Cabinet of Curiosities season 1 episode 1 recap NOTE: this post contains spoilers for Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities season 1 episode 1, "Lot 36."
There is a time for greed, and there is a time for self-preservation. In the first episode of Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities, however, the lines between the two are blurred.
Let’s take a look at how Nick’s (Tim Blake Nelson) greed affected him in “Lot 36,” an episode based on an original story by Guillermo del Toro, written by Regina Corrado and directed by Guillermo Navarro.
The Old Man and the Veteran
Following a brief introduction by del Toro himself presenting his cabinet of curiosities to viewers, “Lot 36” takes us to the apartment of a lonely old man (James Neely). He is going about his daily routine (eating a pre-made meal and chopping raw rabbits) while President George W. Bush’s speech about invading Iraq plays on TV in the background. It’s 2003 and the old man is suddenly hit by a heart attack.
One man’s death is another man’s bread, and this event is particularly important for our main protagonist, Nick. With no family to claim the old man’s storage unit, Lot 36 is put up for auction. Enters Nick Appleton, a war veteran with a lot of built-up anger. When we meet him, he is listening to a far-right radio station, catching us up on the fact that Nick does not support immigrants, Black lives, or basically anything related to liberal thinking. No, Nick is mostly a damaged man with a lot of debt. Hence his interest in the auction.
Money, money, money
Tipped off by Eddie (Demetrius Grosse), the storage facility’s manager, Nick is ready to make the highest bid to get his hands on the contents of Lot 36. Since the storage unit belonged to the same owner since 1945, Eddie and Nick believe it is bound to contain many valuable items. That’s good for Nick, because he owes a lot of money to some very threatening people.
After claiming the unit as his own, Nick prepares to rummage through the content of Lot 36 but before he gets to it, Eddie wants to show him a curious video. It shows the previous owner hopping in front of the unit before going in with a bag filled with something (rabbit remains perhaps?). Eddie says no one knew what the old man was doing there, but he went in every day, always entering with a full bag and leaving with its contents emptied. Of course, Nick doesn’t care, and he won’t before it’s too late.
As Nick sets off to inspect Lot 36, Eddie deals with Emilia (Elpidia Carrillo), a middle-aged woman of Latin descent whose storage unit he mistakenly sold. It turns out the eviction letters he sent her were mailed to the wrong address, and Emilia finds out her family belongings have been sold to auction. Nick happens to be the buyer so Eddie, not really owning up to his mistake, suggests that Emilia deal with him to see if some of her things are still around. But as we’ve noticed from the get-go, Nick isn’t a big fan of anyone who doesn’t speak fluent English, so when Emilia asks him if she can check her old unit to see if any of her personal items, like family photographs and letters, are still there, he unceremoniously turns her away before heading back into the storage facility. This behavior drives Emilia to tell him she hopes he’ll rot in hell.
Riches and wonders
Going through the old man’s belongings in Lot 36, Nick finds all sorts of things, including a golden candelabra, antique chairs and a cool-looking table. Jackpot! He packs it all up and is ready to head to his favorite pawn shop when he is suddenly attacked by a dangerous man swinging a hammer. Nick is told he has to pay off $1200 by the next day, and that doesn’t take into account the money he’ll need to fix his hammered windshield.
Finding Nick licking his wounds in his office, Eddie takes pity on the man and gives him the address of Agatha (Martha Burns), a woman who should be rather interested in the items he packed up in the back of his truck. In Agatha’s shop, Nick discovers the table he found is a séance table one could use to summon demons and that a hidden compartment is safekeeping three books: “Liber Primus: Daemonia,” “Liber Secundus: Symvolia,” and “Liber Tertius: Perilipsi.” If Agatha doesn’t want the ominous books for herself, she knows of someone who will fetch a good price for them. Thus, Roland (Sebastian Roché) comes into the picture.
Roland explains that the books are part of a collection and worth about ten thousand dollars. However, there is supposed to be a fourth book, “Liber Quartus: Sacramentum,” and it’s the rarest of them all. If it’s in Lot 36, Roland will cut Nick a check for 300 thousand dollars. Roland is barely done stating his offer that Nick is already taking him to the storage facility. On the road, Roland confesses that he knew of the previous owner of Lot 36, who was a German involved with the occult believed to have offered his sister, Dottie, as a vessel to a demon. It turns out the missing book is rare because it is supposed to self-combust once the contract between the demon and summoner is sealed. Skeptical Nick buys none of this tale and only thinks about the 300 thousand dollars he can make if the book is still there.
What goes around comes around
Searching through Lot 36, Nick and Roland come across a secret door leading to a sinister corridor decorated with crucifixes. Down that corridor is a room where what remains of Dottie is pinned to the floor in the middle of a summoning circle. Her face is gone, replaced with a hole from which menacing tentacles are poking out. “Liber Quartus: Sacramentum” is also there, neatly placed open on a pedestal.
At this point, Nick only sees dollar signs and ignores Roland’s warnings. He steps across the summoning circle, smudging it in the process, and all hell breaks loose. The demon rises, freed, and devours Roland. Upon Roland’s death, the book self-combusts and with it all hopes for Nick to make a solid buck. But vanished money prospects are the least of his problems now as the demon turns his attention to Nick. He runs away but the only exit to the storage facility is a locked door from the outside.
On the other side of that door is Emilia, who’s been sticking around all day in hopes that Nick would change his mind. He never did, so when it is his turn to ask for help, Emilia gives him a taste of his own medicine and turns away, leaving him alone. She doesn’t know a demon is after him, but it seems her wish to see him sent to hell is about to come true. Nick is killed, and viewers are left to remember that kindness should prevail over greed.
Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities is now streaming on Netflix.
