Entertainment

Netflix’s “East of Eden” asks if we’ve misread its monster

Before digesting Zoe Kazan’s seven-part reconsideration of “East of Eden,” I never would have suspected that we, as a society, had been conditioned to misread Cathy Ames, the angel-faced succubus at the broken heart of John Steinbeck’s novel.
Cathy has always had her champions, mind you. The internet is laden with Reddit arguments and academic examinations questioning Steinbeck’s portrait of her beastliness. The author himself was conflicted about her, writing Cathy as a dangerous beauty incapable of empathy in his book, yet expressing how dear she was to him in letters to his editor, Pascal Covici. My English teachers and literature professors were probably too tired to parse such nuance, and I don’t blame them.
Besides, Cathy is not an easy empathy object. She killed her parents, drove a man to suicide when she was young, and shot her way out of marriage and motherhood later. She changed her name to Kate Albey but never changed her ways.
Steinbeck never points to a definitive incitement to explain her behavior, instead writing, “I believe there are monsters born in the world to human parents” to open a chapter devoted to Cathy’s backstory.
When read in the author’s voice, that seems like a conclusive diagnosis. But to hear Florence Pugh deliver it as Cathy’s belief, and the establishing paradigm of Kazan’s limited series, changes things. Once we discover more about Pugh’s Cathy—once we’ve seen her do the horrible acts I’ve listed—her observation that the only true freedom in this world is economic freedom makes more sense.
“For the modern woman,” she adds to that thought, “that presents a problem.” In her time, and in her opinion, a sensible woman’s paths to financial freedom were limited to hoping for a windfall or making one’s fortune off others’ backs as a madam. In other words, you can be forever reliant on the universe’s mercy or merciless in bending it to fulfill your ambition. That doesn’t magically justify Cathy’s criminality. But she isn’t completely wrong, either.
Central to both Steinbeck’s novel and Kazan’s update is the author’s interpretation of the Hebrew word timshel, which he translates as “thou mayest.” Adam’s servant, Lee (Hoon Lee), who raises the twin boys Cathy abandons, explains that the term expresses free will. It’s a blessing of agency that sounds much easier to accept when you have more options than Cathy. Besides, she says in the opening scene’s voiceover while clawing her bloodied, broken body across a dirt field toward the home of Charles Trask (Mike Faist) and his brother Adam (Christopher Abbott), “normalcy” is relative: “Everyone is normal to himself.”
Netflix’s Cathy-centered take on “East of Eden” comes before us at a very different time than the one in which Zoe Kazan’s grandfather Elia introduced his acclaimed 1955 film. It arrives in a season dotted with trauma plots serving as gateways to female rage – some well executed, like Hulu’s extraordinary “Furious,” and others slicked in a messy goo of “been there, done that” tropes, a la “Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story.”
We’re also witnessing, from a distance, the legal perils of Lindsay Clancy, a Massachusetts labor and delivery nurse tried, on TV, for killing her three children, all under the age of 5, before attempting suicide in January 2023. Clancy pleaded not guilty, and her trial recently ended in a mistrial due to a hung jury.
The question of why she did what she did may remain unanswered. During her trial, Clancy’s defense argued that postpartum psychosis drove Clancy out of her mind. The prosecution’s argument is simpler and meaner, almost reminiscent of Steinbeck: Clancy’s actions were premeditated, her way of escaping a life she didn’t want anymore. Now Clancy’s lawyers are arguing she should be found not guilty due to a lack of sufficient evidence that she killed her children, and by lack of criminal responsibility due to insufficient evidence she was not in psychosis at the time. Another status hearing is scheduled for Nov. 2.
(Courtesy of Netflix © 2026)
When Steinbeck first introduced Cathy Ames to the public in 1952, and when Elia Kazan brought his version to the screen three years later, we were only allowed the slightest glimpse into her soul. Elia Kazan’s movie, written by Paul Osborn, barely covers the last third of Steinbeck’s 600-page epic. It also omits Lee and focuses primarily on James Dean’s Cal Trask, one of Cathy’s sons, leaving most of her story to secondhand whispers. When a lawman confirms to Cal the rumor that Cathy, known by then as the nearby town’s madam, Kate, shot his father, Cal muses, “He must have done something to hurt her.”
“No, sir,” the man counters. “He gave her everything that any woman could ask for.”
But how would he know? Zoe Kazan’s Cathy, which closely hews to Steinbeck’s original vision, defies easy assumptions about a woman’s wants and needs. Nothing about her, or the way Pugh plays her, is simple.
“East of Eden” parallels the Biblical story of Cain and Abel first through Adam and Charles Trask, then again through Adam’s twin sons Aron and Caleb. Cathy, meanwhile, deciphers the key to life through Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland,” a story about a girl like her who survives an upside-down world.
Both Steinbeck and Zoe Kazan infer that something happened to Cathy when she was very young. The filmmaker does this through spare imagery: a man baiting a little girl in a blue dress with sweets, coaxing her to follow him into a dark hole that could lead to Wonderland or much darker places. With this, Cathy’s favorite book and her mysterious violation teach her it’s better to be a predator than prey, to be the queen calling for her the heads of her enemies instead of a man’s pawn.
(Courtesy of Netflix © 2026)
Cathy Ames is a complicated symbol, as the countless people who glommed on to Clancy’s case want her to be. Viewers accustomed to crime stories about perpetrators whose behavior is explained, perhaps even justified, by what they survived may see Clancy as another alleged trauma plot come to life—a sum of biological and social hazards, as Elizabeth Bruenig wrote in The Atlantic.
“And some elements of it seem inarguably true, such as the idea that Clancy’s psychiatric care was woefully uncoordinated,” Bruenig added. “But this theory also has the odd effect of making Clancy the star of her own murder trial, for whom the viewer at home may be encouraged to root, which risks eliding the gravity of what she did.”
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We must be clear that differences between the entirely fictional Cathy and Clancy, a real and suffering person, are vast. But if the best fiction can also be instructive, maybe the last moral of Kazan’s “East of Eden” can help us hold multiple truths at once. Cathy’s reasons for doing terrible things may be understandable, even relatable, while the transgression remains unforgivable. A person may even warn us by crying for help or, as Cathy does, advising those on the verge of falling into her trap to turn back.
“You’re so kind to me, and I’ll only ever bring you trouble,” she purrs when it’s clear that Adam is smitten with her. But he refuses to listen and marries her anyway. When Cathy discovers she’s pregnant, she warns him that she’s going to leave the first chance she gets, even attempting to self-administer an abortion with a knitting needle. Not to worry, a kindly male neighbor assures Adam — her maternal urges will kick right in after the babies are born. They do not.
Instead, Cathy makes good on her many cautions, leaving her wailing infants and bleeding husband behind for a new life and a fortune earned by cunning, a con and poison. But for a few twists of fate, she could be any of us. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Pugh’s exquisite, gorgeously brutal rendition leads more of us to her defense.
“East of Eden” is streaming on Netflix.

