JB Cox

J.B. Cox
Biographical information
occupation	Thief-for-hire
Physical description
gender	Male
hair	Brown
eyes	Green
Family
parents	Unnamed mother
Chronology
continuity	2020 TV series
portrayed by	Atticus Mitchell

J.B. Cox is a renowned thief-for-hire. He was initially hired by Gloria Estabrook to recover her piece of The Eye that was stolen from her ship.

History

Stealing the Idol from the Tall Man

JB is hired to steal the gold idol from the Tall Man. He boards a plane under the guise of a nervous flyer and takes a seat next to the Tall Man. JB reaches over him to grab his inhaler from his bag. While retrieving his inhaler, JB manages to swap his carry-on with the Tall Man’s before running to the bathroom. With the idol in his possession, JB escapes through the hold and jumps out the plane with a parachute.

JB lands on a beach in Bridgeport but he injures his leg. He later comes across Biff and pays her to grab him a few items from the store. She returns with the items but was also followed by Joe. JB claims that he was on the Astghik and that he was the only one to make it off. He has a radio and if he can get it fixed, he can call someone he trusts to get him off the beach. Joe is willing to help him fix it but he’d have to go back home to get his tools. Joe later returns with his toolbox and ask who JB is trying to call. He reveals that he was never on the Astghik. He was simply hired to make a delivery, though he doesn’t know who his buyer is, which is why he needs the radio to work so that he can pinpoint the drop.

Joe fixes the radio and find the broadcast from JB’s buyer for the drop. The broadcast is in Morse code and pinpoints the drop in the center of town. with JB’s leg in the condition that it is, he pays Joe and Biff $80 to deliver an envelope to Stoney Creek Park.

After they leave, JB abandons his camp, follows Joe home, and sneaks into his room. When Joe enters, he asks about the drop. Joe did as asked, but he stayed behind and watched as the chief of police picked up the envelope. Joe reveals that he went back to the campsite and says that it was smart of JB to use a parachute as a tent. He’s managed to figure out that JB is the fugitive who jumped out the plane. JB admits this is true. Joe inquires about what he stole. JB replies that Joe is better off not knowing.

Saving Joe at the Carnival

JB returns to Joe's house to retrieve the idol that he hid in Joe's vent, but he is interrupted as by the Tall Man, who enters just a few moments after. JB hides in the closet while the Tall Man searches the room for the idol. He finds the idol but leaves it behind as it no longer contains the piece inside.

JB follows the Tall Man to the carnival as he is hunting Joe down. He follows the Tall Man and Joe into the Whacky Shack and distracts the Tall Man long enough for Joe to get away. JB attacks the Tall Man with a pipe wrench, but he is disarmed. The Tall Man picks up the wrench and charges towards JB, who uses the carnival's power mains to shock the Tall Man, nearly killing him and depowering the carnival as well. Before fleeing, JB steals his radiation detector.

Finding the Buyer

JB awaits at the drop point for the buyer, but he is chased off by Frank and Joe, much to JB's dismay, as he has yet to be paid. JB warns them that they’re dealing with dangerous people and suggests that they let it go.

JB enters his motel room to find Stefan awaiting his return. He explains to JB that he failed to hand over the piece as is, which is why he hasn't been compensated. They didn’t want the idol, they wanted what was inside. JB’s delivery wasn’t complete, and he won’t get paid until it is. JB attacks Stefan out of anger, but he doesn’t land a single punch.

JB pulls Joe into a supply closet at Wilt's and tells him that he needs the piece from inside the idol. Joe initially claims that he has no idea what JB is referring to. JB pleads with him and makes Joe an offer. If he hands over the piece then he will get Joe information on his mother in exchange.

JB returns to his motel room with a newspaper. He notices an article about Gloria Estabrook. Attached to it is a photo of Gloria with Stefan, who JB recognizes from their last encounter. He now knows just who his buyer is.

JB intercepts Joe on his way to the police station. Now that he knows that Gloria is the buyer, he intends to use Joe as leverage and puts him in the back of his car. JB drives Joe into the woods and explains to Joe that no harm will come upon him. He simply has to tell the buyer where to find the piece so that he can get paid. JB reveals to Joe that his grandma is the buyer and that she'll have all the answers he'll need. They enter the Eastabrook estate and find Frank and Stefan instead.

Stealing the Khan Piece

With Joe as a hostage, JB demands to speak with Gloria, wrapping his arm around Joe's neck. When Stefan left to get Gloria, he asked Joe if he was ok. Stefan returns with Gloria and she demands that he releases Joe. JB reveals to her that Joe knows where the piece is. Gloria distracts him long enough for Stefan to sneak up on JB and knock him unconscious. JB is then taken into custody by Chief Collig, who pulls into an alley with JB in the backseat. JB presumes that Chief Collig is about to kill him at Gloria’s behest. Instead, Chief Collig shows JB a picture of the piece that was hidden inside the idol and tells JB to find the other fraction of it that’s somewhere in town.

