Character Analysis
Jack the Jock
Jack is your stereotypical hot football player in a lot of ways. For one thing, he's a total cutie. Even after one hundred years of being fed on, Nikki remembers his face: "a boy with floppy brown hair and brown eyes" (P.1). In fact, Jack's appearance is so striking and meaningful to Nikki that she remembers it even though she's forgotten his name. Emerging from a hundred-year-emotional fog, she can still picture him in her mind:
Hair that flopped forward in a tangled mess. Big brown eyes that could search me out in any crowd. Callused hands that could lead me anywhere. (P.32)
Is Jack just that good-looking? Nikki seems to think so. When she first runs into him after the Return, she's almost paralyzed by how good-looking he is: "He was beautiful" (1.54), she says. His face has lost its baby fat, he now has an eyebrow piercing, and apparently he is hotness incarnate.
And this means that other girls notice how hot he is, too, of course—after they get together, Nikki jokes about him "making your way through the entire cheerleading squad" (5.81). He even acknowledges his past, saying: "Look, my history isn't exactly a secret […] I'd change it if I could" (7.90). Looks like somebody might have gotten to skip over the awkward years and zoom straight into hunk-dom. Lucky guy.
I Am Jack's Emotions
For all his typical bro-dude appearance, however, Jack is a pretty sweet guy, and the way he acts toward Nikki reflects a lot of his emotions. Before he and Nikki are even dating, for example, he helps her grieve for her mother: "Jack came with me to the cemetery most days. He'd bring a book and read under a tree several headstones away, waiting quietly, as if what I was doing was totally normal" (1.79). If that's not supportive, we don't know what is.
Adding to our sense that Jack is a young man who's down with his feelings, the poor boy openly struggles with Nikki's disappearance and reappearance. When she seems to open up to him, he tries to establish more of a connection, saying: "I'm not asking for it to be the same as it was, but I just want to know you again. Please. Can I know you again?" (11.36). He's heartbroken and has missed her something fierce, so now that she's back, he yearns to reestablish a connection. And he's not afraid to say as much.
Unfortunately for Jack, however, this is when Nikki lies to him, saying she doesn't remember anything from their shared past. For more on this, be sure to read up on Nikki elsewhere in this section. What matters here is that Jack's hurt. Like, big time. Jack's one to rally when it comes to his feelings, though, and so while it takes him a while, he finally tells post-Feed Nikki that he loves her:
I have a lifetime of memories made up of chestnut wars and poker games and midnight excursions and Christmas Dances… It's all you. It's only ever been you. I love you. (27.103)
We can't blame Jack for being cagey about his feelings right after Nikki gets back, since her disappearance burned him pretty badly. But he's totally down to give her a second chance despite this, and even willing to open himself up to her again completely.
Mr. Patience
When Jack and Nikki reestablish contact after her absence, he gives her space. When he presses her for an answer about what's been going on in Mrs. Stone's classroom after school, and Nikki responds by getting up to leave, Jack tells her, with his voice "achingly sad" (5.35), that she doesn't have to talk to him after all. Nikki tells him he can stay, too, and after that, he sits with her every day after school in total silence. Persistent? Yup.
He also doesn't pressure Nikki to have sex with him before the Feed, though he's definitely slept with girls before. He tells Nikki, "I don't want to screw it up" (7.92). So as much as he shows persistence in their after school exchange, he also shows patience and understanding.
Even when Nikki is finally ready to tell Jack the truth, he gives her space. It's the middle of the night when she shows up to talk, and he hands her a deck of cards. He says: "You deal […] Then when you're ready to talk, talk" (18.33). This harkens back to the days when Jack and Nikki would play cards as kids, back when they were just friends. A lot may have changed since then, but in his heart, Jack still wants to be a good friend to her.
Jack is so accommodating that, even after he gets into a fight with Neal/Cole, he tries to make amends for Nikki's sake. He approaches Neal, saying: "We got off to a bad start, but you're obviously a friend of Becks's" (20.19). This is hilariously unexpected to both Neal/Cole and Nikki—and also pretty magnanimous on Jack's part. He doesn't like Neal, but he's willing to table his feelings in favor of keeping things smooth for Nikki.
Shortly after this awkward moment passes, Jack tells Nikki: "Becks, it's okay if you're with someone else. I know we're not together anymore" (20.33). And when he does, again we see him going back to their friendship, prioritizing it over his own romantic hurt.
Of course, Jack's not perfect, so when he finds out that Nikki's been hiding the truth from him (that the Tunnels will reclaim her), he shuts her out. But even then he comes back after a few days, telling her: "I was […] hurt you weren't honest with me […] I wasn't about to give up, but I needed to do it on my own. For a little while" (27.71). It makes perfect sense that he's been hurt—Nikki's lied to him (again), after all—but his willingness to come back to her and explain himself shows real loyalty and maturity. Go Jack, go.
One Hero, Please
Partway through her Return, Nikki begins to notice Jack protecting her. After "Neal" shows up to harass her, Jack asks their English teacher if he can close the door during subsequent study sessions. Nikki wonders: "Was I reading it right? He was protecting me. If Cole showed up again today, he'd have to go through Jack" (11.17). And this small action is just the beginning—Jack quickly enters let's-save-Nikki mode.
When Nikki tells Jack the truth (well, most of it) about the Everneath, he gets all solution-oriented. He tells her, holding her face in his hands: "We have a plan, Becks. We have time" (23.25). Pretty confident about saving her, isn't he?
Nikki feeds off Jack's emotions a couple times by accident, but when she's feeling extra depleted, he voluntarily gives her some of his emotional energy. She gets mad at him because it's dangerous, but he responds: "I'm sorry […] But I knew you'd never ask" (28.83). More selfless points for Jack.
We get a little foreshadowing that Jack has hero potential before his grand heroic gesture. Nikki refers to him as a "hero" (2.30) after he helps win a football game, and then at one point when Nikki's in his room, she sees "The picture on top of his dresser of Jack as a ten-year-old, standing next to his grandpa […] one of the last of the old-West cowboys, a relic of the history of our town" (18.24). Is Jack a modern-day cowboy? Seems possible to us. He's certainly standing next to one.
At the end, when the Tunnels come for Nikki, Jack figures out that he can take her place. He remembers something Meredith says earlier: "She told me to be strong like Orpheus. She said it was his choice… to be a hero" (32.75). Once Jack realizes he can make that same choice, he's all over it, like butter on bread. Like Orpheus, he chooses to travel to the underworld to save his love.
Jack throws Nikki out of the way of the Tunnels and leaps in, feet-first. He tells her: "Stay with me, Becks. Dream of me. I am ever yours" (32.94). Not only are those some pretty freaking romantic words to go out by, but they demonstrate Jack's selfless heroism and love for Nikki.