Entertainment

Hilary Swank, 52, announces she’s pregnant with baby No. 3

Hilary Swank is expecting her third child in December.
The “Million Dollar Baby” actress, 52, took to Instagram on Wednesday to share a video of herself, husband Philip Schneider and their 3-year-old twins, Aya and Ohm, dancing and wearing what appeared to be glow sticks taped to their bodies.
Swank also showed off her baby bump featuring a tiny glow stick baby.
“A lot of people have been asking what project I’m doing next, this one releases in December. 😉👼🏼🫶🏼,” she captioned the creative family video.
Fans in the comments thread were in disbelief, with one person writing, “Whatsssss ? Wait, am I crazy, or are you pregnant again?”
Another wrote, “Ahhh congratulations!!! How beautiful! What a fun announcement 😍❤️” while a third chimed in, “Best news of the day, week, month and year!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!”
A fourth gushed, “As a 44 year old mom of twin 7 year olds, I’m so excited and impressed!! I would love to have another baby if only I had the stamina!!!! Enjoy your new hormones 😊”
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The Oscar winner and Schneider welcomed Aya and Ohm back in April 2023. She was 48 at the time.
“It wasn’t easy. But boy (and girl!) was it worth it. 👼🏼🤍👼🏼 Happy Easter!” she captioned a snapshot of herself holding the infants while taking in a sunset.
She added, “🐣🐣 Posting from pure Heaven. 🙌🏽.”
The actress first announced she was becoming a mom during an interview on “Good Morning America” in October 2022.
The “Beverly Hills, 90210” actress gushed that she was “so happy” to share the news, confessing that it was something she’d “been wanting for a long time.”
“And not just of one but of two,” she added.
Swank — who was previously married to actor Chad Lowe — and Schneider tied the knot in California back in 2018.
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Entertainment

