Caroline Nash is the mother of Ellie Nash. She is overcoming her drinking habit, which made her daughter cut herself. With her husband overseas, in the Canadian Army, and her daughter living alone, she has the house to herself.
In Whisper to a Scream, Caroline's husband leaves to join the Army for a peace mission, leaving her alone with Ellie. She is highly upset by her husband's departure, but hides her emotions from him. She becomes depressed and resorts to alcohol as a comfort, but she is left constantly vomiting all day long, while never leaving the couch. Caroline laying around on the couch.
She becomes an alcoholic and neglects Ellie, but still expects her daughter to take care of her. Finally reaching a limit, stress to build up wintith Ellie as she struggles with school work, her job, taking care of her mother, and trying to keep her job. This dramatic increase in stress causes Ellie to cut herself in a more routine and increased manner, shown in a montage intertwined with clips showing her at work and her mother continually drinking.
Season 4
In Anywhere I Lay My Head, Caroline passes out with a pot of water boiling on the stove. Ellie manages to get both of them out of the house safely, and the kitchen is the only room damaged in the house. During this time, Caroline is oblivious to Ellie's self-mutilation and passes her daughter's emotions off as being melodramatic.
Ellie's boyfriend, Sean Cameron, takes an automatic disliking to Caroline when he meets her at Degrassi's open house, and offers to share his apartment with Ellie. So, Ellie tells Caroline that she's going to stay with Ashley until the kitchen is remodeled. Caroline calls the Kerwins and finds out that Ellie is staying with Sean. Caroline angrily confronts her daughter at Sean's apartment, and when Sean tells her to leave Ellie alone, she slaps him in the face and tells him to stay away from Ellie. Caroline takes Ellie home and assures Ellie that the charred kitchen will be remodeled, and that she's a lot better off without Sean in her life. Ellie takes out the compass and other pens and needles that she once used to cut herself, and rolls up her sleeves, showing her mother the scars. Caroline finally realizes the pain that she's causing her daughter and breaks down in tears, pleading for forgiveness.
In Queen of Hearts, for a few months, Caroline is in rehab and meets Ellie for monthly dinners. When Sean moves back to Wasaga Beach, Caroline finally convinces Ellie to move back home and promises to watch her drinking habits carefully.
Season 7
In Jessie's Girl, Marco asks Ellie about her mother while Ellie is drinking, and she tells Marco that she has been sober for 17 months.
In Degrassi Goes Hollywood, Caroline's relationship with Ellie is deteriorating. Ellie's father is honorably discharged from the Canadian army, and is undergoing intensive therapy for the mental trauma that he sustained in Afghanistan. Ellie is scared of seeing her father in his current state, and Caroline assumes that she lacks compassion for her father and rebukes her, causing Ellie to have a breakdown. She desperately tries to call Ellie throughout the movie, even trying to reach her through Paige and Marco.
Trivia
Caroline is the second alcholic mother on the show. The first was Ms. Mead.
Quotes
"Don't make a scene, Eleanor. Just shut up, smile, and wave."