Hijack Episodes 1 & 2 Recap & Ending Explained: ‘Hijack’ is a new series streaming on Apple TV+. Starring Idris Elba in the lead, it presents a thriller narrative about a plane hijack. It follows the seven-hour journey of Flight KA29 from Dubai to London. The first two episodes just dropped online, which gives us a look into the initial hours of the havoc. It gives us an idea of its tightly-packed narrative and engrossing narration.
Elba stars as a talented business negotiator who decides to use his skills to broker a peaceful end to this hijacking incident. Besides him, the cast includes Archie Panjabi, Christine Adams, Max Beesley, Neil Maskell, Eve Myles, Ben Miles, and Kaisa Hammarlund, among others.
*Spoilers ahead*
Hijack Episodes 1 & 2 Recap:
Episode 1: Final Call
The first episode begins with passengers onboarding the KA29 flight. Among these people is Sam Nelson (Idris Elba), who arrives just in time and goes in without any luggage. He has only one small paper bag with him. After him, Alec (Justin Salinger) arrives just a minute later but is allowed to go in.
While a married couple, Kate (Rocheda Sandall) and David (Marcus Garvey), sit along with their two kids, a young Matt Haig book reader guides them about luggage allocation. The mother fires back at her due to all the stress that comes with taking care of young children. Meanwhile, Alec calls his associate right before the plane takes off and tells him to ‘make the trade.’
On the other hand, Sam keeps his small paper bag inside the luggage compartment. It apparently has a surprise gift for his partner, Marsha (Christine Adams). Just before the flight is about to take off, she texts him not to get on the plane. He says, ‘It’s) Too late (for that)’. While Captain Robin Allen (Ben Miles) and First Officer Anna Kovacs (Kaisa Hammarlund) are in the cockpit, Deevia (Zora Bishop) is the chief flight attendant, working with Arthur (Jeremy Ang Jones) and Colette (Jeremy Ang Jones).
Once the flight takes off, Sam’s neighbouring passenger, Hugo (Harry Michell), tries to make small talk with him. But Sam does not indulge in it and requests silence instead. He checks out Marsha’s photos with her new partner, Daniel O’Farrel (Max Beesley). In the loo, Naomi (Mei Henri) finds a round lying on the floor. She picks it up, walks back to her seat, and shows it to Mona (Cecilia Appiah) and Kacey (Chantelle Alle).
By then, a co-passenger named Terry (Jasper Britton) had come across to her as a reliable adult. He introduces himself as ‘Marcus’ and assures to take care of the matter by reporting to the crew. However, he only meets Arthur from the crew and does not say even a word about it. On his way back, he informs Stuart (Neil Maskell) about this interaction and advises him to ‘make a call.’ Sam notices this interaction from his seat but does not let the two get a hint of his knowledge.
Terry walks back with a green cap on and tells the girls that the round was a part of some security check. He assumes that it would satisfy their curiosities. But it does not. Mona finds it dubious. How can a person just bring bullets to a plane? She wonders. Since he sees his attempt failing, he starts to intimidate these girls. The matter ends within moments, but she remains doubtful. They contact Arthur from the crew and realise that he has not even been notified about the cartridge.
While they were about to end the conversation, Stuart, Terry, Jaden (Mohamed Elsandel), Lewis (Jack McMullen), and Jamie (Aimée Kelly) take out their gun and start terrorising the passengers and the crew. They take all the phones saying that the WiFi is off. By the time Arthur tries to inform the pilots about it, Jamie reaches up to him. So, Robin contacts Abdullah (Mohamed Faisal Mostafa) from Dubai Airport security to bring this security breach incident to his notice.
Sam notices two men trying to act against the abductors, who assume that it is motivated by religious reasons. He stops them from acting on it until they know their identities for certain. Meanwhile, Stuart brings Collette next to the cockpit and tells her about a guaranteed entry into the cockpit. Anna does not allow it. So, Stuart uses his knowledge of Robin and Collette’s affair to gain an entrance. He manipulates Robin by threatening to shoot Collette dead.
