Nicholas "Nick" Stokes is a fictional character on the drama series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. He is portrayed by actor George Eads.__FORCETOC__

Early life and childhood

Nicholas "Nick" Stokes was born in Dallas, Texas to Judge Bill Stokes and Lawyer Jillian Stokes. Nick is the youngest of seven siblings, and throughout his childhood he stood out through athletic and academic potential.Nick attended Texas A&M University and after leaving he joined the police department and took a job with the Dallas Crime Lab in Texas, where he specialised in hair and fiber analysis.Due to his parent's academia, Nick felt that he could never live up to their potential, and so decided to leave Texas and headed for Las Vegas, Nevada. In Vegas, Nick found that he could be his own man and in 1997, joined the successful CSI team under the leadership of Gil Grissom.

In the 2009 episode "Bloodsport", Nick tells Langston: "I'm from Austin. I grew up playing football."

Storylines

In the 2001 episode "Overload", Nick confides in Catherine Willows that he was molested at age nine by a last-minute replacement babysitter. Although it is never again directly addressed in the show, the manifestation of the trauma can be seen whenever the character has trouble investigating crimes against children, especially during the episode "Gum Drops".

Nick is shown as having been a member of a fraternity when he was in college (presumably Texas A&M University, as mentioned by his friend Eric in "Boom"); moreover, the character is presented as being familiar with fraternity hazing, as he tells a fraternity member in the fourth episode, "Pledging Mr. Johnson".

Nick, overall, is shown as having had a happy childhood and as being close to his parents. In the season five finale "Grave Danger", it is revealed that his father's nickname for him is "Pancho", and he in turn calls his father "Cisco" (a reference to the central characters in The Cisco Kid). In that episode, his boss, Gil Grissom, later uses the "Pancho" nickname to calm Nick down while they are trying to rescue him from a coffin that has been rigged with explosives. Nick's father is also shown to be a judge, as referred to by Grissom in the same episode. Nick's mother is a lawyer, and Nick is the youngest of seven children. He has at least one brother, as mentioned in the Season 3 Episode Revenge Is Best Served Cold.

The character, Nick, has a natural empathy with the people affected by the crimes he investigates. Other members of the team believe that it is better to maintain an emotional distance, and this difference in outlook is a source of much comment and the occasional raised voice. Other than that, Nick is usually shown to be affable and to get along with his co-workers. He considers co-worker Warrick Brown a very good friend. After Warrick died, Nick even put together a college fund for his son. He also often jokes and laughs with Greg Sanders even when the rookie CSI was still working as a lab technician. He often flirts with and teases Sara Sidle which highlights their relaxed friendship. He shares a good-natured relationship with former supervisor Gil Grissom, almost that of father and son, or mentor and apprentice. When Raymond Langston, the newest and least-experienced member of the team, took over Grissom, he acted as his right-hand man, giving him tips and helping with investigations. He is occasionally seen flirting with Catherine Willows, his good friend and co-worker. Though he is not often seen with Conrad Ecklie, dayshift supervisor, their relationship is a bumpy one.

In the Season 5 finale "Grave Danger", Nick was nearly killed when he was incapacitated using ether, put inside an acrylic glass coffin and buried underground while an installed webcam provided visuals of his plight to his coworkers who were initially helpless to save him. It turned out he was the target of an attack on the CSI team by a man whose daughter was implicated in a murder case. At the height of the ordeal it is worth noting that Nick almost attempted suicide using a gun provided by his kidnapper. Nick dropped the gun, before pulling the trigger, on seeing Warrick dig down to him. The deathtrap also went beyond what even the kidnapper had planned, when fire ants entered Nick's coffin through a crack in the acrylic glass and attacked him. Although Nick was in horrific agony in this ordeal, the ants gave Gil Grissom (who is an entomologist) a vital clue that allowed the team to determine his location. The box was also rigged with semtex, an explosive. Thus informed, Nick's coworkers rushed to his rescue and managed to save him from death.

Despite being one of the more well-adjusted members of Grissom's team, the character has personally been the victim of a number of crimes during the course of the series: having had his car (and all the evidence inside it) stolen ("Rashomama"); having been kidnapped and buried alive ("Grave Danger"); held at gunpoint more than once ("Who Are You?"); stalked by Nigel Crane ("Stalker"); and thrown out of a second-story window ("Stalker"). He was also accused of killing a prostitute, Kristy Hopkins before learning that he was framed by Jack Willman, the pimp who truly killed the prostitute ("Boom").

During the sixth season of CSI, Nick grew an ill-advised moustache, but soon got rid of it.

In the season 9 premiere, For Warrick, Nick is shown to remain calm and composed upon learning of Warrick's death. However, later, when confronting a wounded Undersheriff McKeen—Warrick's killer—the undersheriff goads an increasingly angry Nick into attempting to shoot him as well. Jim Brass hears a shot fired and arrives on the scene to find McKeen still alive and wounded, and a once-again calm Nick stating coldly that "[he] missed".

In "The Grave Shift", after Catherine turned down the offer to move into Grissom's now-vacant office, she offered it to Nick—who accepted, after some thought. He in turn decided to share the office space with Greg Sanders and Riley Adams, who are shown unpacking alongside him. Additionally, Grissom's infamous fetal pig in a jar has been placed in there as well, by Hodges. During the tenth season premiere, Nick is promoted to Assistant Supervisor on the Grave Yard shift after Sara advises Catherine that she needs a number two. Nick is also seen dealing with tarantulas, and is shown taking Grissom's old tarantula under his care.

A sort of running gag throughout the series seems to indicate that whenever Nick gets with a woman, misfortune befalls someone else. In "Boom", he sleeps with a prostitute named Kristi Hopkins, and she is murdered some time later. In "Built to Kill, Part 1", Nick and co-worker Catherine Willows go to a club together. Shortly after Nick hooks up with a woman at the club, Catherine is drugged and abducted. In "For Gedda", during breakfast with the team at a diner, Nick eyes a pretty waitress and stays behind to get her number while Warrick Brown leaves. Shortly after, Warrick is murdered.

Nick has shown to be an emotional person through the series: He nearly cried when being held at gunpoint in "Who Are You?", broke down and was on the verge of committing suicide when buried alive in a glass coffin in "Grave Danger", and broke down once again in "Turn, Turn, Turn" when discussing the death of the victim with Raymond Langston, and how he should have seen the danger signs over the year he had known her, and done something to prevent it.

It is often mentioned that Nick is something of a ladies' man. However, the only onscreen romance over the course of the series was the brief affair with Kristi.

References

• Nick Stokes Biography