Chuck Lorre says Anna Faris’ exit from ‘Mom’ confirmed his casting concerns

Chuck Lorre suggested his reservations about Anna Faris starring in “Mom” had been “correct” when she left the show for “mysterious reasons.”
The co-creator of the hit CBS comedy reveals in his new memoir, “Sitcom,” that he was initially hesitant to cast Faris, 49, in the lead role, despite her being the network’s first choice to play Christy Plunkett.
“I wasn’t sure Anna would be appropriate for this kind of material,” Lorre, 73, writes in his book. “Then I thought about how badly I’d bungled my working relationship with Charlie Sheen.”
In his memoir, Lorre claims that Melanie Lynskey was “terrified” of Sheen while filming the final episode of “Two and a Half Men” ahead of the actor’s 2011 exit from the show.
He also writes that the cast and crew were in a “constant state of anxiety” around Sheen.
Sheen, 61, would later tell Lorre to “suck his f–king butt” during a radio show tirade over his “firing,” but the pair eventually mended their relationship when Lorre realized Sheen would be perfect for a role in his HBO comedy series “Bookie.”
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Reflecting on his experience with Sheen, Lorre says he reconsidered his reservations about Faris, writing, “Someone’s personal life is none of my business. The mom in ‘Mom’ would be, and should be, Anna Faris.”
The “Scary Movie” actress went on to star alongside Allison Janney, who played Bonnie Plunkett, from 2013 to 2020, before exiting the series ahead of its eighth season.
“As the years went by, it became apparent that my initial reluctance to hire Anna was, in fact, correct,” Lorre writes in his memoir. “After six years, she left the show for mysterious reasons that were not mysterious to anyone on the show.”
Lorre praises the show’s later seasons, writing that “‘Mom’ found its true voice” by showing that “there is hope, and there is laughter in overcoming the seemingly fatal disease of alcoholism.”
He also criticizes CBS for canceling the series after eight seasons in 2021, writing, “CBS decided they could live without a perfect cast led by a national treasure. They canceled a show starring Allison Janney.”
Faris would later open up about her decision to leave “Mom” during a June appearance on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast.
“I do think the intensity, like, towards the end, I think I started to lose my focus,” Faris said.
“I’d never had a job, besides waitressing, for over three and a half months before,” she added, noting that her decision to leave came during a “complicated time.”
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Entertainment

Kaley Cuoco Welcomes Baby No. 2 With Fiancé Tom Pelphrey

Kaley Cuoco and Tom Pelphrey are celebrating their new family member with a big bang.
The Flight Attendant star and the Task actor—who got engaged in 2024 after two years of dating—welcomed their second child Philomena Carmine Bobby Pelphrey on Oct. 12, turning their 3-year-old daughter Matilda Carmine Richie Pelphrey into a big sister.
“There are no words to describe this feeling once again. What a blessing,” Cuoco wrote on Instagram Oct. 14. “We are so grateful for the crazy wild up and down journey that brought us to our little Philo! Family officially complete.”
Sharing sweet photos of their baby girl with Pelphrey, Cuoco wrote, “@tommypelphrey life exploded the minute we met, and the gifts keep coming. I love you forever , girl daddy!”
And she quipped that their daughter Matilda is just as thrilled by the change, adding, “Time to bring Matilda’s baby home!”

