Hijack: Brace Brace Brace
August 2, 2023 9:24 AM - Season 1, Episode 7 - Subscribe
Season finale. A new threat emerges onboard as Sam struggles to control the chaos unfolding around him.
wooof did this ever fall apart at the end. Way too complicated a plot. They put the guy who was doing the money stuff on the plane? They had a backup suicide pilot? Were all of the hijackers also being blackmailed? How many goons does it take on the ground to have all of these families being threatened for long enough to set this all up and carry it out? And none of those guys is going to talk or fuck something up?
I said in the Episode 1 thread, Obviously, it's resting very heavily on the shoulders of Idris Elba, but I suspect he'll be able to bear the weight. and it was borne out. Everything with him was great: tense and believable. But the farther it expanded from the plane, the worse it got. MORE IDRIS. FEWER EXTRAS FROM A GUY RITCHIE MOVIE.
posted by Etrigan at 9:43 AM on August 2, 2023 [10 favorites]
I said in the Episode 1 thread, Obviously, it's resting very heavily on the shoulders of Idris Elba, but I suspect he'll be able to bear the weight. and it was borne out. Everything with him was great: tense and believable. But the farther it expanded from the plane, the worse it got. MORE IDRIS. FEWER EXTRAS FROM A GUY RITCHIE MOVIE.
posted by Etrigan at 9:43 AM on August 2, 2023 [10 favorites]
wait wait wait _season_ finale? *looks at imdb, still sees 2023-* oh lort. I guess I'll know more when I get around to watching it tonight.
posted by Kyol at 11:16 AM on August 2, 2023
posted by Kyol at 11:16 AM on August 2, 2023
what the hell happened to the other guy that got out of jail, was he also doing the short sell? did he just get away? what about the dubai subplot??? i have a bunch of other questions but man that was an jumbled mess of an ending, yeesh
posted by dis_integration at 3:39 PM on August 2, 2023
posted by dis_integration at 3:39 PM on August 2, 2023
And yeah, I concur with Etrigan's point. All the stuff on the plane was pretty good, more or less, or could at least be brushed off as fog of war sort of whatever. But a lot of what happened on the ground was eeeccccchhhhhh. "Oh well I guess we'll just leave this apartment that called 999 doop dee doo. Time to go eat some paste!"
Also I'm not entirely sure that any government would risk having a plane crash in the middle of their capitol fucking city. Even if it would "look bad" to shoot down 200 citizens, it would "look even worse" to repeat 9/11. Honestly I was half expecting the home secretary to have been in on the short sale plot as well for how gung-ho he was for the worse-for-the-stock option.
I'm sure the good news is there will be a second season following up on all the ground activities that they just sort of left hanging here.
posted by Kyol at 6:48 PM on August 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
Also I'm not entirely sure that any government would risk having a plane crash in the middle of their capitol fucking city. Even if it would "look bad" to shoot down 200 citizens, it would "look even worse" to repeat 9/11. Honestly I was half expecting the home secretary to have been in on the short sale plot as well for how gung-ho he was for the worse-for-the-stock option.
I'm sure the good news is there will be a second season following up on all the ground activities that they just sort of left hanging here.
posted by Kyol at 6:48 PM on August 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
ā¢ If they (the government) were planning to shoot the guys let out of jail when they arrived at the airport, why did they even bother to let them out of jail.
ā¢ After the plane crash lands, with smoke and flames around, why would the passengers just sit there? They'd rush to the exits and get out on evacuation slides.
This was such a ridiculous show with people behaving in unbelievable ways. But yet I kept on watching every week.
posted by ShooBoo at 7:51 PM on August 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
ā¢ After the plane crash lands, with smoke and flames around, why would the passengers just sit there? They'd rush to the exits and get out on evacuation slides.
This was such a ridiculous show with people behaving in unbelievable ways. But yet I kept on watching every week.
posted by ShooBoo at 7:51 PM on August 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
Did they really leverage Sam's skills as a master negotiator? It seemed to me he was just consistently the voice of common sense. At no point did I think he Corporate Business Negotiatored his way out of something that made that aspect of his character anything other than the excuse for sitting him in business class.
posted by Molesome at 1:10 AM on August 3, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by Molesome at 1:10 AM on August 3, 2023 [5 favorites]
You have to admit he did better than Ellis at least.
posted by Etrigan at 4:21 AM on August 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Etrigan at 4:21 AM on August 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
What a mess. Not a boring mess, though, like Secret Invasion. Just a "check your common sense at the door" kind of mess that put a lot of weight on a few actors to carry the show.
I don't understand at all the whole bit around waiting waiting waiting for the "mastermind" of the whole affair to OK the sell, and then just shooting him in the head. And then just not calling off the crash.
