East of Eden (TV Mini Series) Part One (1981) User Reviews

Powerful mini-series inspired by a great novel. Dark, violent and seedy but balanced in the end by a moral lesson.

[Larry41OnEbay-2 · 7/10 · 27 September 2020]

SPOILERS: Following the Civil War, Union crippled veteran Cyrus Trask has two sons: Adam, a gentle, idealistic soul; and Charles, a hellraiser. Cyrus favors Adam and Charles is very aware of it, creating friction between the brothers. Cyrus, later becomes an influential diplomat who has amassed a fortune by probably embezzling from the government, pulls strings to get Adam into West Point. Adam rebels, however, and goes off to lead the life of a vagabond. Following Cyrus' death, Adam returns to the family farm in Connecticut and mends his relationship with Charles, with whom he shares a large inheritance. The series also concerns the life of Cathy Ames, an evil woman who delights in manipulating and destroying people. At 16, she drives her Latin teacher to suicide by toying with his affections. She then murders her parents and runs away, eventually becoming the mistress of a whoremaster named Jules Edwards. When Edwards realizes she is using him, however, he gives her a severe beating and leaves her to die. Adam finds her and nurses her back to health, and soon falls in love with her. Charles sees through her, but soon he too succumbs to her charms and sleeps with her. Adam and Cathy move to the Salinas Valley in California, where Cathy gets pregnant and gives birth to twin boys. Shortly afterward, she tells Adam that she is leaving him, and shoots him in the shoulder when he tries to stop her.