Seymour Parrish, known by his nickname Sy to customers and coworkers, is a shy and softspoken middle aged man who works fulltime at a local SavMart department store as their most skilled photo tech. Sy is portrayed as an average man who is often dismissed by others as being a harmless eccentric, or a 'bit of an oddball', because he is obsessed with perfection in his line of work. What many people don't realize is that Sy Parrish is a deeply troubled man under his exterior, with a secret horrific past and tremendous psychological damage which has resulted in his introverted personality. Sy enjoys his work because it allows him to peer into the happy lives of his customers and is particularly obsessed with one suburban family, the Yorkins. Nina and Will Yorkin have been coming to SavMart for photos ever since their 9 year old son Jake was born because Sy gives them exceptionally good service, often giving them discounts or free merchandise as a sign of friendship. But Sy's good intentions eventually become much more invasive as he begins to stalk the Yorkins and fantasizes about becoming Uncle Sy . Sy has also secretly collected several hundred photos of the Yorkins during the past 10 years and has knowledge of almost every detail of their lives. Outside of SavMart, Sy lives alone in a low income apartment complex in a section of downtown L.A. and spends his evenings watching TV in a barren room or staring at pictures of the Yorkins on his wall. As he finally begins to make a connection with Nina Yorkin and feels more accepted , he suddenly loses his job because his manager, who has become increasingly unhappy with Sy's performance, discovers the missing photos. This triggers a terrible blow to Sy's mentality, as his job was his life, and he begins to launch a one man crusade against Will Yorkin (who has been secretly cheating on his wife) to make him pay for what he did to his family.