Was the plan to kill him the entire time (seems so)? If so...why? Feels like there was a subplot there that wasn't at all fleshed out.
And... the entire point of the hijack was to short a stock? Why wasn't trading halted immediately? Is there a universe in which they couldn't trace the short sale to the people who are going to claim the money? I'm not an expert here, but ... aren't trades pretty heavily scrutinized? Are you telling me that you can anonymously short a stock for millions upon millions and just ride into the sunset? It takes at least a few days for me to pull a bit of money out of Fidelity when I've sold off a few shares and want to move the money into my bank account.
(I realize that big traders are probably not using Fidelity to trade but still...)
Eve Myles was a standout. Glad she got a fair amount of screen time.
Overall: glad I watched it, but it was a mess.
posted by jzb at 9:17 AM on August 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
I don't understand at all the whole bit around waiting waiting waiting for the "mastermind" of the whole affair to OK the sell, and then just shooting him in the head. And then just not calling off the crash.
Was the plan to kill him the entire time (seems so)? If so...why? Feels like there was a subplot there that wasn't at all fleshed out.
And... the entire point of the hijack was to short a stock? Why wasn't trading halted immediately? Is there a universe in which they couldn't trace the short sale to the people who are going to claim the money? I'm not an expert here, but ... aren't trades pretty heavily scrutinized? Are you telling me that you can anonymously short a stock for millions upon millions and just ride into the sunset? It takes at least a few days for me to pull a bit of money out of Fidelity when I've sold off a few shares and want to move the money into my bank account.
(I realize that big traders are probably not using Fidelity to trade but still...)
Eve Myles was a standout. Glad she got a fair amount of screen time.
Overall: glad I watched it, but it was a mess.
posted by jzb at 9:17 AM on August 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
Vulture (archive link) have got a list of airplane thrillers to watch after Hijack, Iād already watchlisted Red Eye after watching Cillian Murphy discuss his old films following Oppenheimer.
posted by ellieBOA at 12:59 PM on August 3, 2023
posted by ellieBOA at 12:59 PM on August 3, 2023
Glasses woman turned out to be a misdirection. I wonder if a larger part for her was envisioned at one point.
posted by emelenjr at 8:39 AM on August 4, 2023
posted by emelenjr at 8:39 AM on August 4, 2023
I donāt think Amanda is going home scot free no matter what the Home Secretary promised. Samās negotiating skill was when he told her that the main hijacker guy said her daughter would be killed anyway. That was quick thinking.
Season 2 has been bandied about but no promises.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 5:37 PM on August 4, 2023 [2 favorites]
Season 2 has been bandied about but no promises.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 5:37 PM on August 4, 2023 [2 favorites]
I loved that the ācleanersā started cleaning Samās flat near the end for no reason. They had gloves and booties and bunny suits the whole time. Maybe theyāre actually cleaners with a wet work side gig.
posted by kirkaracha at 6:00 PM on August 4, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by kirkaracha at 6:00 PM on August 4, 2023 [2 favorites]
All the debate about whether or not to shoot down the plane was pretty tedious, since the decision to shoot down a hijacked plane approaching a population center was made 20+ years ago.
Also, only having 5 hijackers for that big a plane would likely mean the passengers immediately swarming and killing the hijackers.
posted by kirkaracha at 6:41 PM on August 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
Also, only having 5 hijackers for that big a plane would likely mean the passengers immediately swarming and killing the hijackers.
posted by kirkaracha at 6:41 PM on August 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
I loved that the ācleanersā started cleaning Samās flat near the end for no reason.
I thought they were removing any possible DNA traces of themselves in preparation for killing Sam's son and leaving the scene.
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 7:23 AM on August 5, 2023 [2 favorites]
I thought they were removing any possible DNA traces of themselves in preparation for killing Sam's son and leaving the scene.
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 7:23 AM on August 5, 2023 [2 favorites]
29 Burning Questions Following the āHijackā Season Finale
posted by ominous_paws at 8:18 AM on August 5, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by ominous_paws at 8:18 AM on August 5, 2023 [2 favorites]
I made it to the end, but I never really got past my disbelief that the plane would be allowed to fly on to London after reporting a hijacking in the first episode. I have to think, ever since September 11, that any time someone reports that a plane has been hijacked, it's ordered to land immediately or be shot down, and that the order (and the "or else") would stand even if you then told that ground that it was "just a bad joke" or whatever it was the pilot said.
I suppose I'd give a second season a chance, if only because Elba can make almost anything convincing, but I'll hope for some better plotting if there's a next time.
posted by Zonker at 8:37 AM on August 5, 2023
I suppose I'd give a second season a chance, if only because Elba can make almost anything convincing, but I'll hope for some better plotting if there's a next time.
posted by Zonker at 8:37 AM on August 5, 2023
I agree with everyone that the show fell apart a lot toward the end of the season, but I had fun the whole time. Why not do a Speed 2 with it; next time Idris Elba is on a boat. Also, none of this made much sense so at least they're freed from the pressure of needing the sequel to match the merits of the original series.
