Nick Smith

## Nick

> "*There's kinds of people in the world. There's the ones that the Shadows fuck with and the ones that they leave alone. [...] So, they pick me, for who knows why, and I'm just, what, supposed to sit here with my dick in my hand, and let this fucking wall stain run my whole life!? Dad goes out for a beer one night, never comes back, breaks my ma's heart body, and I'm left to clean up her sh... shit and piss until I put a fucking bullet through my head? No, fuck that, and fuck this fucking Shadow! How do we get rid of it?*"
> ― Nick to West, Finalgirl, and Dagr[source]
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**Nick Smith** is a character on the Hulu original series *Monsterland*. He is portrayed by Charlie Tahan.

Nick is a 16 year old high school drop out and avid video gamer whose life is plagued with misfortune after a Shadow attached itself to him and his mother.

## Season 1

### Eugene, OR

Nick goes to the pharmacy to pick up his mother’s prescription. Unfortunately, her medication, Atavax, is no longer supported by their insurance, and so Nick must pay $248. All he has is $38, and the pharmacist gives him four Atavax pills.

Nick arrives home, where he has rigged a bell system for his bedridden mother. With only a handful of pills, he is forced to cut each in half in order to make them last. After dinner, he and his mom, Gayle, play "Hit or Stay." She speaks with a slur and asks him about school. He claims that he got a B+ on his math test. He lies and tells her that after school, he played with two of his friends when in actuality, he has no friends. So when Gayle tells him to invite his friends over, he claims that he’s too busy with work and school.

After helping his mom into bed, Nick gets online to play video games. After a late night of gaming, Nick notices a moving shadow in the shape of a man in his room. He runs out in a panic and slams to the door behind him. He slowly re-enters his room and confronts the dark figure. He introduces himself but the shadow is non-responsive until Nick makes hand shadows, which the dark figure mimics. Nick then takes a photo of the shadow and uploads it to a public forum.

Gayle awakens from her sleep frightened. She had a dream that Nick left her and never came back. Nick assures her that he would never leave her. Gayle tells Nick that he’s handsome like his father and asks him to lay in bed with her. After Gayle falls asleep, Nick goes back into his room, but the shadow is gone. Nick receives a reply in the forums, directing him to the Shadow Watch chat, where he meets West, Finalgirl, and Dagr. They have 12 confirmed sightings in the southeast, and 10 in the Midwest, where Dagr’s cousin caught one in his garage in Milwaukee. They explain how shadows prey on the vulnerable and work invisibly for years before they show themselves. And they hate light. West goes on to explain that they’re at war with the Shadows. He then inquires about Nick’s life and how bad it has been as of late. He believes that all of Nick problems are the work of shadows. They sow darkness and trade in violence, chaos, and fear. They killed Finalgirl’s parents. First time she saw one, she thought nothing of it. She ignored it. Even after her dad got laid off, started drinking and bought a gun. She didn’t realize until their funerals. The shadow was there, too. Watching on the church wall. She suspects the shadow made him kill her mom and then himself. The Shadow Watch is a group of concerned citizens who are committed to ending the Shadows’ reign of terror. Nick then reveals that he’s recently come across a shadow in his house.

Nick lies awake at night. He goes into the garage and hops into his dad’s truck. He finds a liquor bottle in the glove compartment but puts it back. He then wraps himself in his dad’s flannel jacket and falls asleep. He wakes up in the morning and discovers that he’s overslept. He arrives for work two hours late and is called into the boss’ office, who fires him. Nick punches the locker in a fit of rage and throws his uniform at Darryl.

On the way home, Nick stops by the mechanic shop where his dad used to work and asks the mechanics if they know a man named Mark Smith, who used to work there. They recall a man working there named Mark about 15 years ago, but he left in a hurry.

Nick returns home and he and his mother have dinner. Gayle asks about his day. He claims that he’s failing English because his teacher hates him. Nick helps his mother into bed, and she asks if he can brush her hair. As Nick goes to pick the brush up off the floor, a shadow hand reaches for the brush, startling Nick.