Entertainment

Listen to Hayden Panettiere 911 call as Brian Hickerson’s brother desperately tries to save actress’ life

Zach Hickerson’s desperate attempts to save actress Hayden Panettiere’s life have been revealed in a a newly released 911 audio dispatch.
A 911 call, obtained by CBS News Wednesday, revealed Brian Hickerson’s brother called authorities in a panic after finding the “Heroes” alum unresponsive in an Airbnb in South Carolina on Aug. 16.
“Oh god, oh my god,” Zach — who said he had just returned from church when he found her — can be heard on the call before the dispatcher asked if Panettiere was breathing. “No, I don’t think so.”
The dispatcher instructed Zach to find a defibrillator, which he was unable to locate. He then confirmed the actress was not breathing.
“OK, we need to start CPR,” the dispatcher told Zach. “I’m going to tell you how to do CPR, OK? We’re gonna start with ventilation first.”
Zach proceeded to perform the life-saving measures on Panettiere until first responders arrived and took over.
The “I Love You Beth Cooper” star was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:32 p.m. local time. She was 36.
Additionally, a police report previously obtained by Page Six revealed Brian, who was involved in an on-again, off-again relationship with Panettiere since 2018, gave officers a “bag of medication” she had been taking.
Page Six confirmed that Panettiere died from the toxic effects of 4-ANPP, fentanyl, methocarbamol, alprazolam and quetiapine.
Her manner of death was ruled an accident, with “no signs of trauma were discovered that would have contributed to the death.”
Hayden’s death was confirmed by her father, Skip Panettiere, via a statement that same day.
“She was an incredible light and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her — and to the millions who watched her onscreen,” he wrote. “We ask for privacy as our family takes time to process this unimaginable loss.”
Ahead of her death, Hayden was candid about her ongoing addiction to opioids and alcohol, and her journey with postpartum depression.
The “Nashville” alum recalled in 2015 the “really scary” and “painful” experience after she gave birth to her and her then-fiancé Wladimir Klitschko’s now 11-year-old daughter, Kaya.
“There’s a lot of misunderstanding — there’s a lot of people out there that think it’s not real, that’s it not true, that it’s something that’s made up in their minds, that, ‘Oh, it’s hormones,’” she shared on a vulnerable episode of “Live with Kelly and Michael.”
“They brush it off. It’s something that’s completely uncontrollable. It’s really painful and it’s really scary and women need a lot of support.”
Ultimately, Hayden’s battle with addiction led to her engagement with Klitschko ending in 2018, and her giving full custody of Kaya to her ex.
“It was the hardest thing I ever had to do,” Hayden said in 2022, per People. “But I wanted to be a good mom to her — and sometimes that means letting them go.”
According to a Greenville County Coroner’s Office obtained by Page Six, Hayden had allegedly overdosed and entered rehab before she died.

Entertainment

60 Minutes Ratings Nosedive as Dust-Up Grabs Headlines

The latest episode of 60 Minutes came in as the lowest-rated of the season so far, according to final tallies from Nielsen Media Research.
Sunday’s episode, which included headline-grabbing segments from the West Bank and an interview with the director of the Secret Service, raked in 6.061 million total viewers and some 767,000 viewers in the key 25-54 age demographic.
Veteran 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl has allegedly considered quitting the flagship news program after a round of heated edits over her segment on Israeli settler harassment in the West Bank.
The segment also led to a tense meeting on Tuesday, during which protesting staffers were reportedly threatened with termination if they ever question the editorial hierarchy at CBS News.
The program performed below CBS’s Sunday night shows Tracker and Marshals, which air after 60 Minutes and both landed well above 7 million total viewers.
Sunday’s ratings dip comes a week after 60 Minutes scored an impressive 10.2 million total viewers and 2 million viewers in the demo on October 4, widely seen as a vindication of sorts for CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss. Notably, that episode benefited from an NFL lead-in, unlike the most recent one.
This past Sunday’s program echoes some of the struggles the season kicked off with, as its debut was the lowest-rated since 2000. The September debut landed with 7.9 million total viewers, a 21% drop from the previous year’s debut episode and a significant decrease from years prior.
In October 2000, for example, the show premiered with a whopping 11.2 million total viewers — in what was a very different media environment for linear television.
Sunday’s episode, which is the season’s fourth, was also the lowest-rated fourth episode 60 Minutes has had since 2000, in both total viewers and the demo.