The ending of ‘East Of Eden’ explained: what happens to Cathy and Adam?

Florence Pugh takes on the role of Cathy Ames in Netflix’s adaptation of East Of Eden .

Based on the novel by John Steinbeck, the miniseries follows half-brothers Adam and Charles Trask, who have their life upended by the arrival of the troubled Cathy Ames.

This adaptation comes from show creator Zoe Kazan, who is best known for roles in The Big Sick and Revolutionary Road .

Alongside Pugh, the show’s cast includes Christopher Abbott, Mike Faist, Hoon Lee, Ciarán Hinds, Joseph Zada and Joe Anders.

All seven episodes of East Of Eden are available to stream on Netflix.

After coming face-to-face with her two sons, Caleb (Joseph Zada) and Aron (Joe Anders), Cathy (Florence Pugh) sinks deeper into her paranoid psyche. She returns to her room, where she continues to be plagued by voices in her head of people from her past.

At this moment, believing she is speaking with Charles (Mike Faist), Cathy states “something happened to me when I was five years old”. It’s never explicitly explained what she’s referring to, but it’s implied she was abused as a young child.

Inspired by her love of Alice In Wonderland , Cathy explains how she always carried her own “drink me” potion that would, in her words, make her “disappear”. After she downs a bottle of morphine, a young version of Cathy, dressed like Alice, crawls through the fireplace.