Netflix has a new global hit on its hands. The streaming service released a limited series adaptation of East of Eden on October 1. The seven episode drama, since it started streaming earlier this month, claimed the No. 1 spot on the platform.
As per reports, it pulled in 6.5 million views during its opening week. Viewers also logged over 45 million hours watched.
Based on a novel:
Florence Pugh leads the star studded cast as Cathy Ames. Zoe Kazan adapted the project from John Steinbeck's classic novel. The series features other notable actors including Christopher Abbott and Mike Faist.
Critics have embraced the ambitious retelling. The show holds an 87% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Reviewers praise the production scale and the emotional depth brought to the complex characters. Florence Pugh is already generating early awards buzz for her intense performance. It stands as one of the major television successes of the season. "The characters are wonderfully complex, flawed, and fascinating. The kind of story that stays with you after the final episode. Now I am curious to read Steinbeck’s novel and see how they compare," an X user added. Fans of the original book are split. Some viewers argue that giving Cathy trauma and relatable motives undermines Steinbeck's central theme of innate evil versus free choice.
The series did receive negative reviews. "Plenty to complain about, but in a world where the best I can expect is that some major studio won't fully ruin my favorite book on adaptation, this was remarkably close to the spirit and story of the novel," a critic mentioned.
