Season 1, Episode 2:
Where the Light Can't Find You
Fenton leaves town to search for the missing Rupert Khan. Joe delivers a message for a shady stranger, and Frank connects Laura to a local legend and a mysterious object pulled from the sea.This episode contains examples of:
- Awesomeness by Analysis:
- Frank deduces the motives of "the guy who jumped out of the plane" (JB) after just reading the story about it in the paper. He explains to Joe, Chet, and Phil that the guy knew exactly what he was doing because he waited until the plane was at a low enough altitude that there would be oxygen to breathe after he jumped, and asserts, correctly, that he got on the plane to do something specific and important.
- Joe, after going back to the beach to find JB and discovering him already gone, notices that the material he was using for a "tent" is actually the remains of a parachute, and figures out from there that he must be the aforementioned guy from the plane, which JB later confirms.JB: Guilty. You're a smart kid.
- Chekhov's Gun: Near the beginning of the premiere episode, a soldering iron with "J. Hardy" carved into it was shown sitting on a shelf. When Joe brings his toolbox to JB to fix the radio, the soldering iron is in it, and the latter even takes note of the engraving. This is how JB learns his last name (after he previously only told him his first name), and explains how he knew where Joe lives (presumably having looked up the Hardy address in a phone book) when he finds JB in his room later.
- Commonality Connection: Joe and JB form one pretty soon after meeting. It comes up in conversation that Joe's mom is dead, and JB expresses his sympathy and reveals that his own mom died too when he was around Joe's age. After he admits that he still misses her, too, Joe visibly warms up to him a bit more and helps him fix his radio.
- Establishing Character Moment: JB is first introduced on an airplane as a seemingly-bumbling Nervous Wreck passenger who performs a Satchel Switcheroo with the Tall Man, a dangerous murderer, then locks himself in the bathroom to quickly strip off a disguise and then jump out of the plane, establishing him as a resourceful Master of Disguise who performs high-risk thefts in style. He's also later shown to be respectful to Biff and Joe when paying them to help him, complimenting them when they do well and impressed with the latter's skills while not talking down to them like most adults do, setting up his series-long Odd Friendship with Joe.
- Expy: JB Cox is clearly intended to be one to D.B. Cooper, a man who, in 1971, took over a plane, jumped out with a bag of cash, and was never seen again. JB's debut likewise has him jumping out of a plane after stealing the artifact (later revealed to contain a piece of the Eye) from the Tall Man, though, unlike Cooper, we find out what happened to him afterward.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Joe is established to be one. After he mentioned in the previous episode that he can pick locks, we see it in action here when he does so to break into Fenton's briefcase. He also is able to figure out just through examination how to fix JB's broken radio, and successfully uses his tools to do so.
- Interface Spoiler: JB Cox's name is not officially revealed until the end of "Secrets and Lies" when the boys learn it from his "Wanted!" Poster (though sharp-eyed viewers could spot one of these posters in the next episode in a Freeze-Frame Bonus and learn his name that way); before this, everyone just calls him "the guy on the beach." However, audience members watching with subtitles can learn his first name from his very first line here, thanks to the subs identifying him as such. The ending credits of this and the following episode also both list him under his full name.
- It Began with a Twist of Fate: Joe's Odd Friendship with JB plays a huge role in the entire series, and is how Joe first gets the idol containing the piece of the Eye, which brings the boys into the case more directly. The two only meet in the first place because 1) Biff just so happens to be walking along the beach where JB washed up from jumping out of the plane and is camping out, approaches him, and agrees to buy him supplies in exchange for some cash; 2) she goes to Wilt's to buy said supplies when Joe happens to be there as well; and 3) Joe gets curious enough about what she's doing to tail her back to JB.
- Leave No Witnesses: The Tall Man was supposed to do this when stealing the artifact from the Astghik. Since Ern survived, the man's mysterious female boss orders him to track the kid down and finish the job. Despite his best efforts to do so, though, Ern ultimately manages to evade and escape from him (thanks to some help from Frank and friends), and leaves town for his own safety.