Nick informs West, Finalgirl, and Dagr that he saw the shadow again, in his mom’s room. West warns Nick that by the time he starts seeing the shadows, they’ve already got their hooks in good and ready. He then asks about Nick’s mom and if anything has happened to her in the last year. He warns Nick that the pain in his life is organized by the Shadows. Their pain and doubts feed the Shadows. Dagr points out that this is why they need Senator Skip Fletcher. He said the word "shadow" nine times in his debate last week. They believe this to be a signal. Finalgirl says that Nick will need an alias if he’s to join them. They decide to call him Wolf after he reveals his gamertag is "LoneWolf." West reveals that he met Dagr when he was 12 and posting suicide threats on a gaming thread. West found his phone number and talked the belt off his neck. That was right when his dad left. That’s how Dagr knew he had a Shadow. He never seen it but blames it for ruining his life. West doesn’t have a Shadow. But his brother, James, did. He broke his leg on a ski trip with his school. The doctor gave him oxy for the pain. A year later, West found him on the toilet with a needle sticking out of his arm. West and Dagr go to bed, but Finalgirl agrees to stay up with Nick.

Nick has set up a layer of Christmas lights around his bed to fend the Shadows away. Finalgirl asks where he lives. He replies Eugene, Oregon. Finalgirl is in Montana. She moved in with her aunt after her parents died. But she wants to move to Florida. Nick can’t go anywhere as he has his mother to take care of. She had a stroke last year while she was at work. And now, she has to take pills that they can no longer afford. As for Nick’s dad, he left when Nick was five. Nick wished he was dead for a long time, until his mom got sick. Now, he needs him but has no way of finding him. While laying in bed, Nick sees the shadow approaching from the ceiling. He turns on the flashlight to scare it away. Nick jumps out of bed and takes cover under a table. The bells start to ring, and he races to his mother’s room, where Gayle lays on the floor. Nick calls an ambulance. Before long they arrive and tend to Gayle. She had a night terror. They ask if she’s taking her medication, and Nick reveals that he only gave her half.

Nick has covered his mother’s door in Christmas lights to protect her from the Shadow. He tries to join the chat but his internet service has been cut off due to lack of payment. So, Nick sneaks into his old school and uses the computers in the library to talk with West, Finalgirl, and Dagr. West is becoming more concerned about the Shadow and wants to plan their next attack. West tells Nick that they're family now. Nick is joined by Ms. Harmon, the school's principal. She asks how he’s been and tells him that she has something of his from her office and tells him to wait. However, this is but a lie to keep him in place until security arrives. They tell Nick that he has to leave but asks to see what’s inside his back first. Nick reveals that it’s simply his PS4, which he’s selling to pay some bills.

Nick blames all his misfortune on his Shadow. From his father leaving to him losing his job. He asks West, Finalgirl, and Dagr how to kill it. West reveals that the Shadow can die if they hit it with enough light. Finalgirl wants to send a message to make the Shadows fear them. Nick suggests live-streaming it. Not long after, he has created a contraption he named "the Shadow Slayer." It blasts 32,000 lumens with a magnifier, and it’s got two settings. Nick was hoping they would kill the Shadow for him, but they explain that it’s his responsibility to kill his Shadow. Nick is reluctant to take on the responsibility, and Dagr becomes enraged. West tells Nick that the only way he can be a part of the Watch is to kill his Shadow. West and Dagr then inform Nick that they tracked down his father. He’d started a new family, with a wife and son in a beautiful home.

After discovering the truth about his father, Nick agrees to kill his Shadow with assistance from West, Finalgirl, and Dagr. Finalgirl tells Nick that now everyone will see him and kisses him on the cheek. Nick tells his mother that he loves her and that if something happens to him, she should know he did it for them. Gayle is uncertain of what he means, but he doesn’t bother to elaborate. Nick goes live as he hunts the Shadow tormenting him and ruining his life. He chases the Shadow down into the hallway and corners it. The Shadow gets down on his knees and surrenders. Nick's mother, Gayle, calls out to him as he opens fire and kills the Shadow.