” tag as a nod to the film (which uses the same disclaimer), and though some viewers have found real-life counterparts to the stories presented in Fargo, the disclaimer is just a reference to how realistically life can turn sideways within moments or with the wrong decision.

Black Mirror is an excellent replacement for Beef, and even if you’ve seen the majority of it before, revisiting it is always a good idea because it improves with age. Black Mirror is a sci-fi anthology that delves into the dark side of technology and human nature. Unlike Beef and* Fargo*, each episode explores a near-future nightmare, such as a social credit system that runs lives, a virtual reality copy of a deceased loved one, or a dating app that pairs you with your “perfect match” for a set number of years. The show serves as a mirror for our concerns about smartphones, social media, surveillance, and artificial intelligence, but it also dives into themes of capitalism and exploitation.

Because Beef is a pressure cooker of modern anxiety—financial stress, social status, and suppressed rage—Black Mirror may feel distant due to its sci-fi premise. But, regardless of its technological twist, Charlie Brooker’s show falls into the same category. Both shows are about people trapped by systems, forced to make desperate decisions that spiral out of control; both *Beef *and Black Mirror have a cynical yet humane heart. The show’s title refers to the screen of a phone or laptop when it is turned off, reflecting our own faces and anxieties.

Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.

You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.

The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.

You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.

Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.

The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

True Detective is another crime anthology in which each season follows a different cast of characters, and it is one of the most well-known of its kind. Every season follows a pair of detectives as they unravel a single, haunting case that has an impact on their psyches, from two Louisiana detectives hunting a bizarre occult serial killer and a corrupt California city official’s murder drawing two broken detectives into a conspiracy to an aging Arkansas detective revisiting a decades-old case of two missing children and two detectives fighting their own demons in the freezing nights of Alaska. Each season is a dense, philosophical investigation into the darkness within.

True Detective and Beef are both character studies disguised as thrillers, with crime serving as a vehicle for exploring the protagonists’ twisted psyches. Both shows are obsessed with how obsession destroys people, and they both star incredible acting duos ranging from Ali Wong and Steven Yeun to** Matthew McConaughey** and Woody Harrelson. *True Detective ***will most likely feel much more extreme than *****Beef *****because it is about harrowing murders **every season; it is a bleak show full of philosophical and moral questions, so it’s a darker companion to Beef’s black comedic tone, but it’s still worth exploring.

The Twilight Zone is, without a doubt, the godfather of all anthology shows. Rod Serling’s original series told standalone stories of science fiction, fantasy, and horror, each with a moral twist; in most episodes, Serling appears at the beginning to introduce the story and at the end to deliver a message intended to be conveyed through the story, usually through a poignant monologue. The Twilight Zone includes so many stories, like one about a greedy banker who wishes to live forever and a woman who undergoes plastic surgery in a society where beauty is required; every episode of this iconic anthology ultimately follows people making decisions that reflect personal motivations and fear.

*Beef *exists in a strange, surreal space between realism and fantasy, which is especially pronounced in Season 1 (though Season 2 has moments when each character feels as if they are looking at themselves outside their bodies). The Twilight Zone created that liminal space by depicting ordinary people being confronted with extraordinary circumstances. If you want to see the DNA of every anthology show on this list and beyond, you should definitely start with The Twilight Zone.

The White Lotus feels a little more like Beef, especially Season 2. This** HBO** series created by Mike White is a satirical dark comedy set at a luxurious resort chain called The White Lotus, with each season following a new group of wealthy guests and the exhausted staff who serve them. The seasons alternate between White Lotus resorts in Hawaii, Sicily, and Thailand, where sex, betrayal, murder, lies, and conspiracies make the lives of seemingly bored rich people more fulfilling. The show is a sharp, uncomfortable, and hilarious exploration of class, privilege, and the lies people tell themselves.

While Beef depicts people from various socioeconomic backgrounds clashing, The White Lotus depicts how the wealthy (and those who serve them) are all trapped in a system of mutual resentment and exploitation. Both shows are slow-burn character studies with a dark, satirical edge that makes you laugh and cringe at the same time; they also have an uncanny ability to frustrate viewers, thanks to brilliant writing and character development. The White Lotus was originally planned as a six-episode limited series, but due to its overwhelming popularity, White expanded it into an anthology.

Inside No. 9 is a British anthology of darkly comedic horror thrillers, with each episode taking place in a location numbered 9, such as a house, apartment, train carriage, or dressing room. Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton created and star in the show, which is a masterclass in twist endings, pitch-black humor, and theatrical storytelling. In one episode, a policeman working the graveyard shift gets spooked; in another, a magician tries to steal his nemesis’ tricks, while in the third, a silent heist goes wrong. After a symbolic nine seasons and 45 episodes, the show concluded in 2024 with a perfect finale, but Inside No. 9 is so satisfying that you can return to it at any time. Its nuances are powerful, and Shearsmith and Pemberton give their work a distinct personality.

What* Inside No. 9 and Beef* have in common is that they are both masterclasses of escalation; in them, a minor incident escalates into a catastrophe that is too difficult to manage.* Inside No. 9*‘s 30-minute episodes are tightly wound springs of tension, misunderstandings, and dark fates for the protagonists. While this show is less well-known in the United States, it is highly regarded by anthology fans. If you want to see how far a single bad decision can take you after watching the same thing in Beef, this is your show.

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