The first episode of Netflix's East of Eden limited series both began and ended with the same cliffhanger of the Trask brothers finding Cathy Ames crawling onto their porch after being attacked. For those who have read John Steinbeck's novel, these aren't exactly cliffhangers, but if you haven't read the classic, then you're definitely on the edge of your seat waiting for answers.
East of Eden episode 2 begins with Cathy still lying in bed and healing, having been changed out of her bloody dress. She begins to awaken as she overhears the doctor giving Adam instructions for her care. Charles brings in the law enforcement, who intends to ask Cathy questions about her attacker. But there's a chance she might not remember given the head wound she sustained.
Sheriff Giles asks her to write answers to his questions, including her name. She writes "don't know" in response to her name and "all black" when asked what she remembers. Adam agrees to tend to her while she heals, which Charles doesn't appear too excited about. After taking the medicine Adam offers, we catch a glimpse of Cathy as a young girl and again as a teen in 1893.
Cathy's relationship with Mr. Grew and her fiery escape
Cathy wanted to become a teacher, but everyone in her town pushed her to become a wife and mother. While walking home alone, she dropped her handkerchief, and a young man stops her to return it and fastens it onto her with his own fancy clip. Apparently, she has a knack for "finding" these baubles. She also clearly has a crush on her handsome, young teacher.
Back in real time, Cathy sits up in bed and looks at herself in a mirror. Charles interrupts her and she asks him for her medicine. He wonders if he recognizes her, and she insists they have never met before. Later that night, Adam sits by her bedside as she eats soup. She admits that she never lost her memory but won't divulge any details about what happened to her.
She's clearly trying to protect someone, or herself, and the Trasks. Adam agrees to keep her secret and finally asks her name. Another flashback reveals that she and her teacher, Mr. Grew, began a secret relationship, and he continued to pursue her to an obsessive extent. She ends things with him and threatens to expose him if he doesn't stop pursuing her.
He desperately knocks on the Ames family's door in the night, but Cathy's dad sends him away. The students begin talking at school after Mr. Grew dies by suicide, and Cathy's dad confronts her about the truth of her relationship with Grew. He beats and threatens her as she cries out, leading to her burning all of the letters between her and Grew. Cathy burns her house down and escapes.
She successfully faked her own death and killed her parents to get away from her family. Again in present day, Cathy is sewing with an arm in a sling as Adam and Charles talk about next steps for her. She worries about overstaying her welcome. Charles worries that something isn't right with Cathy and her past, but Adam has more empathy for her. She listens as they argue about their future.
What happened to Cathy after killing her parents?
Cathy brings Adam dinner while he works in an effort to help and win him over after hearing him tell Adam that she can't stay. Charles plainly asks her if she knows anything about a suitcase full of money and jewelry that was found shortly after she arrived. She doesn't answer before Charles stops her, believing she would lie. She goes to Adam crying about leaving right away.
She worries that Charles will do anything to get rid of her, which leads Adam to propose marriage to Cathy and giving her time to answer his question. He offers protection, safety, and happiness. Another flashback reveals that Cathy had sought out prostitution after leaving her family. In 1898, Cathy ended up in Boston seeking new employment in the same line of work.
In order to win Mr. Edwards over, she tells him a false story about getting money for her mother to keep their farm. She sleeps with him in order to make the deal, but he quickly falls in love with her as their physical relationship progresses. He accuses her of seeing other men and grabs her in retaliation. Thankfully, she stole his money clip and stashes the cash away. He deserves worse.
While walking in town, she realizes that she's being followed. Thomas arrives frustrated that his key doesn't work. She claims that she misplaced hers and had the locks changed. He brings champagne to celebrate their one year anniversary (mind you, he's married to another woman), but she doesn't want to drink. He forces her and she starts slamming back glass after glass.
Cathy gets angry and fights back at him, breaking the wineglass and holding it to his throat as she threatens him. Now he knows who he's dealing with. In the morning, she wakes to Edward getting dressed and leaving. From inside, she spots Edward stopping to talk with another man. He catches her by surprise while she's packing her things. She claims that she's visiting her mother.
Cathy marries Adam and sleeps with Charles
Edward asks her on a trip to a small town in Connecticut where he intends on putting her to "work." She doesn't want to go, but he put the pieces of her past together. He knows she's the girl from the fire in Amesbury that was never found. They arrive in Connecticut, where Cathy tries to run away from Edward, but he catches up to her and beats her. She screams in agony before he hits her with a rock.
He thought he'd killed her, but he didn't, and that's how she ended up with the Trasks. She accepts Adam's proposal and they get married, which leads to a screaming match between him and Charles. He insists that he needs to get rid of her before she tears him to pieces. Adam plans a new life for him and Cathy in California, but she doesn't want to go to California.
Before bed, Cathy sends Adam to get something for them to eat, and she pours morphine in one of the cups of tea. Adam grabs the drugged tea when he returns to the room. While he drinks the tea, he proposes getting a wedding portrait taken. He notices something tasted weird with the tea, and she realizes that he took the wrong one... or did she plan it that way?
When Charles returns home, she ventures to his bedside with candlelight and rubs the scar on his forehead. He awakens with surprise. With Adam knocked out on the medicine in the other room, Charles responds to her advances and they begin to kiss. Well, this is a dangerous game that she's playing, especially with two brothers with a history of jealousy.
Watch East of Eden only on Netflix.
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