Jonathan Beckett

“	You were wrong. Before. Fate controls most of the outcomes in the world, but not all of them. I control the rest.	”
	— Jonathan to Maggie

Jonathan Beckett (also known as The Hourglass Man) is a recurring character on AMC's NOS4A2. He is portrayed by Paul Schneider.

Jonathan aligns himself with Charlie Manx to help kill Vic McQueen. However, after a fatal encounter with Maggie Leigh, during which time she stabbed him and destroyed his Hourglass, Jonathan was arrested and sentenced to prison.^[1]

Throughout the Series

Season 2

The Night Road

Jonathan wipes blood from his ear. He then gets a call from Abe, who wishes to arrange a meeting between him and Charlie Manx. Jonathan would be honored to meet him, but asks "Who is Vic McQueen?"

Bruce Wayne McQueen

Agent Ash and Agent Chen pull over the Hourglass Man and instruct him to leave the area. He claims to be lost and asks for directions. He orders them to head down to the lake house and kill everyone inside except for Wayne. They draw their guns and order him to put his hands in the air. He raises his hand, only to show them the hourglass he holds. He flips it over and places it onto the dashboard. They appear to be completely under his control. Lastly, he tells them to make sure the boy isn’t touched and to kill themselves afterward. Later, he runs Vic down and knocks her off her bike, allowing Manx to escape.

The Hourglass

Jonathan Beckett approaches Doctor Gregory outside of the hospital and asks for a moment of his time before instructing him to kill Vic McQueen.

With the help of her Tiles, Maggie tracks the Hourglass Man to the Providence Hotel. The lights flicker as she enters, gaining his attention. He approaches Maggie at the bar and offers to buy her a drink. He remarks that he normally has to travel to Parnassus to enjoy the company of other Strong Creatives. He wonders if fate brought them together. Maggie tells him about her Tiles and how they tell her everything she needs to know. He suspects that Maggie’s loved ones don’t like her using her gifts and what's why they met. He tells Maggie that they’re hard to love. People fear them. He compares toning down their gifts to declawing a cat; it being downright cruel. Maggie then asks to see his gift. Jonathan reveals his Hourglass to Maggie.

Jonathan surmises that Maggie came looking for him because she seeks the company of someone like herself. Maggie asks that he show her what he’s capable of. Jonathan asks the bartender for a bottle of the finest bourbon and to put it on the house. He flips his Hourglass, the lights flicker, and the bartender does as told. He then flips his Hourglass back over and the bartender leaves. Like all Creatives, the use of Jonathan’s gift comes as a price. It causes his ears to bleed and dampens his memory. He can’t remember the first 20 years of his life. He then asks to see Maggie’s gift on display, though her gift causes seizures. Jonathan reveals to Maggie that he’s learned to mitigate the cost of his Hourglass and the last 20 years of his life are perfectly clear. He can teach Maggie, too. It’ll only cost her one question. And so, he invites Maggie upstairs.

There are two ways for a Strong Creative to mitigate the cost of their gift. Option A: hurt yourself. Option B: hurt someone else. Jonathan has explored both options. He has the scars to prove it from having burned himself with cigarettes. Maggie chooses the former and grabs her Tiles, as he whispers a question into her ear. She tells him that he might not like the answer, but he is prepared for whatever fate has in store for him. He asks for Maggie’s arm and burns her with a lit cigarette. He tells Maggie to harness the pain until it fills her up and only then to use her gift. Maggie does as instructed and asks her Tiles if John will achieve immortality. She’s amazed that she is seizure-free, but Johnathan is more concerned with the question of his immortality. The Tiles spell out "NO." He slams his fist onto the table, shattering the glass.

Jonathan catches Maggie just as it seems she’s leaving. She claims that she was simply about to pour him another drink. Jonathan apologizes for scaring her earlier. He informs her that when he asks for a moment of someone’s time, he keeps his memory by taking their life. He thought that maybe he could also "bank" their time. He asks if Maggie is familiar with Charlie Manx. He’s unlocked the secret to immortality. Jonathan wishes to do the same. He tells Maggie to ask her Tiles again, as they have to be wrong, but she insists they’re always right. When she refuses, Jonathan decides that he’s going to make Maggie ask her Tiles. He reaches inside his coat pocket for his Hourglass but realizes that Maggie’s stolen it, as she sprints for the door. Jonathan stops Maggie and takes his Hourglass back.

He slams Maggie into a mirror and demands to know who she is. She came specifically for him and he wants to know why. Maggie reveals that she’s a friend of Vic McQueen, who is still alive and calls him a failed errand-boy. Jonathan throws Maggie across the couch and onto the floor. She grabs a piece of furniture and beats Jonathan over the head with it. They proceed to wrestle for control of his Hourglass. She grabs a shard of glass and stabs him in the abdomen. Maggie gets to her feet and steps on the Hourglass before walking out.

Bats

Following his encounter with Maggie, Jonathan was arrested and sentenced to prison, where he is cellmates with Bing Partridge.^[1]

Powers and Abilities

Jonathan, better known as the Hourglass Man, has only been shown to use his abilities for personal gain, most recently with helping Manx kidnap Wayne McQueen and trying to kill Vic McQueen. His alias, the Hourglass Man, is derived from his unique ability to manipulate people's minds and force them to act on his behalf. He does this using a small brown hourglass. However, there are limits to his abilities. His victims are only under his control until the hourglass runs out of sand. Like with all gifts, it comes at price. In Jonathan's case, severe memory loss. He can't remember the first 20 years of his life. However, he's discovered at least two ways to mitigate the cost of using his Hourglass. Option A — hurt yourself or option B — hurt someone else. Jonathan has explored both options, settling on the latter. Choosing to kill his victims after they've done his will, allowing him to maintain his memory. His ultimate goal is immortality, hoping to discover a way to "bank" his victims' time. However, according to Maggie's Scrabble Tiles, he will not accomplish this goal.

Physical Appearance

Jonathan is an older man with with brown eyes, dark brown hair and a grey goatee, who often wears suits.

Personality

Jonathan has presented himself as an evil and self-serving man. He ran Vic McQueen over with a car despite having no previous encounters with her and forced two F.B.I agents to kill themselves as well as others.

Quotes

“	May I have a moment of your time?	”
	— Jonathan to Agent Ash and Agent Chen

“	Oh, so that's what brought you in here. Girl trouble. Let me guess, she doesn't like you using your gift. We're hard to love. People fall for us because of our abilities, but they always come to fear the very thing that drew them in. They tell us to tone it down, betray our gifts. Like declawing a cat. It's cruel.	”
	— Jonathan to Maggie

“	I've learned to mitigate the cost of my Hourglass. The last twenty years are clear as a bell.	”
	— Jonathan to Maggie

“	You were wrong. Before. Fate controls most of the outcomes in the world, but not all of them. I control the rest.	”
	— Jonathan to Maggie

“	See, when I ask for a moment of someone's time, I keep my memory by taking their life. I thought maybe there was a was I could also bank their time.	”
	— Jonathan to Maggie