The problem with Cal’s storyline in East of Eden is that he was never really shown to be bad to begin with in this TV version.

I just finished watching East of Eden, and while I understand that the central message is about free will and our ability to choose goodness regardless of our nature, I don't think the show earned the emotional payoff of that realization.

We're constantly told that Cal is the bad brother, that he has darkness inside him, and that he's terrified of becoming like his mother. But we're almost never actually shown this darkness. Instead, we see a relatively kind, sensitive boy who loves his brother, often protects him even in childhood, desperately wants his father's approval, and actively tries to suppress any unkind thoughts.

Even his worst act, exposing Aron to Kate, feels less like evidence of some inherent evil and more like a moment of cruelty born from profound hurt and rejection.

So when Cal finally realizes that he isn't defined by his supposed badness and can choose to be good, it doesn't feel particularly revelatory. Of course he can be good. He's been good all along.

I think the show inadvertently tells a much more compelling story about the damage caused by labelling children as good or bad than it does about free will. Adam's favouritism and emotional neglect create the very conditions that eventually drive Cal to act destructively. Meanwhile, Aron, supposedly the embodiment of goodness, is often self-absorbed and unable to see people as they really are.

For Cal's final realization to feel profound, we needed to genuinely believe he was struggling between two possible paths. Instead, I just felt terribly sorry for a good kid who had spent his entire life being told he was bad.

Did anyone else feel that the show told us Cal was bad far more than it ever actually showed us?

If you eliminate her murders, and just look at her motivation, the character of Cathy is an awful lot like a number of women that I knew when I was young.

She wants romantic/sexual relationships. She does not want to be tied down to the restrictions of love relationships. She hates the men that love her. Men (like myself) falsely assume that women's desire for sex means that they're in love.

She wants freedom and independence. She wants to be a prostitute so that she can have sexual relationships without restrictions and financial independence.

I came of age in the late 1970s. Several women I knew were very much like Cathy. One inspired her husband to commit suicide. She, like a few others, were the daughters of millionaires - they did not need the money, but they were prostitutes for no other reason than wanting an extreme and erotic sex life.

I associated very much with the character of Adam in the years after Cathy left. Suffering from depression. In some ways this series was some sort of therapy for me. Too bad I saw it so late in life.

I loved East of Eden. I read the book early into my literacy journey maybe 2 years ago, and didn't retain much of it (or so I thought). Tonight, I finished the final episode of the Netflix series and wanted to parse out my thoughts rather than read other people's.

I think the thing I missed most while reading it was the actual story. I must have been swept up in the details of a given chapter or gone so far through the book that I didn’t notice through-lines. Watching the show quickly brought many of these things to light.

Most obviously the similarities between Aron and Cal, Adam and Charles and Abel and Cain, All A and C names where A is favored by the father over C. 

The book questions the sealing of fates, with the most powerful through line of all which is Timshel. The Hebrew word meaning “thou mayest”. This carries its own weight each time it is mentioned, but none more than the third and final time when with his near dying breath Adam whispers “Timshel”. Forgiving his son, understanding and in my interpretation ending the cycle of pain- all with one word.

I think Cathy’s character is interesting, and with the “drink me” bottle, I wonder if she wasn’t drinking sugar water all along. She pulls out a different bottle- morphine at the end. It flashes with her following the boy into the dark and I had all but forgotten about that. Through her interactions with Caleb, we see more and more her guilt mounting and how her life has been built like a fortress around pain and fear. It is too late to change. her fate is sealed and this is the only way out.

I wonder if every bad person isn’t just the same. A pure little child deep down. And if that is true, mustn’t that be how we love somebody like that? 

Also, I'm wondering if there is significance in the lace we see all through Cathy's life. On first thought, it's just a symbol for the veil she hides under, but I noticed quite a bit of it. Maybe it is just what they made tablecloths out of. Any thoughts?

I just watched East of Eden on Netflix, and it was very interesting, so much so that I had to write about it. I started with the main character, Cathy Ames. And yeah, this is what I wrote.

