East of Eden (2026) & Below (2026) (Netflix series)
By now, regular BQ visitors know how eclectic our tastes run.....
A nice way of saying we'll watch anything, anywhere, any time with no regard to genre or particular target demographic whatsoever.....
We've been that way since....well, since forever. We're not about to change, so here goes......we plowed through two Netflix mini-series that couldn't be more different in their execution, tone and intended audience.
And we found a surprisingly good share of stuff to love in one of them......and only a few worthy things in the one with highest pedigree.
Which brings us to.....
East of Eden
The primary creative force behind this full adaptation of the classic John Steinbeck novel is producer-writer Zoe Kazan, granddaughter of the legendary director Elia Kazan, who helmed the 1955 film version with James Dean.
While the Kazan film served up only a final chunk of the novel, Zoe Kazan's scripts for seven Netflix episodes cover the full epic sprawl of a generational saga that moves across the mid 19th century into the early 20th.
Though meticulous in its craftmanship and performances, the opening chapters, we're sorry to report, make for a molasses slow slog, made worse by the ruinous, impenetrable dark lighting in almost every scene.
We begin with the gloomy saga of two at-odds brothers Adam and Michael Trask (Christopher Abbot, Mike Faist) Kazan's glacial storytelling, combined with the equally lethargic directing of Garth Davis and Laure de-Clermont Tonnerre make the opening episodes a punishment to endure. But once this show's stunning MVP starts to shake things up, you're helpless to do anything but keep watching.
We speak, of course, of the can't-take-your-eyes-off-her Florence Pugh, as the force of nature, horribly broken and damaged-beyond-repair sociopath Cathy. First seen crawling through the prairie and then into the brothers' cabin, beaten to a bloody pulp, Cathy ultimately splits the brothers apart, marrying Adam and moving to Salinas California as his unhappy, unwilling wife. And then she proceeds to upend the lives of everyone she encounters in her psychopathic ferocity to survive by herself as a self sufficient independent woman....no easy task in an age when women are either no more than subservient baby-making attachments to men.....or whores.
That would help explain why the unstoppable Cathy walks out on Adam, reinvents herself as Kate, and establishing herself as the all-powerful Madame of her very own thriving whorehouse. But when she fled Adam, she left him to raise Cal and Aron, their baby sons. (Adam disregards her parting advice to simply throw them down a well)........and the boys, the restless, rebellious Cal and and innocent, good-hearted Aron, soon grow into young men old enough to encounter their mother, with fateful results for all concerned.
Pugh is a fearless wonder to behold as she reveals the depths of Cathy's aching rage and makes the role a crowning achievement for her that will no doubt factor into every awards conversation of next year. She should already start clearing a shelf for her expected Golden Globe, Emmy, and any other bric-a-brac handed out by awards shows. Right next to her in excellence stands Hoon Lee as the Trask family's teacher/mentor and unofficial uncle, whose life illuminates the inherent brutal racism and bigotry toward the Chinese immigrants of early 20th century America.
For Pugh and Lee alone, we'll rate this show at least a 3 star (***) must stream.......but Zoe Kazan should study her granddad's movies more closely to learn how to properly grip an audience with a compelling story.
Below
Nobody had to entice us with superb actors to get us to sign on to this one....
A creature feature? Oh yes, please. We were raised on 'em. You had us at the sight of the first tentacle.
Imagine our delight at this series additional bonuses......sharp intelligent scripts in all six episodes, a fine cast putting the drama and scares across with gusto and a skillful blending of family drama, ecological issues, and a welcome subtlety and restraint in the horror sequences.
Josh Hartnett, sporting a salty accent, plays Calvin Penny, a weary, struggling Newfoundland fisherman whose livelihood, due to the voracious plundering of the bay's resident Kraken, is reduced to hauling in iceberg chunks. Haunted by the death of his father (sucked down and devoured by Squidzy), he can barely keep what's left of his family together.
More complications arrive as Mr. Squid starts snacking on the tourists and a high-tech boatload of eco-warriors show up thinking they can track and capture the beast for greater fortune and glory. (Heh, heh, heh, heh.....)