- Like Father, Like Son: Lampshaded by Chet after Frank's Awesomeness by Analysis moment, where he explains to Phil, "His dad's a detective." Phil retorts, "That's not genetic!"
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Biff feels this way after she pays for Joe's sandwich at Wilt's, since he gets curious enough about where she got her spending money, and the things she's buying with it, to follow her back to JB.Biff: That's the last time I buy you lunch.
- No Name Given: "The Tall Man" is the nickname that the Hardys and friends use for the seven-foot-tall hired assassin who blew up the Astghik and is trying to kill Ern as well. His real name is never revealed.
- Oh, Crap!: Frank and Callie both get this when the Tall Man enters the hotel, where Ern (whom he's trying to kill) is hiding in the basement.
- Pet the Dog:
- Despite Joe's and Biff's relationship so far mostly consisting of Snark-to-Snark Combat and finding each other weird, while she's at Wilt's to buy supplies for JB, she casually uses some of her extra money to pick up the tab for Joe's sandwich, just because. Though she ends up somewhat regretting this when it piques his curiosity and he follows her.
- JB himself, despite being a professional thief and criminal, is pretty friendly to Biff and Joe and fairly generous with paying them to help him, and still pays Joe in full despite the drop not going entirely according to plan, even telling him he did a good job.
- Satchel Switcheroo: How JB steals the artifact on the plane from the Tall Man. The latter notices only as JB is locking himself inside the bathroom, and by the time the Tall Man and the stewardess break the door open, he's already jumped out.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After Ern is hunted down and nearly killed by the Tall Man in an effort to Leave No Witnesses, he and his girlfriend skip town and never come back.
- Second Episode Introduction: JB Cox, the Wild Card thief-for-hire, main cast member, and one of the most important and frequently recurring supporting characters in the series, makes his debut in this episode.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Downplayed. Despite being set up as an important character, Ern is only in the first two episodes before he's Put on a Bus and never seen again, even after the man who was trying to kill him is no longer a threat to him. Nonetheless, he plays a big role in getting the Hardys involved in the case by being the Sole Survivor of the Astghik and giving them important info about what the Tall Man stole from the ship, and first putting them in said assassin's crosshairs as well when they try to help him. In the long run, though, Joe meeting JB (the man who stole the idol from the Tall Man) turns out to be more vital to the plot.
- Stealing from Thieves: JB, a professional thief, steals the artifact on the plane from the Tall Man, who already stole it from the crew of the Astghik in the previous episode.
- Stranger Safety: Biff's in this episode leaves something to be desired, despite having a police officer for a mom. Her walking on the beach by herself isn't that abnormal considering all the main characters are Free-Range Children, but then she saw a complete stranger, an adult man with an injured leg camping out on the beach, and went up and talked to him, accepting money to buy him supplies without even learning or asking for his name, and didn't really seem suspicious of him until Joe said something about it. It ended up being fine since JB, despite being a thief, Wouldn't Hurt a Child and truly had no ill intentions towards Biff, but this could have worked out very differently if she had been less lucky. Joe lampshades it:Joe: You don't seem like a cop's daughter.
- String Theory: Frank and Joe begin making one on a billboard in the attic, trying to figure out what Laura was investigating and who killed her. They continue adding to it throughout the season as they learn more.
- Three Lines, Some Waiting: Frank and Joe each pursue separate avenues of investigation, and the story jumps back and forth between the two of them; this becomes a frequent trend throughout the first season. We also kick off here Fenton's separate storyline of searching for Rupert, which does not appear in every episode.
- Trespassing to Talk: Joe comes home to find JB in his bedroom, with the latter stating he needed to leave the beach before he was discovered. He did come there to find out how the drop went and pay Joe for doing it, but the next episode reveals that he also came to hide something in Joe's room for safekeeping.
- Wham Shot: The final shot of the episode shows the Tall Man standing outside the Hardy home, glaring up at the light on in the attic window as the boys talk there, indicating that they're about to become his targets as well.
