REVIEW: ‘Hijack’ Episode 2 — “3 Degrees”

A real-time series, Hijack is AppleTV+’s latest thrilling drama and the debut series for Idris Elba and his production company Green Door Production on the platform. At the end of the episode, Sam Nelson, played by the stalwart Idris Elba, offered to help the hijackers. As we discovered that he is a negotiator by trade, we also realize that his strategy for making it back home isn’t about being calm. It’s about infiltrating them. That moment alone escalates the tension of the series, but when the two Americans decide to fight back, Hijack Episode 2, “3 Degrees,” hits the high octane promised in the marketing.

As we head into the second hour of the flight, Sam can prove his loyalty, even if it just gets them to turn a blind eye to him, we find out if his notification to his ex-wife will alert the authorities, but we also learn that the hijackers aren’t resulting to killing as they fend off an attempt from the passengers to take back control. Hijack Episode 2 does a good job of capturing the stakes of the series so far.

The real-time pacing of the series is its biggest strength because the audience learns as everyone on the plane does. It creates uncertainty, and as Sam begins to turn on the other passengers, hurting the chances of the hijacking being discovered, you don’t know if you’re supposed to root for him or not. It’s a duplicitous moment for Sam as a character, and his manipulation of the hijackers runs so deep that you question his methods. But as the plan reveals itself, each character’s choice falls into place.

For the cast in the air, working in silence yields great results, especially for Elba as Sam and Ben Miles as Robin, the Captain of the plane who made the asinine decision to beat his co-pilot in order to save the flight attendant he was sleeping with, opening the cockpit and surrendering the plane in the process. Redemption isn’t what I would really call it, but it’s a moment of connection that shows how far Sam is thinking ahead.

That said, the people on the ground begin to put together the clues. From the security worker’s urgent call from episode one to the small inconsistencies in take-off, there is a deep-running plot that we will only piece together as the clock ticks closer to the seven-hour mark. The casualties in this episode are harrowing and add a darker element on the ground than in the air. While the hijackers haven’t killed anyone, in fact restraining themselves from doing so, Hijack Episode 2 also shows that whoever is working in tandem isn’t scared to kill a whole family.

Hijack Episode 2 ups the stakes for the series, and it does so through character work. The series format leaves ample questions at the end of every episode, which propels its weekly episodic releases. While it was a good thing to release episodes one and two together, the dangerous cliffhanger of Hijack Episode 2 is the perfect way to pull viewers back in for Episode 3. The series has its small fumbling moments, particularly in how it handles the transitions between the ground and the air. However, the series’ pacing through each impactful moment is expert.

Hijack Episode 1 and Episode 2 are streaming now, exclusively on AppleTV+, with new episodes every Wednesday through August 2, 2023.