Netflix's seven-part East of Eden tops global streaming charts with 6.5 million views
Netflix's seven-episode adaptation of John Steinbeck's East of Eden, starring Florence Pugh, took the No. 1 spot on its global Top 10 for the week of 28 September to 4 October, with 6.5 million views and 45.5 million hours watched, according to Netflix's Tudum. Critics largely agree the show is strong: it holds an 87% Rotten Tomatoes critic score and an 83% audience score. The adaptation reframes Cathy Ames as a more sympathetic, trauma-shaped figure, a choice that has split viewers.
Bottom line — Pugh's Cathy has become the show's central debate, with critics praising the nuance and some viewers arguing it undermines Steinbeck's villain.
Go deeper 8
-
Metro's critic called the show one of Netflix's best period dramas and said Hoon Lee's performance as the housekeeper Lee rivals Pugh's.
-
Metro reported that an eighth episode, focused on Lee's time away from the Trask family, was cut for cost reasons, and that Zoe Kazan said she had to trim scenes from every episode to stay within budget.
-
Refinery29 framed the debate as viewers seeing Cathy as either a volatile villain or a woman who succumbed to her circumstances, depending on who is asked.
-
Marie Claire argued that backlash to Cathy's sympathetic framing reflects audiences' preference for clear heroes and villains, while noting the adaptation still shows her murders and rejection of the novel's theme of 'timshel'.
-
Bunbury Mail reported that the show was shot in New Zealand, with its mountains standing in for rural California, and that Garth Davis directed five of the seven episodes.
-
IMDb's list of most popular TV shows ranked East of Eden No. 1, and the 1955 James Dean film version has risen to No. 54 on IMDb's most popular movies list, according to CBR.
-
Kazan told GQ that she read Steinbeck's letters to his editor while writing, and that Steinbeck's comments suggested he saw part of himself in Cathy, which informed the adaptation's approach.
-
Marie Claire's critic said the most sympathetic framing works best in the show's domestic scenes, though some flashbacks, including one where Cathy's father calls her his property, feel heavy-handed.