Hijack Season 2 TV Review: Idris Elba moves from planes to trains in the sophomore season

Plot: A Berlin underground train and its commuters are taken hostage, while authorities scramble to save hundreds of lives. Sam Nelson is at the heart of the crisis on board, where one wrong decision could spell disaster.

Review: The first season of Hijack, released back in 2023, blended a real-time concept we have seen before in shows like 24, only set entirely on an airplane. Led by Idris Elba, Hijack garnered solid reviews (from most critics) and was well received by fans, earning a second season pick-up. When trying to determine how to continue a high-intensity story like this, the question is always whether the crew will double down on the action and stakes or try to repeat the formula that made it a success to begin with. Hijack‘s second season answers that question by moving Idris Elba’s negotiator character out of the skies and onto a moving train in the heart of Berlin. The result is a season that improves upon the first while still distinguishing itself from movies like Speed and Die Hard.

As fans revisit the first season in anticipation of the new sophomore run, let’s do a quick recap. Hijack follows corporate negotiator Sam Nelson (Idris Elba), who is one of the passengers aboard Kingdom Airlines flight KA29 that gets hijacked by a group of terrorists led by Stuart Atterton (Neil Maskell). As the mid-air threat extends to Sam’s estranged wife, Marsha (Christine Adams), and son Kai, Sam does everything he can to mitigate the deaths on the plane while Marsha’s boyfriend, DI Daniel O’Farrel (Max Beesley), and DCI Zahra Gahfoor (Archie Panjabi) try to solve the crisis from London. After a crash landing, Stuart is taken into custody, and Sam is left with the trauma of the event. Season two finds Sam having spent over a year hunting down Stuart’s associates, which leads him to a plot aboard a Berlin subway train. In the midst of another hostage situation, albeit under very different circumstances, the audience must determine whether Sam is seeking justice or revenge.

The opening episodes of Hijack avoid the conceits that sequels are typically bogged down with, namely, how the protagonist ends up in the same situations over and over again. The elements of the hijacking this season could not be more distinct from season one, and that is the biggest strength this series has going for it. Idris Elba is a phenomenal leading man and well-suited to where this season takes his character. I found the first season of Hijack to be a bit heavy-handed and not up to the quality that the cast, including Elba, is associated with. This season is significantly better, and it is a testament to the ensemble of returning players, notably Christine Adams, Max Beesley, and Archie Panjabi, along with new additions such as Toby Jones. The entire cast works well, as this season has a darker feel that connects the events of season one to Sam’s narrative this time around. This narrative is so complex that I cannot divulge anything about it without risking spoilers.

This time around, the real-time device is no longer the focal point of the series’ structure. The serialized format of the story moves briskly from each hour-long chapter to the next. The season clocks in at an extra chapter compared to the first season, and the extra hour is put to good use. The confined space of an airplane in flight limited what could take place narratively in the first season, and while a train is still a relatively self-contained setting, the broader use of the train command center, as well as locations in England, gives this season more space to play with. Idris Elba, as in the first season, spends the vast majority of the season within the moving vehicle; however, since the train is on land, there is some flexibility to give Sam other places to go. The action level is just the right amount, as it was in the first season, but the real asset is the complex mix of characters whom the audience is constantly trying to identify as a hijacker, an accomplice, or a victim. The mystery and conspiracy at the core of Hijack are much more interesting this time around than in season one, and fans will find much to appreciate in how the story unfolds, making this feel more like a cinematic sequel than a season of television.

Co-creators Jim Field Smith and George Kay return to continue the story they developed in the first season. As with the first season, Jim Field Smith directs the majority of the episodes, helming six, while Shaun James Grant directs the remaining two. New writer Guy Bolton wrote three episodes with Kelly Jones, Thomas Eccleshare, Emer Kenny & Chris Dunlop, James Dormer, and Jim Field Smith each scripting an episode. Each hour-long episode builds organically into the next, with all writers and both directors doing a great job of making this feel like a movie broken into eight parts. Because it is a television series, at times the red herrings and twists may feel a bit overindulgent, but that is one of the challenges of making a complex mystery work for a full season. Watching the first season, I often felt like I had seen this story play out before, but Hijack has completely caught me off guard with this season, which I did not expect to unfold the way it did. If you watch this and are not surprised at how fresh it feels while still connecting seamlessly to the first season, I would be shocked.

While it is premiering in the coldest part of winter, Hijack still works as an entertaining work of popcorn-munching fun. Every chapter will keep audiences guessing until the finale, which is set to arrive in March. Having already watched the entire season, I hope we get a third series that manages to upend expectations as much as this batch of episodes differentiates itself from the first season. Idris Elba may not end up playing James Bond, but from the 007-esque opening credits and the resourceful, everyman approach he brings to playing Sam Nelson, the actor may have found a third iconic role to add to his work on The Wire and Luther. Hijack boasts a one-word title that could have limited this series to being the same formula again and again, but the writers have found a way to truly set this season apart. Hijack still has some of the pitfalls of long-form storytelling that may not work for everyone, but for those who were underwhelmed by the first season, this run is a massive improvement.

Hijack premieres on January 14 on AppleTV.