Credits: Kevin Payravi, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Since October 1, 2026, Netflix has been streaming the seven episodes of East of Eden. Zoe Kazan adapts John Steinbeck’s novel. With Florence Pugh as Cathy Ames, the miniseries spans several decades and shifts the focus to this controversial figure. Early reviews broadly praise the cast. However, they discuss the scope of this refocusing and the challenge of translating free will to the screen.
Seven Episodes for Two Generations
Known by its original title East of Eden, the series revisits the Trask family rivalries, from Connecticut to the Salinas Valley in California. Adam, played by Christopher Abbott, and Charles, portrayed by Mike Faist, grow up under the brutal authority of their father, Cyrus. Cathy’s arrival upends their relationship. The saga continues with Adam’s sons, Cal and Aron, in an America moving toward World War I.
According to the credits published by Netflix, Zoe Kazan is the screenwriter, executive producer, and co-showrunner with Jeb Stuart. Garth Davis and Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre direct. Florence Pugh is also an executive producer.
The cast of East of Eden also includes Hoon Lee as Lee and Ciarán Hinds as Samuel Hamilton. Their presence preserves two essential interlocutors for the Trasks: the family servant and their neighbor. Their exchanges give doubt and legacy a different place than the brothers’ confrontations.
The 1955 Film Told Only Part of the Book
Published in 1952, John Steinbeck’s novel intertwines the stories of the Trasks and the Hamiltons. It transposes the biblical story of Cain and Abel into a society shaped by inequality, migration, and hopes for a new beginning. The jealousy between brothers and the search for a father’s love repeat from one generation to the next. The question running through it is freedom: can you escape your parents’ mistakes?
In 1955, Elia Kazan’s film, with James Dean as Cal, focused the story on the final part of the book. Charles, Cyrus, and Lee were absent. His granddaughter Zoe’s version moves back earlier. It shows the youth of Adam and Charles, then the making of the Adam-Cathy couple, before following their children. The move to series format thus makes the origins of the second generation’s conflicts visible.
The longer format does not, however, guarantee a complete adaptation. In RogerEbert.com, Lacy Baugher notes that the Hamiltons’ story remains largely reduced. Zoe Kazan herself acknowledges to Tudum that seven hours cannot contain the whole novel.
Cathy, A Character To Understand Without Excusing Her
The boldest choice concerns Cathy Ames. In an interview with Tudum, Netflix’s media outlet, Zoe Kazan explains that she wanted to expand what the book only hints at about the character. She seeks to give her a human existence beyond her role as an embodiment of evil.
For Lacy Baugher, Florence Pugh does in fact bring added complexity to Cathy. The RogerEbert.com critic distinguishes this work from a rehabilitation: the character keeps her violence and her responsibility. Her need for autonomy and the ordeals she has endured shed light on her choices without making them innocent.
Vicky Jessop, in NME, focuses more on the constraints imposed on Cathy by the men who claim to decide her future. She points out that even Adam, presented as kind, intends to decide their shared life without taking her desires into account. This reading shifts the focus to the power dynamics in the couple, while leaving Cathy’s brutality intact.
In France, Charles Martin also highlights in Première the change in perspective announced from the opening. The series approaches the saga through Cathy before reaching California. This shift in point of view is a structural difference from the novel.
Free Will Runs Through Lee and Samuel
The third choice lies in the place given to timshel. In the novel, this word is interpreted as “thou mayest”: it expresses the possibility of choosing one’s conduct. It should be understood as Steinbeck’s staged interpretation, not as an undisputed Hebrew translation. The issue goes beyond the simple opposition between a good brother and a bad one. Family inheritance weighs on the characters without necessarily determining their future.
Zoe Kazan explains to Tudum that this capacity for change guides her adaptation. She also describes a challenge specific to the screen. The thoughts available to the reader must become actions, dialogue, or images.
Lee and Samuel Hamilton carry part of this reflection. Scott Collura, in IGN, finds their philosophical exchanges particularly successful and singles out Hoon Lee’s performance. According to him, their relationship makes free will tangible between characters. The idea is no longer merely abstract.
Reservations About Depth and Balance
The same IGN review, however, notes dialogue that spells out the moral dilemmas too clearly. When characters state what their actions have already shown, the exposition risks taking over the drama.
Lucy Mangan, in The Guardian, voices a broader reservation. She praises the strength of the family saga, the visuals, and the actors, but finds the exploration of human nature less convincing. On Cathy, her view differs from Lacy Baugher’s. Despite Florence Pugh, she считает the character remains more on display than fully developed.
Baugher, for her part, notes an imbalance tied to the actress’s strength. The scenes where Cathy is less present seem less successful to her, especially in the writing of Adam. In Télérama, Marjolaine Jarry praises the refreshed perspective on the characters while criticizing the ending for being rushed and lacking nuance.
A Positive Reception, Without a Verdict on Viewership
As of October 2, 2026, Rotten Tomatoes shows 85% favorable reviews based on 33 reviews. Metacritic gives the season a score of 80 out of 100, based on 24 reviews. These indicators, subject to change, do not measure the same thing. The first establishes a share of positive reviews, the second an aggregated score.
They establish an initial reception that is broadly favorable, without unanimity, and do not say anything about audience size. On the same date, Rotten Tomatoes lists fewer than fifty audience ratings and Metacritic does not yet show a user score. It is therefore too early to conclude there is a viewer consensus.