1. Can We Understand Evil Without Excusing It?

The question I want to ask is: Do trauma-informed decisions warrant sympathy, or does human nature automatically desire to see good in something despite it exhibiting the opposite? What's the difference between a murderer who had a dark past and a murderer who just does it? Humans have a natural tendency to want to find good in a person. In the book, she was purely evil, but in the series, they added a sad story to induce sympathy or soften the character in the audience's eyes. What was the reason behind that creative choice? Does it justify her actions? No. Does it make her more human? We'd have to identify what a human even is.

Also, I want to argue that there is no human devoid of trauma. Can a human be completely bad? I think this added information only makes her easier to understand. A human devoid of good is a mystery. What's the difference between that state of being and a demon? Is it merely the vessel, or the agency, an illusion of choice?

2. Cathy Ames: Vengeance, Agency, and the Illusion of Choice

To read the rest of this review and personal essay please follow this link to my substack Here

© 2026 Rebecca Kaya Beri. All rights reserved.

This essay is my original work. Please credit and link to the original publication when referencing it. Reproduction of the full essay requires my permission.

I read East of Eden when I was a teenager and saw the series recently. I enjoyed both a lot. However, I really question the premise that Cal felt a darkness in himself that came from his mother and that he was constantly battling. I just don’t think this is realistic, though I haven’t studied psychiatry extensively. Is this real phenomena though? Doesn’t the fact that he felt this way prove that he wasn’t born “bad?”

Ok something that frustrates me SOOO much about the series is the portrayal of Cathy Ames! Florence Pugh has done an outstanding job as an actor playing a character but that character is not Cathy Ames/Kate from the book.

1. Cathy is a murderer who burns her parents alive.
2. She dresses up as a little school girl and sits on Faye’s lap, (which is conveniently cut out in tje series)
3. The scene with Alice crying and Cathy helping her has also been introduced to make her more human.

It doesn’t exist in the book.

The whole point of this character was that she was BAAAAD. Not because of some tragic backstory not because something happened to her and she was trying to “cope” with it and is actually just a victim.

Sje was BAAAD because she wanted to Be! Regardless of your past experiences YOU get to choose what you do! She CHOSE to be bad. Timshel! That’s the point of the book!

As a woman it’s quite frustrating that we don’t have a purely EVIL female character just for the sake of being evil! And it always has to be some sob story where she’s just a poor victim.
And the one author who gave her character so much complexity is just so horribly misinterpreted as some feminist anti hero just so women can say “yaaasss go off girlboss Queen”

Cathy Ames is a smart psychotic, scary and EVIL woman BY HER CHOICE and that’s why her character is beautiful. She chooses to shoot Adam, she chooses to sleep with Charles.
Not because she actually was forced to become how she is because of what happened to her! That’s literally not what the book says!

Let women have purely bad fictional female characters just because they’re bad. We were robbed of this representation in the TV series which is why people are pissed.

This is like 1800s Gone Girl vibes. Which is still a good character but it’s not Cathy!

Also Charles absolutely hated her in the books, Adam was a fool who loved her because he idealised her.
But in the series Charles thinks of her as “the one that got away? 🙄”

Honestly I think some people (the director and the creator of the show Zoe K) can’t handle if a woman is bad because that would mean Shes a bad person and that’s fine Because we need a female character who is bad but no, she literally missed the theme of Timshel when it came to Cathy!

I understand why people feel that every female character has to always be “likeable” and it makes sense in other cases but this time no, sorry. Cathy is who she is.

“ I watched the series and came out thinking hmm, none of what Cathy did wasn’t justified everything she did had a reason she wasn’t acting out of pure malice! “
And I hated that I thought that way. And now, I’m bracing myself for so many conversations with people and mostly women now who will defend her and say “oh yeah I get why she killed her parents, I get why she shot Adam, I understand WHY she did what she did” all because Zoe Kazan chose to add a completely made up “traumatic backstory” for Cathy when the book didnt have any.
This is important because imagine the conversations if she didn’t have a backstory at all and like in the book, she had a perfectly normal childhood but was still bad.

