Manhattan is the setting for David Sheff’s reunion with Nic after Nic chooses to return to rehabilitation. The city marks the transition from Nic’s decision to seek treatment to his father’s attempt to help him enter Hazelden’s Manhattan center.

Arrival and Setting

David flies to New York to help Nic check into the Manhattan center. From a taxi traveling into town through rain beneath a dusky lavender sky, he tries to anticipate seeing his son: he expects to be overjoyed that Nic is alive, but also furious at how close Nic came to throwing his life away.

The Meeting

David waits in his hotel lobby, where he and Nic have planned to meet. The encounter begins abruptly when Nic suddenly stands before him. In this brief sequence, Manhattan is both the practical destination for treatment and the place where the father’s anxious anticipation gives way to his son’s unexpected presence.