Hijack Season 2 Review – Idris Elba is back with the most accessible show ever | television

DRemember the lazy, foggy days of summer 2023, when Idris Elba got on a plane and was hijacked? It was on a show called Hijack. For seven straight hours that supposedly showcased the adventure in real time, our man in the pressurized interior deduced complex situations from misplaced laundry bags, sent coded messages via fruit cartons and dying men’s phones, saved lives, averted disasters, and had Kingdom Flight 29 safely landed by Holly Aird so he could return to his family, though viewers agreed that the scenes among the plane’s wreckage were very boring indeed.

And he wasn’t even a cop like Bruce Willis in Die Hard or a federal counter-terrorism agent like Kiefer Sutherland in 24! Or a pilot, which might have been useful too. It was Sam Nelson, a business negotiator. He had extreme negotiating skills in business, and he beat the bad guys. Who turned out to be not terrorists but a criminal gang that wanted to sell its shares in the airline. Which was a bit strange, but it didn’t matter. One of the villains escaped, but the point is that Sam was a hero and Elba was the only man who could play his part and make it work. He was a powerful, relentless force. The rock on which this fragile, tottering edifice of nonsense was built.

Now Sam Idris Elba Nelson is back. And this time, he’s on a train. An underground train, part of the Berlin metro, and let me tell you – shenanigans ensue. Sam is on his way to meet a German government official. This gives us initial tension, especially since we know that the Germans are efficient and do not like to be kept waiting. It’s not xenophobia or stereotypes when it’s true.

Just before Sam gets on the train, he notices a slight noise caused by a man wearing a red backpack. Red color indicates danger and herring so we must remain double alert. Sam’s always vigilant because you never know when some business might need to be negotiated, but I don’t think he’s aware of the annoying part here because he doesn’t know he’s in for a new series of kidnappings.

Also before Sam gets on the train, he is met by enthusiastic young employee Mei Tan (Yasmin Baez) from his business negotiation job? She’s glad she bumped into him and wants to talk. He told her he had to take a farther carriage and then walked away. I have never dealt with anyone so difficult in my life. If I hadn’t pledged allegiance to Sam Idris Elba Nelson, I would have done so now.

He gets on the train. The same goes for the backpack. And so does the speaker. And so are the various other plot devices – I mean the actors – I mean the zeros – I mean the characters. These are a group of mouthy students, one of whom is claustrophobic named George (Paddy Holland), two harassed teachers, a goth and her friend, an ordinary cop (but will they be useful in any unusual circumstances that may or may not arise?), a mother with a crying child, a weirdo harassing a female volunteer paramedic (but will she be useful in any unusual, possibly violent circumstances that may or may not arise?), and an increasingly nervous-looking driver named Otto. Soon he’s trying to contact the man pretending to be a subway engineer (did I mention there’s a man pretending to be a subway engineer?) and is about to divert the train to an off-grid section of the network to try to get out of his role in everything that’s happening, but to no avail.

Above ground we have other people. There’s Marsha (Christine Adams), Sam’s wife, looking miserable in a cabin in the Highlands: I’m sure we’ll have to find out why when the main characters need a break from all the stress. There’s Clara (Lisa Vicari), who works in the Metro’s control room and has agreed to stay an extra hour to help a friend (because “nothing happens on U5 anyway,” she says bluntly, and I’m here to completely tip my hat to everyone who had even the slightest involvement in the creation of Hijack 2).

Clara begins to wonder if everything is okay with Otto, who keeps needing the bathroom and running red lights. There is its director, a metaphorical gray man who may or may not reveal heroic abilities in the face of extraordinary circumstances, should they arise. And the German government minister receiving some photos from Sam’s contact links us back to season one, and there’s still Toby Jones to come, as well as the return of Archie Panjabi, Max Beesley and others from the original outing.

I can’t say much more without spoiling too much, but if you follow along for even a minute, you’ll be there to see it all. So enjoy, and I’ll see you again at the end of what promises to be another fun ride.