I wasn't sure I needed a second season of this Apple TV thriller, and "Hijack" season 2 gets off to a relatively sedate start that didn't necessarily sell me on the show going forward — but then it dropped a big, daft reveal occured right at the end that's grabbed my attention
If you're ever out in the world and happen to see Sam Nelson (Idris Elba) boarding any form of public transportation, it's probably a wise decision not to set foot on that particular plane or train. That's based on the fact that Apple TV's thriller "Hijack" is back on the streaming service as of today, and the "Luther" star has somehow managed to find himself at the heart of another disaster.
This time out, he's swapped a mid-air hijacking bound for London for one closer to the ground, as he's caught in a potentially deadly underground situation elsewhere in Europe. Ahead of the show's return, I had the chance to watch the "Hijack" season 2 premiere (which is now streaming on Apple TV), and now I cannot wait to fit the rest of the series in.
Why? Well, while I wouldn't necessarily describe the whole episode as top-tier stuff, it was the shock reveal at the end of the episode that convinced me s me convinced to stick with the show, going forward — read on to find out why.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for "Hijack" season 2.
What is 'Hijack' season 2 about?
After successfully shepherding his hijacked flight to a rocky landing at the end of season 1, "Hijack" season 2 picks up with Sam Nelson (Idris Elba) in Berlin, Germany.
There, he boards an underground U-Bahn train and finds himself at the heart of another crisis, one day after landing in the capital: His train is hijacked, and all the passengers are taken hostage. Cue another fraught situation where authorities scramble to avoid a terrible incident, and one wrong move could spell disaster for everyone on board.
In addition to the "Luther" star, the "Hijack" season 2 cast also includes Christine Adams, Max Beesley, and Archie Panjabi, who featured in season 1. New cast members include Christian Näthe, Clare-Hope Ashitey, Lisa Vicari, Toby Jones, Karima McAdams and Christiane Paul.
The 'Hijack' season 2 contains one big cliffhanger that has me locked in
I watched (and if I'm honest, promptly forgot about) "Hijack" and liked it enough, but wasn't super excited about the second season. My prevailing feeling going into the episode could easily be summed up as follows: "How much more exciting can it be to watch Sam worm his way out of another public transportation nightmare?"
Well, "Hijack" season 2's first episode didn't convince me the team had enough material, at first, either. While it's clear that something weird is going on, it's mostly all about setting the pieces in motion. Sam boards the train, local police have an altercation with a passenger, we meet some of the other passengers on board, and we're teased with some action elsewhere in Germany, too.
On the whole, it's not the explosive opener for a show advertised as a high-octane thriller that you might expect, and it doesn't contain too much of the action teased in the trailer... but then that all changed in the final moments of the episode.
We're going firmly into "Hijack" season 2 spoiler territory here, so consider this your final warning to click away.
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In the final scenes of the show, after a nervous (and apparently suspended!) train driver, Otto, has already ignored orders to stop from the control room and driven his train away, he has a run-in with Sam.
Having unlocked the door into the driver's cabin and asked him why he was driving so quickly, Sam takes charge of the situation. A panicked Otto rambles about "something" going on before asking how Sam got into the driver's section and who he is.
Sam's response? He looks towards the camera, tells Otto to listen, and then delivers the final line of the episode: "I'm hijacking this train," accompanied by a metal needle-drop.
Why's he doing it? What could his motive possibly be? Who has Otto been talking to? What will happen to the passengers? And what's going to happen next? All these questions will have to wait until next week ...
Given the build-up throughout the episode, and looking back on the trailer, I can't quite believe that I didn't see that twist coming, but I also think it's just silly enough that it may well work.
I'm sure it'll be a groanworthy gear shift for some thriller fans, but if "Hijack" season 2 commits to this silly twist and manages to spin enough thrills out of it, this new installment may well end up being a wild ride worth taking. The only way to find out will be to keep watching, so for now, I'll be checking back into Apple TV every week for the foreseeable future.
New episodes of "Hijack" season 2 premiere Wednesdays on Apple TV through to the season finale on March 4.
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