My cynical criticism about any splashy crime plot is that splashy crime plots are a terrible way of staying out of jail. I guess they're suggesting that all the criminals were threatened into doing crime here, so the government doesn't have any direct clues on the folks ultimately responsible, but they do have a lot incentive to investigate who just made a bunch of money shorting the airline that almost blew up central London...?
(I live near enough to Silicon Valley that I hear real, non-billionaire people complain about shortsellers, so I'm tickled that this whole thing was an "evil short sale" scheme.)
posted by grandiloquiet at 9:18 AM on August 5, 2023
My cynical criticism about any splashy crime plot is that splashy crime plots are a terrible way of staying out of jail. I guess they're suggesting that all the criminals were threatened into doing crime here, so the government doesn't have any direct clues on the folks ultimately responsible, but they do have a lot incentive to investigate who just made a bunch of money shorting the airline that almost blew up central London...?
(I live near enough to Silicon Valley that I hear real, non-billionaire people complain about shortsellers, so I'm tickled that this whole thing was an "evil short sale" scheme.)
posted by grandiloquiet at 9:18 AM on August 5, 2023
When Amanda took over the plane and set the altitude to 3000 feet I practically screamed āwatch out for the Alpsā at the TV. I mean Europe does have the odd peak or two.
I mean there could be a whole series just on the mess left to clean up after this. Can you imagine being Captain Allenās family and just watching his cold blooded murderer walk free? Why didnāt the daughter get killed? I mean Iām happy for her but has to be a story there.
Then there would be lawyers all over this on all sides arguing duress for the hijackers, bringing civil actions for damages around the place. Insurance claims and investigations into the various players including the journalist who broke the story etc. Plus the breakdown in security in cockpit procedures and in Dubai and the trauma there that just got lost after the first few episodes.
Let alone what happened to the second released prisoner (John).
In short Iād watch the shit out of a solid drama set around a Statutory Public Inquiry into the events of Kingdom 29ās hijacking. Just me? Ok Iāll get my coatā¦..
Edit: Especially if such a series didnāt have a final episode but instead had a downloadable 500 page PDF report that acts as a last episode. Oh man - how much would thatā¦.oh sorry, yes, my coatā¦..
posted by inflatablekiwi at 9:33 AM on August 7, 2023 [4 favorites]
I mean there could be a whole series just on the mess left to clean up after this. Can you imagine being Captain Allenās family and just watching his cold blooded murderer walk free? Why didnāt the daughter get killed? I mean Iām happy for her but has to be a story there.
Then there would be lawyers all over this on all sides arguing duress for the hijackers, bringing civil actions for damages around the place. Insurance claims and investigations into the various players including the journalist who broke the story etc. Plus the breakdown in security in cockpit procedures and in Dubai and the trauma there that just got lost after the first few episodes.
Let alone what happened to the second released prisoner (John).
In short Iād watch the shit out of a solid drama set around a Statutory Public Inquiry into the events of Kingdom 29ās hijacking. Just me? Ok Iāll get my coatā¦..
Edit: Especially if such a series didnāt have a final episode but instead had a downloadable 500 page PDF report that acts as a last episode. Oh man - how much would thatā¦.oh sorry, yes, my coatā¦..
posted by inflatablekiwi at 9:33 AM on August 7, 2023 [4 favorites]
What got me was all of the above, but what about the honorable public-mindedness of all the British civil servants? I suppose I binged out on Slow Horses books too much this past spring...
posted by lhauser at 4:36 PM on August 14, 2023
posted by lhauser at 4:36 PM on August 14, 2023
Can you imagine being Captain Allenās family and just watching his cold blooded murderer walk free?
Sounds like she may need some sort of master negotiator.
posted by mikepop at 6:05 PM on August 22, 2023 [3 favorites]
Sounds like she may need some sort of master negotiator.
posted by mikepop at 6:05 PM on August 22, 2023 [3 favorites]
I thought this was going to be essentially a 7 episode Liam Neeson-style wish-fulfillment violence fantasy. I was very happy to have that expectation disappointed.
I loved seeing the ways people found to communicate when default methods were unavailable.
The acting was fantastic. Even minor characters felt like real people who existed even when they were not onscreen.
One thing that really stood out was that there was no idiot ball. Everyone was competent. There were a few questionable decisions made by some of the characters, but mostly justified in context. The most foolish thing that happened was when Daniel let the hijackers' mother go get a tissue. I really appreciate how well-plotted this was without requiring anyone to be stupid just to get the plot where it needed to go.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 4:44 AM on August 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
I loved seeing the ways people found to communicate when default methods were unavailable.