Anna continues to resist this demand which angers Robin. He even hits her repeatedly to open the cockpit door. Right after Stuart gets access to the cockpit, Robin alerts the passengers about it. He calls Abdullah and informs him that their earlier warning was a false alarm. By that time, Sam takes out his phone from his pocket and texts Marsha about this hijack. He keeps his phone hidden – knowing the lack of logic in the abductors’ claims. (Why would they need phones if the WiFi is off?)
Meanwhile, at the Dubai airport, Neela (Nikkita Chadha) receives a call from Senil, who asks her to return home immediately. On the other hand, in London, Marsha is about to go for an interview. That’s when she gets Sam’s message and finds it alarming. She informs Daniel, who is the DI, to find the validity of that claim. Sam and Marsha’s son – Kai (Jude Cudjoe), thinks that there is some truth to it.
By that time, Sam walks back to his first-class seat, saying that he came to give him his phone. Then he tells Stuart that he will help them take control over the passengers during their long flight. Kai and Marsha tell Daniel about Sam’s real job as a professional negotiator. So, while Sam offers to join hands with the abductors, we realise that he has something else in mind.
Episode 2: 3 Degrees
Sam tries to convince Stuart that he is on their side. He says he does not care about other passengers but wants to return to London himself. He says the passengers may get restless and retaliate. That’s where he offers his help. Jamie notices messages on Sam’s phone but does not find Sam’s last message. It means he probably deleted it from his side before handing over his phone.
By that time, two middle-aged men (the ones that Sam spoke with) attack Jaden. Jaden’s gun falls on the floor. Sam picks it up and instead of shooting Stuart, hands it over. That is how he builds trust. Stuart and his people tie their hands up. Then, Jamie takes out the ties of men with suits on. Back in London, Daniel contacts his ex, Zahra Gahfoor (Archie Panjabi) to check if Sam’s claim is valid. She agrees to do him this favour.
Deevia tries to maintain peace while carrying forward with the abductors’ demands. Sam scribbles something on the sheet of a magazine, and hands over that note to Stuart. It mentions the pilot as a potential risk. He convinces Stuart to get Robin out of the cockpit since the system is on autopilot. As a result, Stuart asks Robin to explain how the system works and then brings him back to a seat.
Lewis brings a lady from that seat to another one. On her way, she notices the two men getting cuffed. She informs other passengers about it and says how the pilot betrayed them. They try to form theories of who is working with the abductors. Sam, meanwhile, secretly starts to play a game on his screen and opens the chat window. Through that, he manages to communicate with Robin. They both speak through that without letting the abductors get a hint of it.
Robin talks about communication with the Iraqi ATC and their military. Sam looks at the map where the plane is. The cockpit receives a message from a Baghdad Air Traffic officer. Sam manages to convince Stuart to get Robin to speak with that officer to not let the ground know about the hijack. They send Anna to speak with the officer, but the man asks to speak with the pilot instead. Sam tries to get Robin to remove his seatbelt and go speak with the Baghdad officers. Robin makes them feel assured that there is no threat to their lives.
Meanwhile, on the ground, the flight path control unit tries to get to the bottom of the flight’s issue. Abdullah checks it with his team, who assure that everything is okay. But he remains doubtful and thus, checks the security footage. He notices Neela missed a few moments of security check-up when Jaden’s luggage went in. He learns that Neela went home because she was reportedly sick. So, he decides to go check on Neela’s condition.
Hijack Episode 2 Ending Explained:
After Robin’s successful communication with the Baghdad officers, Sam tries to convince Stuart of the success of their hijack. Before leaving the cockpit, Robin changes the plane’s heading to 323 degrees. By that time, Alice Sinclair (Eve Myles) has sent her son to school and is driving toward her office. She hears about the security threat warning which was denied by the pilot soon after. She tells her colleague Simon (James Barriscale) how weird that is.
Why would a passenger risk their life to get this message out? And why would their WiFi be down? She makes Simon believe how suspicious that sounds. They pull the route map to find that the heading has been changed. Since it is a straight line, Alice and her colleagues find more worth to their doubts.
Meanwhile, Abdullah reaches up to Senil and Neela’s place to find two men inside. They say they are cleaning professionals. He walks up to the next floor of the house to find Senil and Neela killed and lying on the bathroom floor. Within the next few moments, the said professionals shoot him at point blank range.
