Character Arc
Nick Appleton is the bitter, hard-luck protagonist of 'Lot 36', the series opener and one of two episodes based directly on Guillermo del Toro's own short fiction. A struggling military veteran drowning in debt and resentment, Nick scrapes a living by bidding on the contents of abandoned storage units, hoping to flip whatever he finds for quick cash. His prejudice and self-pity make him a deliberately unsympathetic figure from the outset.
When Nick wins the auction for the long-sealed Lot 36, he believes he has finally stumbled onto a fortune. The unit's late owner left behind antique furniture, occult books and strange ritual objects that hint at dangerous esoteric dealings. Driven by greed, Nick enlists an appraiser to help him cash in, ignoring every warning sign that the collection is far more than a curiosity.
His pursuit of easy money leads him steadily toward a reckoning he has earned. As the true purpose of the unit's contents is revealed, Nick's cruelty and refusal to take responsibility come back upon him in fittingly grim fashion. The episode uses his downfall as a sharp morality tale, with Nelson grounding the character's anger and desperation so that the horror lands as both frightening and pointed.