Stephen King's "N"

In Stephen King's 'N.', a psychiatric patient known only as 'N' is ruled by irrational thinking that he believes might create an apocalyptic threat in the Maine countryside...or keep the world from falling victim to it.

Episode 2 introduces patient N., treated by psychologist Dr. John (Johnny according to his sister) Bonsaint. We learn of N.’s background and his all-consuming desire to count everything in an attempt to keep the world safe. Safe from what, it’s unclear, but the manuscript containing Johnny’s notes about his newest patient reveals N.’s obsessive-compulsive disorder may have had a sinister influence on Johnny’s suicide.

Episode 3 showcases N.’s increasing mania. He asserts the order of the world is disturbed, and that he is the main cause of this disturbance thanks to an event that took place ten months ago in a place called Ackerman’s Field. From a direct transcript of Johnny’s notes, viewers witness examples of N.’s inescapable need to constantly adjust objects, such as the tissue box and vase of flowers in the psychiatrist office to “preserve the world, for now.”

N. recalls how he stumbled across a group of large rocks laid out in a circle in Ackerman’s Field last summer. An unknown force drove him to photograph the rocks, but when he looked through the camera lens, he realized there are 8 rocks instead of the 7 he can see with his naked eye. Unsure how this can be, he touched each one, counting and recounting – an act that cemented not only the fate of N., but of Johnny as well. “I’m carrying a kind of infection,” he tells Johnny, “which I could pass onto you.”

In Episode 5, N. explains that by touching the 7 stones, he feels he has “fixed” them. However, the place exudes a feeling of danger. Birds stop chittering and the air seems toxic to breathe. N. sprints toward his car to escape Ackerman’s Field and nearly makes it before looking back to see a shadowy force rise from the center of the stones. This unnameable terror, this extreme darkness, is watching him with eyes that glow like coal from the fiery depths of Hell. Suddenly he is filled with the certainty that this creature and many others like it will overrun the world if they are not held back by the power of all 8 stones. The world is in incredible danger.

Johnny notes N. has the potential for schizophrenic tendencies. In their sessions, N. speculates, “The stones are a gateway, I think. A gate between realities. But there’s a gate in our heads, too. One that keeps the insanity in all of us from flooding our intellects.” He explains that after visiting Ackerman’s Field, he feels weak and infected. He believes the monster feeds off his thoughts and he begins to feel unsafe. He barricades his home not with bars on windows or locks on doors but by creating solid numbers around him – the start of his OCD. This burden weighs on him but the consequences of ceasing to count the footsteps of others? Of ignoring the compulsion to create diagonal lines out of objects? Unthinkable.

Johnny’s case notes continue in Episode 7, reporting patient N. displays classic characteristics of OCD and rationalization behavior by renting a digital camera and returning to Ackerman’s Field regardless of trespassing and risking arrest. Johnny quotes N. as feeling as though he could “punch through the fabric of reality” into a “faded place.” Johnny rules N. delusional as N. claims that during this time, the stones said his name.

Episode 8 confirms patient N. believes he heard his name upon his second visit to Ackerman’s Field. He says it was spoken not by the stones but by the malevolent creature in the center of the stones, comprised only of a thick, choking darkness and a sinister grin. The stones resisted capture via either camera, whether developed or digital. However, this experiment once again proved the naked eye could only see 7 stones, while the viewfinder showed 8. N. insists that without the protection of the 8th stone, the world as we know it will come to a grisly end.

In Episode 9, Johnny encourages patient N. to come to terms with his delusions because there is no discernable proof of the 8th stone. N. quickly agrees and admits his OCD tendencies subsided as fall turned to winter. He began sleeping through the night once again. However, just as he was starting to feel in control of his own life, an unmarked package arrived at his door which contained undeniable proof of his suspicions.

With Episode 10 comes the discovery of a key inside the envelope with no return address. Its only definable features are the letters “A.F.” printed on a small tag attached by a string. N. argues these letters can only stand for “Ackerman’s Field,” meaning that someone has turned the property and all it contains over to him for safekeeping. In stumbling upon this sacred ground, N. removed the 8th stone by looking at it, allowing the gateway to another world to open. The only way to protect Earth against this other world and avoid an unspeakable fate is through symbolic acts of protection.

Episode 11 describes the recurring nightmare that haunts N. night after night as winter gives way to spring. In the dream, N. is surrounded by a modern wasteland. The remnants of Earth are nothing but rubble and ash. N. can see the irreversible damage and understands this snapshot of a nightmare is a premonition of what will happen if the darkness escapes Ackerman’s Field. N. is so terrified to speak the name of the creature aloud that he must write it to show Johnny. To speak it would release the utmost danger.