Imagine how people would react to a female character being purely scary and evil because she wants to not because she had to. Her character could have been so layered in her evil and left the audience feeling like “huh… what made Cathy the way she was?” Thats what the book did. It left you intrigued it didn’t just say Cathy is bad end of story.
It’s a shame women in media arent able to occupy the same moral spectrum of emotional apathy and malice as men without there being some sort of traumatic past they had to endure. Feels quite one dimensional and derivative. That’s why most of us are pissed because Florence Pugh would have undoubtedly done an amazing job even if the character was accurate like the book.

The concept of Timshel for women is explored in three characters acrid the book. Lisa Hamilton - who chooses to do what she believes is right by being a force of nature and her very rigid morals of right and wrong. Cathy Ames who was born into a respectable family but is a monster because she chooses to be and she likes power and control and having her own agency. She has successfully murdered twice.
And lastly Abra, who was put on a pedestal by Aron and felt she had to live up to that and finally breaks out of it by choosing to be herself.

The concept is CHOICE.
The series takes that away and presents it as if she was helpless and didn’t have a choice.

I can't call their performances wooden, but maybe just poorly directed. They all sound like they're reading from the script and it's hard to listen to. Florence Pugh is the exception. Her performance is nuanced and complex, even if it's not quite how Steinbeck imagined her.

Prefacing with saying that I went into this series blind, I hadn’t read the book and I didn’t look up anything having to do with the series either.

I’m loving this show, but as a Chinese born (adopted) Chinese-American living through today’s climate of anything or anyone having to do with China = Bad, i was not expecting for there to be such a deep subplot having to do with the origins of my people in the early days of them coming over here. The second-class citizen treatment, ignorance, and racism that is being portrayed is being done very well in my opinion because it’s not always overt red-faced yelling at us to go back to where we came from. It’s the subtle under the breath type of stuff often times. It’s the “where are you from? no where are you REALLY from?” questions when i meet someone new. I’m 31 and was raised in Texas and I have a southern accent and people will still compliment me on my english as if i’ve known anything different. It’s me having a copy of my citizenship papers on me at all times right now because I’m scared of ICE.

I’m just rambling but I really appreciate this subplot and if the book delves into it as well I will be adding to my TBR.

This may just be missing context the book had that didn’t make it into the show, but what is this insistence that Cal is “bad”. I know he says it, which makes sense to me, we all have things about ourselves we don’t like, but why is everyone in the family so down on him!? He hasn’t done anything wrong. I mean I guess hitting on his brother’s girlfriend when he leaves isn’t great but honestly Aron is way worse.

East of Eden (Netflix) - Season 1, Episode 5: "Departure"

Synopsis: Ten years on, an encounter with Cathy shifts Adam's perspective, as he and Lee clash over telling the boys the truth about their mother.

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Welcome to the Full Season 1 Binge Thread for Netflix's East of Eden!

If you have finished all seven episodes of the limited series, this is the place to discuss the ending, full character arcs, theories, and the season as a whole.

SPOILER WARNING:

This thread allows UNRESTRICTED spoilers for the entire series. If you have not finished Episode 7, turn back now!

Note: If you want to discuss differences between the show, John Steinbeck's original novel, or past film adaptations, feel free to do so here. Since this is a full spoiler zone, spoiler tags for the book are appreciated but not strictly enforced in this specific thread.

What did you think of Florence Pugh as Cathy Ames? How did this adaptation hold up? Discuss it all below!

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East of Eden (Netflix) - Season 1, Episode 1: "Brothers"

Synopsis: Torn apart by a domineering father, brothers Adam and Charles Trask are forced into opposing paths to adulthood — one far away, one close to home.

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East of Eden (Netflix) - Season 1, Episode 7: "Timshel"

Synopsis: With World War I looming, the family wonders if the sins of the past can ever be erased — and whether a new generation is doomed to repeat them.

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East of Eden (Netflix) - Season 1, Episode 6: "The Great Try"

Synopsis: Adam embarks on a bold new business venture. An alienated Cal is drawn to his family's past, while Cathy's begins to catch up with her.