JB puts on a wig and sneaks into Mrs. Khan’s hotel disguised as an exterminator. He slips two tubes under her door and pumps her suite with knockout gas. Just inside the room, Mrs. Khan says that she’s feeling light headed before she falls asleep. Nigel can barely stand when JB enters the room. He takes a swing at JB but the gas has rendered him unconscious. With Mrs. Khan incapacitated, JB recovers her piece of the Eye.

JB holds the Khan piece in his hand while playing a game of solitaire. He instantly starts to realize what it’s capable of. Later, JB finds Joe at Wilt's disguised as a random civilian. He reveals that he has the Khan piece of the Eye and that it is magic. He asks Joe what else it is capable of. Joe claims that he doesn’t know just how powerful it is, but that there are three pieces in total. After discovering the Eye’s potential, JB wants to collect all three pieces and put them back together, which Joe advises him against.

Losing the Khan Piece

JB sits in his motel room waiting for the Khan piece to show him something. It gives him a brief glimpse of the future, allowing him to get the upper hand on Stefan when he breaks into JB’s room. JB hits him over the head with a lamp and handcuffs his hands. JB explains to Stefan his plan to steal all three pieces of the Eye for himself. Stefan warns him that many people have died for the Eye, but JB doesn’t seem concerned.

In yet another disguise, JB returns to Wilt’s, orders a slice of pie, and makes friendly conversation with Wilt about the old ways and how the world has evolved. JB claims that he’s thinking of moving to Bridgeport and manipulates Wilt into telling him about the Nabokovs and their address.

JB breaks into Stacy’s house in search of the Nabokov’s piece of the Eye. He is first attacked by her “aunt” with a baseball bat, but JB counters the attack thanks to his piece of the Eye. But due to their piece of the Eye, Stacy and her “uncle” sneak up on him from behind, take his stone and beat him.

Stealing the Estabrook Piece

JB breaks into Gloria’s house and reveals that he no longer has the Khan piece after losing it to the Nabokovs, specifically Victor Nabokov’s successor. Gloria is still willing to work with JB and tells him that if he wants to get paid then he has to get back her piece of the Eye. Stefan then escorts him out.

JB knocks on Joe's window and enters his room. While Joe is downstairs with his father, JB ransacks his room until he finds the Eye and exits through the window.

JB arrives at the Estabrook estate and returns Gloria’s piece of the Eye. Frank walks in just as she pays him for his services. Frank is furious with JB for betraying Joe, who saw him as a friend.

Later, at the end of the finale episode, we see that JB left his radio with Joe along with a note. The note read that he decided to leave town. he revealed that he didn't know exactly how to say he was sorry and good bye, so he said that if Joe ever needed him, he could just call in. As Joe is reading it, it shows JB in a costume as one of the workers investigating the collapsed tunnel. He find the now completed eye and puts it in his pocket, then turns and leaves.

Personality and traits

JB is a lying and manipulative thief. On several instances, he lied to Joe and/or Biff in order to gain their help. He's also a master of disguise, using various looks to help him with each job. He disguised himself as an exterminator in order to steal Mrs. Khan piece to The Eye and dressed as a regular family man with a fake mustache in order to trick Wilt into telling him about Stacy's address.

Although JB is a thief we see a nice, friendly side of him with his relationship with Joe. JB simply does what he does so he can get paid, he doesn't mean to hurt anyone. He protected Joe at the carnival, he only used sleeping gas to get the Khan's piece, and even tells Joe on their way to Gloria's house that he wasn't a killer and has never killed anyone.

Skills and abilities

JB is an expert thief and escape artist as demonstrated when he managed to steal The Eye from the Tall Man's bag and escape an airplane with a parachute.

Appearances

• Where the Light Can't Find You
• Of Freedom and Pleasure
• The Drop
• What Happened in Bridgeport
• The Key
• The Secret Room
• No Getting Out
• Eye to Eye
• While the Clock Ticked (voice only)

Fun facts and trivia

• JB does not exist in previous adaptations. He is a character created specifically for the series.
  • JB is based off a real life historical figure. A man named DB Cooper, who took over an airplane and jumped out of it with a bag full of cash in 1971. Whatever happened of DB Cooper remains a mystery, but his story clearly provides a bit of fun inspiration for J.B.

Gallery

Joe, Biff, and JB