X
- Apple TV+
- Jun 28, 2023
- Apple TV+
- Jun 28, 2023
Summary Business negotiator Sam Nelson (Idris Elba) uses his skills to save passengers on a hijacked airplane in the seven-part thriller created by George Kay and Jim Field Smith.
Created By: Jim Field Smith, George Kay
- Apple TV+
- Jun 28, 2023
- Apple TV+
- Jun 28, 2023
Summary Business negotiator Sam Nelson (Idris Elba) uses his skills to save passengers on a hijacked airplane in the seven-part thriller created by George Kay and Jim Field Smith.
Created By: Jim Field Smith, George Kay
Season Episodes
View All Seasons
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 26 Critic Reviews
66
62% Positive
16 Reviews
16 Reviews
38% Mixed
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 26 Critic Reviews
66
62% Positive
16 Reviews
16 Reviews
38% Mixed
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
The real star here is the tension that gradually builds from episode to episode, finding genuine human drama in a confined space. Sometimes when you’re making great TV, less space is more.
Narrative seeds are sown, allowed to ripen and harvested at just the right moment. It works like clockwork without the (plentiful) larger twists being predictable.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 16 User Ratings
5.7
50% Positive
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
25% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
25% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 16 User Ratings
5.7
50% Positive
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
25% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
25% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
So many series on TV right now are overlong, overserious, overcomplicated and overly dull. “Hijack” is no more or less than it needs to be. It jolts you awake and takes the passivity out of TV-watching. It captures your attention. No − it hijacks it.
Even as “Hijack” on the whole isn’t always on the level of these two actors [Idris Elba and Neil Maskell], the moments where they have room to work together make this often turbulent series feel more like a rollicking thrill ride.
When we’re in the enclosed, claustrophobic space of the plane, the tension builds as the passengers find ways to communicate, begin to hatch plots and try to discover whether the hijackers’ guns are loaded with blanks. However, when we go to the storylines on the ground, pfffft – all that tension dissipates, like a balloon deflating.
The story loses tension and momentum as it flies into the last few episodes, stalling in much the same way the British politicians and security experts on the ground are stalling in the hopes that the plane will land before they have to comply with the hijackers’ demands. The ending includes one last surprise problem for Sam to contend with, but the final moments just don’t land.
Nothing “Hijack” asks him [Elba] to do feels especially novel. By series’ end, you may be tempted to clap, as nervous fliers do once their plane lands — not because the piloting was notably skillful, but because now you get to disembark.
When his flight from Dubai to London is hijacked, business negotiator Sam uses tries to his skills to keep everyone safe.
A number of the characters make incredibly stupid decisions throughout, but Hijack is a slick thriller that whips along at a good pace and is sure to entertain most viewers.
Report
SEASON 1