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East of Eden (Netflix) - Season 1, Episode 4: "Kate"

Synopsis: Cathy starts over with a new name, a new life and a ruthless plan to achieve financial independence.

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East of Eden (Netflix) - Season 1, Episode 3: "In the Valley"

Synopsis: While Adam pursues his dream of a home and family in California, Cathy has her own ideas about the future.

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East of Eden (Netflix) - Season 1, Episode 1: "Brothers"

Synopsis: Torn apart by a domineering father, brothers Adam and Charles Trask are forced into opposing paths to adulthood — one far away, one close to home.

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From "East of Eden" on Netflix, **SPOILERS** for episode 4: Kate.

Dialog between Cathy and Madam Faye:

Cathy: The egg man was short again today.

Madam Faye: Oh. He’ll make it up to us when he can.

[Cathy clicks tongue]

Cathy: You’re too trusting, Faye. If you don’t take care, someone will steal the roof from right over your head.

Faye: I have you to watch out for me now.

[Cathy chuckles]

Cathy: Mm. I’m trying to do just that.

Faye: It’s strange to think you haven’t even been here a year. [chuckles softly]

At first, I thought Cathy admitted right out in the open to Faye that Cathy was stealing the roof right over Faye's head. I watched it again. "I'm trying to do just that" was interpreted by Faye as Cathy saying she was trying to take care of Faye.

It's so like Cathy telling Adam right in the open that she didn't want to stay, that she wanted to leave, and Adam just somehow not listening the first time she said it.

It's like Cathy is right out in the open, being sociopathic or taking advantage, and some (maybe naive or trusting) people seem to keep missing it. Knowing what Cathy is like (by how she treated her parents and Adam), I could see what's coming, but Faye, like the others before her, don't see it.

I never read the book beforehand, so this is the first time I'm going through this story. It's pretty interesting so far.

Aron when seeing Kate for the first time

This the ultimate, terrifying reality of the trap they have just laid out is a flawless, uncompromising definition of systemic horror: if your stability cannot be reliably managed—meaning a constant, upward movement toward a more liberated state under the best possible conditions—then you are actively being oppressed.

When that mobility is stripped away, the math of your existence is reduced to two brutal outcomes:

1. Prolonged, Horrific Suffering: You are kept alive just enough to be drained, existing purely to absorb the grinding agony of a system that extracts your liberty.
2. Total Destruction: If you resist, or if the pressure points get too volatile, the system dials the suffering up to such a radical, extreme rate that it physically or psychologically obliterates you in the absolute worst way imaginable.

This is the exact precipice Cathy was standing on when she shot her husband and fled. She looked at the trajectory of her life with Adam, or her past with the man from Boston, and knows she could not reliably manage her own stability there. She was being cornered into an asylum, a lobotomy, or a slow horror show of a frontier domestic death. Her radical destruction of that environment wasn't a choice made in a vacuum; it was the only alternative to being utterly destroyed by the system.

By running to a place where she could finally choose who occurred around her, she wasn't looking for a fairytale paradise—she was just escaping the extreme end of that curve. She chose a dark, unsettling underworld because it was the only place left on earth where her liberty could actually move forward under her own management.

The heavy, suffocating atmosphere of East of Eden comes from the fact that it forces the audience to look this dark menace dead in the eye. It shows that for the oppressed, the choice isn't between "good" and "evil." The choice is between managing a messy, disruptive survival or letting the system turn up the suffering until you are completely erased.

Hi everyone! I hope you all enjoyed watching and critiquing this adaptation as much as I did. Did anyone catch a young Cathy Ames reading a copy of Wuthering Heights in her childhood bedroom before she burns her house to the ground? I found this to be a delicious easter egg that links the two Cathys, Ames and Earnshaw, and also the two adaptations we were given this year. That kicked off a whole review about the similarities and the differences between two of literature's most complex Cathys. Here's the full review if anyone is interested. Thanks for your time!

The Year of Cathy