East of Eden Ending Explained: Directed by Garth Davis and Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, the Netflix series is based on John Steinbeck’s acclaimed novel and stars Florence Pugh as Cathy Ames, Christopher Abbott as Adam Trask, Mike Faist as Charles Trask, Hoon Lee as Lee, Joseph Zada as Cal Trask, Zoe Phillips as Abra Bacon and Joe Anders as Aron Trask alongside Ciarán Hinds, Tracy Letts, and others.
East of Eden Ending Explained
Why Did Cathy Leave Adam?
Cathy never really wanted this life that Adam was trying to build for them. Right from the start of their marriage, Adam saw the marriage as an opportunity to have a new start in some distant place from everything that they knew. Adam dreamed of having a house and a farm in California and giving Cathy everything he thought would make her happy. But Cathy, in her part, had not been committed to any of this. Cathy keeps telling Adam that she does not wish to live in Connecticut, and finally lets him know that she never intended to stay with him forever.
Adam views her discontentment as an issue that could be solved by having a better home and a better life, while in her own eyes, marriage is nothing more than a trap which denies her independence. This fact makes her choice even more evident when she realises that she is pregnant. She does not want to become a mother and tries to terminate her pregnancy and, later, does not want to have anything to do with her twin babies. She wants to get away from Adam because he is trying to make future plans without taking into consideration her wishes.
She tries to go away in a peaceful way, but since Adam will not let her go and locks her up in her room, she kills him in the shoulder and goes away from her husband and twins. Adam is left brokenhearted, and it takes him years to recover from the tragedy, while she never feels sorry for leaving him. Therefore, Cathy’s decision has nothing to do with her falling out of love with Adam. She simply rejects the domestic life that he wants to give her because it means losing her freedom.
How Did Cathy Become the Brothel Madam?
Having parted ways with Adam, Cathy changes her identity and calls herself Kate Albey. She goes to Salinas, where she finds herself a job in Faye’s brothel, which is managed by a woman who really cares about the well-being of the women working there. Cathy understands rather soon that in the brothel she can earn money that will guarantee her financial independence. Cathy does not want to be a prostitute for the rest of her life, so she learns how to manage the business and becomes indispensable to Faye.
Cathy attracts clients, solves various problems, deals with suppliers, takes care of the women, and knows how to use people, so Faye trusts her as if she were her daughter. She turns that trust into a way by which she can gain control of the whole enterprise. She convinces Faye of the need for her to get out of prostitution by convincing her of the need for Cathy not to end up with nothing when Faye is gone because of the lack of financial security. After making sure that she gains Faye’s trust of Faye, she secretly starts drugging her.
She uses poisonous chemicals to make Faye ill and gives her the impression that she became ill because of eating some tainted food. Faye dies, and in the process, Cathy plays the part of a devastated friend who feels heartbroken by all that happens. With Faye dead, the business is now hers, and Cathy becomes the madam of the establishment by the year 1902.
Why Did Cathy Take Her Own Life?
Cathy kills herself at the end of East of Eden series, when her life of strict organisation is falling apart on all sides. At this stage of her life, Cathy is troubled by the memories and the voices and presence of Charles, which seem to have become a reality for her. Her past is now beginning to overwhelm her; all her life she had kept it under control. In addition, her paranoia increases as she feels betrayed by those around her. The meeting with her sons is yet another experience that leads to this point. Cal accuses her of leaving him and Aron and, later, Cal brings Aron to the brothel.
Aron recognises his mother in her and runs away. Cathy now faces the consequences of having abandoned her family years ago. Shortly after this, Cathy takes what seems to be her last chance at escaping the life she has created for herself. Cathy talks to her imaginary Charles, remembers how the story of Alice in Wonderland helped her overcome fear during her childhood days, and takes a sip from a small bottle that she carries with her. Cathy also makes a will leaving all her possessions to Aron. Cathy is discovered dead by Joe in her room, while Sheriff Quinn informs Adam about her suicide much later.
The series does not depict Cathy’s death as being caused by one incident. It comes after a period of years marked by isolation, manipulation, guilt, paranoia, and inability to come to terms with who she had become in trying to leave her past behind. Cathy’s last moments indicate how, even though she spent her whole life trying to assert her independence, she could never really escape the memories of her past.
