Cabinet of Curiosities Episode 1, “Lot 36”: Summary and ending explained

Netflix’s newest horror series has started just in time for Halloween. The streamer is taking a unique approach with this release, presenting two episodes of Guillermo del Toro’s cabinet of curiosities a day. The anthology series follows a different cast and story in each episode and explores all things macabre. As of today, October 25th, the first two episodes are out and we’re here to discuss the premiere.

Lot 36 tells the story of a greedy man named Nick Appleton, played by Tim Blake Nelson, who finds himself in a series of predicaments. As we can see from the first time we meet him, he is a conservative who lived in the 1990’s during the George HW Bush presidency. He’s racist, rude, and portrayed as someone you don’t want to root for right away. It’s always interesting when the main character is a villain.

As we learn more about Nick, we see that he makes a living buying old, unused storage units in hopes of finding expensive items to sell. He works for a guy named Eddie who runs the camp. Nick is intrigued when Eddie shows Nick suspicious footage of a stranger who has been walking on lot 36 every day for years. He thinks that there must be something valuable in it for someone to have checked on the device so many times, so he buys it.

Meanwhile, a woman named Amelia comes to see Eddie in hopes of visiting her storage unit. Unfortunately, it had already been vacated, but never received the notice of termination by post after the move. Eddie has already sold her apartment to Nick and he suggests she talk to him to see if he still has any of her belongings. But as expected, Nick is uncooperative. He believes that since he bought the room, she no longer has any right to her belongings, even though she tells him that she has valuable family items that she doesn’t want to lose. He ends up giving her a lock but no key.

Nick looks at lot 36 and is pleasantly surprised to find vintage items that appear to be expensive. He also finds a spooky photo album with pictures of Nazi soldiers and flags. However, when he’s holed up, he doesn’t show it and decides to take a candelabra, a table top, and a couple of chairs to have them inspected. As he exits the facility, we see that Amelia is still waiting outside.

Eddie recommends a woman named Agatha and Nick goes there to see how much money he can make. Although she doesn’t seem interested in the candelabra, although he says it’s made of gold, she is fascinated by the tabletop, which she says was used for seances. Together, the two drawers discover in the tabletop that contain three books – all of which appear to be used for the occult.

Agatha calls a guy named Roland to look at her finds, and just as she expected, he’s incredibly impressed with the items. Even the candelabra. He asks if there is a fourth volume as there are only three books and tells Nick if the collection was complete it would be worth $300,000. He confirms that all of these items were used for seances, which seems to make them incredibly valuable. Nick, wanting the money as soon as possible, drives her back to the storeroom that night to find the fourth book.

Roland begins informing Nick about the owner of the storage unit, saying he knows about the family. The patriarch was apparently a bad man (that explains the Nazi photos) who gambled away all his money and always wanted more. Apparently he summoned an evil entity to possess his sister Dottie, who was never found. Roland’s details are super creepy, but all Nick cares about is the money he might make.

Nick and Roland begin searching Lot 36 to find the fourth book while Amelia is still outside. Roland finds old newspapers with cover stories surrounding Dottie’s appearance, and soon the two men discover there is a secret door in the unit. Once they open it, Roland tries to warn Nick of what might be ahead. He advises him that if they see a demon, he can’t look him in the eye or try to talk to him. However, Nick doesn’t take him seriously and they go through the secret passage together.

Wunderkammer Episode 1: What Happens to Nick?

Eventually they come to a room where the stench is strong enough to raise an alarm. They see a woman’s body pinned to a circle drawn on the floor, and Roland quickly says it’s Dottie. In a hole where its face should be, a creature wiggles around. Roland explains that it’s the demon. None of this seems to faze Nick, who sees the fourth book in front of him and wastes no time in grabbing it. He climbs over the red circle drawn on the ground and draws attention to the demon.

Despite Roland’s urging to stop, Nick grabs the book, but doesn’t have it for long. Revealed as a multi-tentacled creature, the demon grabs Roland and swallows him. Suddenly, the book is set on fire, causing Nick to drop it and run away. He runs out of the storage unit and desperately tries to escape, but the demon is suddenly with him in the hallway. When he reaches the outside door, he can’t get it open, but he’s relieved to see Amelia standing outside.

But Nick doesn’t realize that Amelia isn’t there to help him. Although he begs her to open up, she decides to take the lock he gave her and put it on the door to lock him in the building. The demon appears behind him and eats him before the lights go out.

Nick is dead while Amelia is safe and the demon is on the loose to take anyone who crosses his path. It would be fun to see more of this story, but with Episode 2, “Graveyard Rats,” we’re on to the next spooky story.

Los 36 is now streaming on Netflix. Don’t miss the rest of the episodes Guillermo del Toro’s cabinet of curiosities as new ones drop every day until Friday 28th October.