Episode 12 continues Johnny’s case notes, discerning N.’s decreasing OCD may somehow be connected to seasonal affective disorder. Although the OCD has subsided, N.’s nightmares grow fierce as the days start getting longer. Unable to resist, he returns to the field to find the darkness is back. N. springs into action before time runs out.

In Episode 13, N. recounts how he managed to stop the darkness by forcing his way into the clearing and touching each stone repeatedly in varying patterns. The more he touched the stones, the stronger the protection grew, until the shadows disappeared completely. N. insists this is connected to the summer and winter solstice, serving as the natural calendar of the earth, cycling from most to least dangerous seasons.

His past explained, N. feels comfort in the fact that at least one other person understands the staggering responsibility he now faces in his unending task. He insists his therapy is completed and shows no hope of recovery, only a brief respite in the winter months. Dr. Bonsaint urges him to continue his sessions but this is the last we see of the haggard man. One week later, Johnny reads the headlines: N. has committed suicide.

Episode 15 begs the question, “Can a research project lead to depression, to suicide?” After reading Dr. Bonsaint’s manuscript, his sister concludes her brother’s involvement with N.’s failed recovery has an extreme influence on Johnny’s own abrupt demise. In a letter to an old friend, she pleads him to read the manuscript and form his own opinions to assuage her fears. A few case notes can’t drive someone to end their life, she thinks. But what if they had?

Johnny visits Ackerman’s Field, claiming it is to explore the Ground Zero of N.’s delusions. He finds the ground is covered in patches of sumac, but the leaves are black, not green, and appear misshapen and unnatural. Far off, he sees a small square of white. He realizes what it contains before he is even close enough to read his name on the envelope. It contains a small key and the three words, “Sorry, Doc. – N.” Not a good number.

Shortly after Johnny finds the envelope containing the key to Ackerman’s Field and he newfound responsibility, he feels a presence behind him. Wheeling around to find nothing, he realizes it’s time to leave this dark place and makes a mad dash for his car. The urge to glance back at the stones to double count them is overwhelming, and Johnny gives in. Eight keeps it straight but when Johnny looks back, there are only seven stones. The gateway has been re-opened.

In Episode 18, Johnny feels immense terror as he counts and recounts 7 stones where there were 8 upon his arrival to Ackerman’s Field. He sees what he believes is a darkness in the center of the stones. Still holding the bag that contained the key, he holds it up to his eye to look through and sighs with relief as the 8th stone reappears. Walking back to his car once more, he convinces himself he does not share N.’s affliction, he’s just a little spooked. After all, he’s a licensed therapist, not a madman.

Episode 19 is a montage of Johnny’s swift decline from rational journaling to admitting following in N,’s footsteps. Over the course of three weeks, he begins to count everything, placing whatever he can into circles or diagonal lines. This helps relieve his stress but he can feel the protection of the 8th stone weakening and by August 10th, he finds himself driving back to Ackerman’s Field for what may be the last time.

“There is a world behind this world, filled with monsters,” Johnny’s manuscript reads. After placing the 8th stone back in September, we see him spiraling further to the point where he is unable to eat, breathe, dress himself without being wholly consumed by thoughts of what goes on at Ackerman’s Field. “I cannot live my life this way. I do not accept this – I don’t. I let N.’s obsession get a finger in my psyche. And it has continued to widen the gap, slipping in a second finger; a third.” As we watch Johnny’s sanity slip, the darkness in the field continues to grow.

Johnny has begun to self-medicate. Initially, he prescribes himself anti-seizure medication, a drug which has been known to help patients suffering from OCD. However, as his condition worsens, the audience watches him slide along the spectrum – Valium to dose himself into a calm haze, then Cymbalta based on the number of letters it has. His counting has reached an all-time high but Johnny has a new idea for a cure: suicide.

In Episode 22, we see a similar pattern emerge as Johnny begins to calm down and the seasons get colder. He visits his sister for Christmas. He begins sleeping again. He decides his journal entries can end. However, on April 1st, he bolts upright from a terrible dream. The presence in Ackerman’s Field is back.

Johnny makes his final visit to the stones. He is resolute in his decision to jump off the Bail Road Bridge. Why does he return to Ackerman’s Field? Perhaps he has one last hope that the 8th stone will stay in place and the weight of responsibility will be lifted from his shoulders. Readers may never know, as the next frame shows a wordless scream escape his lips as he plummets to the bottom of the ravine. Who will secure the stones now?

Episode 24 asks Charlie to burn the manuscript and destroy all letters containing any evidence of N.’s story. Johnny’s sister admits she visited the Bail Road Bridge in hopes that it would bring her closure, but we know this was not the only motivator. She is grateful she did not send Charlie the key to Ackerman’s Field. If she had, he may have been tempted to visit the place as she did, hours before her body was found at the bottom of the very same ravine that once held Johnny’s final form.