Does Abra End Up With Cal or Aron?
Ultimately, Abra chooses Cal over Aron. Throughout most of the Netflix East of Eden series, Abra is in a romantic relationship with Aron, and for Aron, Abra is the perfect girl for him to have as he imagines his perfect life. But it gets complicated as Aron’s expectations are quite high and unrealistic with regard to Abra. She understands that since Aron never had a mother in his life, he has partially made her out to be some sort of a fantasy character, as opposed to herself.
On the other hand, Abra begins to have a completely different type of relationship with Cal. While she understands that Cal has problems with his dark side as well as always being unloved compared to his brother, she knows that he has the ability to choose his way. The watershed moment begins after Aron leaves for the army. Aron writes a letter to Abra in which he states that he is not good enough for her and that she should not associate with his family anymore.
Abra tells Cal that she does not hate him and decides to spend some time with him. In the process of having a picnic with Abra, Cal visits Cathy’s grave with Abra and then goes on to pick azaleas and kiss her. Thus, their relationship does not simply become a matter of switching romantic interest from one brother to the other. Instead, it ties into the overarching theme of choice that the series explores. By the end of Netflix East of Eden, Aron chooses for himself and leaves, while Cal remains with the choice whether to follow the destructive patterns his family had developed or to make different choices.
How Did Adam Die in East of Eden?
Adam’s death follows the heartbreaking events concerning Aron. When Cathy dies, Aron is missing, and the family is still trying to cope. Eventually, Cal admits that he brought Aron to meet their mother, realising that this would affect him deeply. Aron goes away and enlists in the army. This news hits hard for Adam since Aron was the son whom he had favoured for so long, just like Cyrus had favoured Adam over Charles.
Adam doesn’t die straight away when he gets to know that Aron is dead. At this stage, he has already had a cerebral haemorrhage and has recovered from it. After learning of Aron’s death, he gets another stroke, and he is left in a very weak condition. The doctor informs Cal that his father’s days are numbered.
In Adam’s last moments on earth, Lee plays an instrumental role in bringing him together with Cal, allowing father and son to unite physically despite the fact that Adam is not able to speak anymore. Cal kisses him, and Adam utters his last word, “timshel,” meaning that man has a choice in terms of actions. This means that Adam dies, marking the end of his life cycle. Throughout his life, he is held captive by his love for Cathy, feelings of guilt and preference for Aron, but in the end his encounter with Cal makes him realise that his son won’t be whatever his background dictates.
What Does the Ending of East of Eden Signify?
The Netflix series East of Eden revolves around the question of whether humanity is fated to be doomed to repeating the sins and errors of the previous generations, or whether they have the choice of their own destiny. This concept is portrayed explicitly through the relationship between the generations of brothers. Charles and Adam had a competition for the love of their father, but Adam was the favourite child of their father, in the way Adam later was Aron’s favourite. The same concept is portrayed through Cal and Aron; Cal believes that his father considers something wrong or even dangerous in him, whereas Aron becomes the ideal son of Adam.
Thus, the same situation is perpetuated within the family, as the jealousy, favouritism, resentment and the striving to be the best for the sake of the approval of parents is transferred from one generation to another. Cathy adds another dimension to the same issue since she is doomed to the past throughout her whole life. Timshel is the word that holds the secret to the meaning of this series. Lee states that it means “thou mayest,” putting an emphasis on the opportunity to choose, but not on people’s inevitability of being good or evil.
Cal feels all along that he has something of his father’s in him, and his jealousy and rage seem to prove that his fate will be similar to Cathy’s fate. However, in this series, he is offered different choices. Aron himself chooses to leave for the army, and Adam’s attempts to control the lives of the people who are close to him are constantly followed by tragedy. In the last episode, Adam’s final word “timshel” acquires great importance, since it was addressed to Cal.
It seems that the conclusion of the series does not cancel Cal’s actions, nor does it deny the importance of the family’s past. Cal remains free to choose what to do next. This is the meaning of this series in general: people can have an inheritance of scars, expectations, and destructive patterns, but they are not obliged to repeat their parents’ fate.
Also Read: East of Eden Review: Haunting Family Drama That Makes You Question Fate and Free Will