Calvin's forced to deal with all of this.....his fractured family, the rampaging squid, the eco-jerks, and all his neighbors being bought out and forced to move away by a corporate bigwig with his own rapacious agenda. (Not to mention a virus caused by Squid slime on the ice chunks and Calvin finding himself shipwrecked and washed up on a neighboring island inhabited by outcasts who've actually established a working co-dependency with the Squidinator.)
Oh and did we forget to throw in Squiddykins is a Mama, who's also tending to a whole mess 'o eggs? So maybe eating people is just part of post-partum depression.....
"Below" delivers a full package of thrills, melodrama, food-for-thought on the state of our world climate......and finally a satisfying, distinctly un-cheesy finale.
Well put together and way better than we ever expected it to be. After several days of streaming "Below" and "East of Eden", we're convinced that Netflix moguls should find a project to team up our favorite female stars from each..... Florence Pugh and the Mommy Squid.....now that's more empowered women than you'll ever find on all the 'Real Housewives' shows put together.....
4 & 1/2 stars (****1/2).
Chain Reaction by Lee Child and Andrew Child (2026)
The Key to a Killer by Olivia Blacke (2026)
BQ visitors: Best of all possible weekends to you all.
Trumpanzees still showing up at Trump rallies: You do know that recently he bragged that he could say anything at all to you mouth breathers and you'd believe him.....
With whatever active brain cells you still have left in operation, think about that for a moment......if he holds you all in such utter contempt as to make that statement...... what does that say about you?
Just askin'........
It struck us that this week seemed overloaded with ridiculous people who hit the public eye within the space of a few days.....
And not in a good way.
We now, with deep shame and barely concealed contempt, present this week's rogue gallery, a trashy triumvirate of people we wish we'd never heard of......
And hope to never again.
Shane Gillis's 3rd Saturday Night Live hosting...
We're beginning to suspect that this monumentally unfunny, talentless lump has some scandalous photos or tapes he's using to blackmail SNL bigwig Lorne Michaels.
What else could explain why this supposedly MAGA-friendly non-entity has now racked up three hosting gigs.....(and all of this happening after he'd already been kicked off the show as a potential new cast member.)
After starting the 10/10/26 show with a desperately toxic, dead-on-arrival monologue, Gillis continued the wreckage by dropping an F-bomb during a skit and then walking off during the show's 'good-nights' final segment......(presumably to get himself back to Morgan Wallen's 'God's Country')
He might be one of the worst stand-up comics we've ever endured......smirking and giggling to himself as he stumbles on, as if he believes it's enough that he thinks he's funny. Uh.....nope. Not even a little bit.
MAGA can have him. And memo to Lorne Michaels....how about finally firing him for good this time?
How could Saturday Night Live possibly lampoon her? When, to the astonishment and helpless laughter of millions, she introduced herself as a one-woman SNL skit.
Alfred Hitchcock's notorious obsession with blondes seems miniscule compared to Trump's. Thwarted from dating Ivanka, Trump has sent out a never ending assembly line of bubble-brained blondes as either Press Secretaries, Attorney Generals, or in Natalie's case, squeezy toy and diaper-changer.
You'll pardon us if we didn't chuckle at Katie's presentation, reading a prepared brief statement like a third-grader with a learning disability.
Think about what our country's become with a slew of brain-dead, bottom feeding slugs given important government positions......
This is to shake our heads in disgust and sadness.....not to laugh at anymore.
Anyone notice that among the Trump Clown Car of useless, laughable scumbags, the men (Hegseth, Patel, RFK Jr.) get to freely carry out their lunacy unimpeded, unchecked.....while the women serve as nothing more than throw-'em-under-the-bus road kill.
So we bid a fond "don't let the door bump your ass on the way out" farewell to rubber-lipped grifter Guilfoyle as she's now probably trying a Honey Please Go Fund Me to cover her credit card debt while praying daily for a Trump pardon before the Big Macs and fries take their toll on him.
(Don't forget to cast your vote this November!)
