REVIEW: ‘Hijack’ Episode 5 — “Less Than an Hour”

Each subsequent episode of AppleTV+’s Hijack is more intense than the last, thanks to the clever writing and showrunning from Jim Field Smith and George Kay, with direction from Smith and Mo Ali. Now at hour five in their hijacked trip to London in Hijack Episode 5, “Less Than an Hour,” KA29 has experienced loss, the hijackers are on edge as one of their own is bleeding out, and Sam Nelson (Idris Elba) is trying to use it all to his advantage.

As a character, Sam is clearly struggling to hold it all together but still manages to put his survival first. After quick thinking allowed him to get a call out to his wife with information last episode, he has to put his strategic mind to the test to convince the hijackers to land. No easy task, he uses the fact that the leader of the hijackers has a deep relationship with the man lying on the floor breathing through a pen. Manipulating him into believing that there is less than an hour before the injured hijacker dies. Through a game of telephone and hope, Sam has to trust that his decision to lie can be corroborated by the doctor in the back of the plane. It’s a gamble and one that shows Sam’s ability to take big swings and adjust.

While Sam tries to get the plane to land through messages sent in Hungarian and exploiting interpersonal dynamics between the hijackers on the ground, the authorities are given demands. With Zahra (Archie Panjabi) leading the counterterrorism investigation, the stakes grow more intense as the objectives of the hijackers come into focus, leaving the British to weigh negotiating with the organized crime group to release their leaders in order to save the passengers or “not negotiating with terrorists.”

A slower episode in its pacing, the stakes are higher, and the intensity is clear. The will they or won’t they dance of trying to land in Budapest while the authorities close in on the hijackers’ mother thanks to Sam’s voicemail. Hijack Episode 4 is a convergence point of sorts. In Dubai, Neela’s neighbors alert the authorities to something being wrong, leading them to find the bodies left behind by the organized crime “cleaners.” The authorities now have the identities of the hijackers and their families but also understand how dangerous the counterterrorist operation has become. And finally, KA29 gets hope, only to have it ripped from them in the end.

As everything comes to a head, in the different locations of the series, Hijack Episode 5 tests everyone’s resolve, especially the hijackers. As Sam plays a game of chicken with them, the audience knows that his family is in the crosshairs of the people who killed Neela. As desperation grows,  the ominous nature of the hijackers becomes less threatening and more depressing. The hijackers don’t want to land the plane, but not because of some unwavering resolve. They need to stay in the air to protect their families, coerced into working for an organization that sees them as fodder if they don’t follow directions. When Sam learns that his family is also in the line of fire, his plans change.

Sam, as a character, is saving the passengers of KA29, but more and more, it seems coincidental instead of his goal. Sam’s goal is to go home, and because of this, in the last act of Hijack Episode 5, he cuts his own plan to save the plane in order to save his family. It’s a choice that makes Sam an unpredictable character. Able to deduce the world around him through small elements, like the subtle ways brothers talk to each other and identifying a Hungarian flag on the Ana Kovacs (Kaisa Hammarlund), the co-pilot’s lapel, Sam pushes the story forward. But what keeps viewers on their toes is how he changes the outcome when pressed with losing his life or endangering his family.

Hijack Episode 5 pushes the story farther and has large swings in character relationships and developments. At the same time, its slower pace doesn’t mean that it lacks intensity. On the contrary, by giving the passengers of KA29 hope and then ripping it away in the final moments of the episode, it’s clear how dire everything is and how strong the organization that the hijackers work for is, even if we haven’t clearly seen them yet. While the title of the episode is in reference to Sam’s latest ploy, it also captures the fact that time is running out fast for everyone involved.

Hijack Episode 5 is streaming now, exclusively on AppleTV+ with new episodes airing every Wednesday in July.