East of Eden has brought to the screen a highly complicated female character sporting the features of Florence Pugh. A Netflix miniseries that has found success, adapted from the John Steinbeck novel of the same name, tells the story of Cathy Ames who becomes intertwined with the lives of the brothers Adam and Charles Trask. Cathy is a woman who has shaped her approach to life in a cauldron of pain. Among the most controversial and magnetic female figures, Cathy has exerted an undeniable charm on East of Eden, but she is certainly not the only dark female figure to have captured the audience’s attention. Those who feel abandonment syndrome after finishing the Netflix miniseries and who are searching for other dark, ruthless, shadow-drenched, and incredibly magnetizing figures will be pleased to come across these 3 TV series.
The Allure of Female Evil: The Most Complex Female Protagonists in TV Series
Killing Eve
Comprising four seasons streaming on Netflix, Killing Eve is based on Luke Jennings’s Villanelle novellas and follows two women who engage in a disturbingly unhealthy cat-and-mouse game. Villanelle, portrayed by Jodie Comer, is a ruthless assassin, a hitwoman who kills with theatrical flair. Lacking empathy, she enjoys the luxuries that come with her line of work, and her story intersects with Eve Polastri, played by Sandra Oh, a former security operative who becomes obsessed with Villanelle. Between the two emerges a kind of mutual attraction: Eve’s morality crumbles when faced with Villanelle’s unfettered freedom. The line between hunter and prey fades quickly, crumbles, when the pursuit of discovering one’s true nature is at stake. Both are female figures gnawed by obsession.
Sharp Objects
Adapted from Gillian Flynn’s novel Sharp Objects, Sharp Objects is an American miniseries by Marti Noxon starring Amy Adams, who plays Camille Preaker, a crime journalist leading a self-destructive life who returns to her hometown for work, forcing her to confront her mother Adora and her half-sister Amma. In this case, the female figures of the story confront a darker, more intimate and traumatic darkness, claustrophobic not only within their birthplace but within the walls of home. A trio of dysfunctional women drives this narrative, starting with Camille, an antihero prone to self-destruction, followed by the manipulative mother and the sister Amma, a girl torn between outward innocence and disarming ruthlessness. Their darkness is a legacy of pain; they are wounded women who project their suffering onto others. The miniseries is available on HBO Max.
Ozark
In Ozark the figure of Wendy Byrde becomes extremely central to the plot. Introduced as a pragmatic wife and mother, she is swept up by her husband’s criminal activities and becomes desensitized to them, discovering a fierce hunger for power and control that manifests through an unprecedented coldness. Wendy proves herself willing to do anything, to sacrifice any moral value or emotional bond simply to protect her empire. From reluctant accomplice, Wendy evolves into the operation’s strategic mind, revealing the ruthless side of ambition. Created by Mark Williams and Bill Dubuque and released for streaming in 2017 on Netflix, the series spans four seasons and has earned numerous nominations among the most prestigious awards, winning several Emmy Awards: Julia Garner, for instance, has won three Emmys for Outstanding Supporting Actress and a Golden Globe thanks to Ozark.
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