The acting was fantastic. Even minor characters felt like real people who existed even when they were not onscreen.
One thing that really stood out was that there was no idiot ball. Everyone was competent. There were a few questionable decisions made by some of the characters, but mostly justified in context. The most foolish thing that happened was when Daniel let the hijackers' mother go get a tissue. I really appreciate how well-plotted this was without requiring anyone to be stupid just to get the plot where it needed to go.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 4:44 AM on August 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
Can you imagine being Captain Allenās family and just watching his cold blooded murderer walk free?
Whether Amanda walks free or goes to jail is an interesting question, but describing her as a "cold blooded murderer" seems rather farfetched.
posted by fairmettle at 9:00 PM on November 15, 2023
Whether Amanda walks free or goes to jail is an interesting question, but describing her as a "cold blooded murderer" seems rather farfetched.
posted by fairmettle at 9:00 PM on November 15, 2023
Goodness that was very dumb television. Like folks said, everything not on the airplane was just so confusing and extraneous. On the plane too. Why was there a last scene of the Bad Guy running with two pistols John Woo style menacing our hero? Did they have an extra 4 minutes to fill for the Apple contract?
Off-plane... Why is Kai in the show at all? He does nothing for the main story and every scene with him was tedious tension-building. For that matter they could have simplified by cutting out all the details of the British politics, two ministers improbably arguing amongst the folks actually getting work done. Remove the leaders in prison and most of the scenes of you're-not-my-real-dad and you get down to a tidy four hour miniseries.
I fear all the extra stuff was crammed in to try to create room for the threatened sequel. Trying to imagine how that works.
H/JACK 2: Return Ticket
H/JACK 2: Really, do not get on that plane
H/JACK 2: SK/PJACK
posted by Nelson at 7:17 AM on January 21
Off-plane... Why is Kai in the show at all? He does nothing for the main story and every scene with him was tedious tension-building. For that matter they could have simplified by cutting out all the details of the British politics, two ministers improbably arguing amongst the folks actually getting work done. Remove the leaders in prison and most of the scenes of you're-not-my-real-dad and you get down to a tidy four hour miniseries.
I fear all the extra stuff was crammed in to try to create room for the threatened sequel. Trying to imagine how that works.
H/JACK 2: Return Ticket
H/JACK 2: Really, do not get on that plane
H/JACK 2: SK/PJACK
posted by Nelson at 7:17 AM on January 21
Hit Apple TV+ series Hijack renewed for season two, Idris Elba returning
posted by Nelson at 7:16 AM on January 31 [1 favorite]
posted by Nelson at 7:16 AM on January 31 [1 favorite]
> Hit Apple TV+ series Hijack renewed for season two, Idris Elba returning
Really struggling to imagine how they're going to pull off a second season that has any hijacking in it. Perhaps our hero, after a stressful experience in the air, will decide to take a relaxing cruise to the carribbean with his son.
posted by dis_integration at 7:23 AM on January 31 [2 favorites]
Really struggling to imagine how they're going to pull off a second season that has any hijacking in it. Perhaps our hero, after a stressful experience in the air, will decide to take a relaxing cruise to the carribbean with his son.
posted by dis_integration at 7:23 AM on January 31 [2 favorites]
Perhaps it will be in the form of an opera, with one unfortunate cruise passenger in a wheelchair.
posted by Nelson at 8:21 AM on January 31
posted by Nelson at 8:21 AM on January 31
Idris Elba just recapping his role as Solomon Reed in Cyberpunk: Phantom Liberty, with the roles of So Mi and Reed reversed. Easy!
posted by Kyol at 9:05 AM on January 31
posted by Kyol at 9:05 AM on January 31
This is turning into Prison Break where Michael Scofield had to break out of jail in Panama because he ran out of U.S. prisons. How unlucky is this dude to be on multiple planes that get hijacked?-@pickledcotton
This is ridiculous but I'm here for it.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 5:33 PM on January 31
haha yes dumb shouw is dumb, but so fun. its easy to admire the skills of a fine actor in a quality role, but when they can take a stupid show and carry that thing through all 7 eps, you know that Idris Elba is a rock solid actor. and such a daddy. like, I'm not even into that but he can be my daddy.
season two loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool
posted by supermedusa at 10:40 AM on February 5 [1 favorite]
season two loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool
posted by supermedusa at 10:40 AM on February 5 [1 favorite]
Cue John McClane in Die Hard 2: "Oh man, I can't fucking believe this. Another basement, another elevator. How can the same thing happen to the same guy twice?"
posted by bigendian at 2:11 PM on February 8
posted by bigendian at 2:11 PM on February 8
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posted by ellieBOA at 9:25 AM on August 2, 2023 [3 favorites]