Hijack Season 1 Episode 4 packed a lot into 45-minutes, giving us more information about the hijackers of Kingdom 2-9, while also revealing that Idris Elba’s Sam Nelson is a man with a certain set of skills that is doing all of the heavy lifting with absolutely no resources.
Sam is resourceful, however, so he waits for the absolute right moment to strike as to go undetected and not make the situation worse. He’s so sly, in fact, that while helping one of the hijackers, who was bleeding out after being stabbed with a pair of scissors, he managed to send his wife a message that helped avoid a nuclear option.
No one on the plane seemingly realized that they were mere seconds from getting obliterated by the jets, who were working on behalf of Bucharest to thwart an assumed attack on their capital.
The pilot attempted to contact the jets, but with no means of communication, there was no way to let them know that their intended target wasn’t Romania but rather London, England.
Sam’s message—riddled with information—allowed them to get a deeper look into the hijackers, thus proving that they were British nationals involved in very dangerous organized crime.
It’s the most we’ve learned about the hijackers thus far, and while it isn’t much, it’s a start as I’ve been wondering why they are so dense that they seemingly have no idea how planes work. If your goal is to hijack a plane, I would think you would know the ins and outs without having to rely on information for the captain and the passengers. They are, quite frankly, a disappointing group of hijackers who have nearly lost control of the plane on several occasions.
Stuart promised that the hijacking would result in no passenger deaths, but he was right about needing to establish that they aren’t messing around to regain control before total chaos ensued. It was the only way to maintain safety, ironically.
We learned that the shot, sadly, killed one of the female passengers, who early in the season got into a heated exchange with the mother traveling with her family, as she was looking for her daughter, Lizzy.
It does, however, prove that they are using blanks, as Stuart had to switch out the bullets before firing that fated shot. Still, Sam is in no position to take any of them on right now after going head-to-head with Terry and getting tied up with zip ties.
Accepting defeat, he found another way to get a leg up, while also genuinely trying to help Lewis stay alive. He came through on his promise to call his mother, Elaine, while also using the moment to his advantage. He actually cares about helping people because he knows it’s the only way to stay alive, which is, selfishly, his ultimate goal. Plus, you can get so much more done as an ally than an enemy.
Lewis’ scene talking to his mother, Elaine, was absolutely heartbreaking as you could feel their pain. It was only made worse by the fact that Lewis said he never wanted to do this, nor was he ready, which gives us an unfiltered look at the hijackers who are trying to look tough and hiding the fact that they are also riddled with fears and anxiety.
And that brings me to my biggest question—who are they working for? At one point, Terry reminds them that they are doing this for Edgar and John, but who is that exactly? Are they the two guys who are cleaning up the messes all over town? Because that leads me to my overarching question: why did they kill Neela and her family? It seemed like a very random murder to initiate unless they needed Neela to look the other way to get all the guns through TSA. Was someone working with them on the inside?
There’s also the question of motive as the full contents of the plan weren’t thoroughly laid out. We know that because someone found a bullet in the bathroom, the plan was set into motion way before it should’ve been, which has presented some hiccups and bumps in the road, but surely, whoever is behind this would’ve considered the possibility and worked through a contingency plan that was better than simply ignoring the jets and hoping they don’t go away.
Obviously, if they detected a problem, they would have to intervene to prevent a tragedy.
There’s also Terry’s moment of hesitation and doubt when he makes the call to his superiors and gets a voicemail. If they are risking their lives—and the lives of so many on board—would it kill for the person, presumably Edgar or John, to pick up?
With the flight no longer making any contact with any ATC or ground personnel, it’s evident that something has gone terribly wrong, but figuring out what to do, how to stop it, and how to prevent a catastrophe is proving to be a tall order.
In the final scene, a list of demands is given to the Home Secretary, and he immediately puts in a call to the Foreign Secretary, but for now, it remains unknown exactly what’s on the line—and what’s to happen if the demands aren’t met.
Hijack has done an exceptional job at transporting the audience into the plane, as I feel as though I know, and empathize (well, for the most part, but Hugo really needs to shut up) with every single passenger. The anxiety that they are feeling is transferred off-screen, and despite watching from the comfort of my couch, I have an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach as if I were on board.
As for Elba, he’s proven before this that he’s a leading man, but it’s been made abundantly clear that he’s made for action/thriller films. I love how calm and composed he is as the situation escalates, though he’s one of the only people accomplishing much of anything. It’s hard for the ground team to understand what happened without any contact with the plane, but if it wasn’t for Sam’s insight and trust in his wife, they’d be nowhere.
Now, I hope that Marsha and Kai don’t become the next target for the two hitmen clean-up crew, and I wish that she reported that suspicious call to Daniel when she realized that Sam’s situation on the flight wasn’t a false alarm.
And while things may be rocky between her and Sam, I’m glad that Daniel trusts his lady’s ex-husband’s intuition because next to Sam, he’s one of the most crucial players right now.
What did you think of the episode? Are you losing faith in the hijackers to do what they’ve set out to accomplish? Does the series have you holding onto the edge of your seat?
Share your thoughts, and remember, new episodes air weekly on Wednesday on Apple TV+.
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