Family Drama Runs Deep in ‘East of Eden’

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Cathy is described in Steinbeck’s novel as having been born with a “malformed soul,” a woman who rejects “goodness to avoid internal moral struggle.” This version expands Cathy’s character beyond the narrator’s point of view. “She’s not just a bad seed, which is what we would so easily want to paint her as, and she’s a product of what’s happened to her,” Stuart explains, noting that Pugh’s “amazing” performance will bring new shades of Cathy into the light. “She makes that character very human,” he says.

Before Cathy shows up on their doorstep bloody and bruised, the relationship between brothers Adam (Christopher Abbott) and Charles Trask is already battered with complications brought on by their volatile upbringing at the hands of their father, Cyrus (Tracy Letts).

“What interested me most was how much love exists between them, even when neither of them really knows how to express it,” Faist says of Charles and Adam. “It’s easy to look at their relationship through the lens of rivalry or resentment, but underneath that, there’s this really profound desire to be seen by the other person. I think they’re carrying the same wound; they just respond to it differently. Charles externalizes it; Adam internalizes it. That tension felt very human to me because families are rarely defined by one emotion — they’re usually a contradiction of love and hurt existing at the same time.”

East of Eden follows the brothers from childhood into adulthood, before and after Adam’s time in the army. Despite their past and years spent apart, the love between the brothers keeps them tethered, and they’re able to start putting that “relationship back together as adults before Cathy crawls up on the porch,” Stuart notes. “I think what’s interesting is that Charles and Cathy don’t become easier to define the more time you spend with them,” Faist says. “If anything, they become more complicated. I always find that more compelling than trying to make someone fit neatly into ‘good’ or ‘bad.’”

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The limited series also chronicles the years after Adam and Cathy marry, their move out west to California, and the birth of their twins, Cal (Joseph Zada) and Aron (Joe Anders). After Cathy abruptly leaves her husband and boys, Adam leans on his devoted Chinese-American servant, Lee (Hoon Lee), and the wise Samuel Hamilton (Ciaran Hinds) to help raise his boys.

As the twins grow into their teens, their dynamic as brothers begins to mirror what Adam once had with Charles. Aron easily wins the favor of their father, while Cal yearns for Adam’s love and respect. Aron is naïve about the world and leans on a strict moral code that leaves no room for imperfections, while the troubled and curious Cal is able to recognize his flaws and seeks to understand his inner demons.

Stuart believes Zada will leave a lasting impression on viewers in the role of Cal Trask just as Dean did in 1955. “He was spectacular, and Joe did nothing but prove that he was up for that role,” the executive producer says. “It wasn’t just about a great audition. He just grew as we shot. It was fantastic.”

East of Eden, Series Premiere, October 1, Netflix