Apple TV+ Delivers a Real-Time Thriller

The show opens on Idris Elba walking through an airport and boarding a plane from Dubai bound for London. The limited series plays out by bouncing back and forth between chaos in the sky and attempts to manage the situation on land. No flashbacks are used to add additional backstory or context, and frankly, none are needed.

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Constant nods to time serve as a pressure cooker. Time is constantly counting down, sometimes through visual cues and other times directly mentioned, such as a passenger trying to comfort a child, telling them they’ll be home in about five Paw Patrol episodes.

The pacing from start to finish was done with a beautiful rhythm. Even though there are moments of relief from the intensity, the show’s momentum only goes forward and up. After the opening sequence with Elba’s character, Sam Nelson, gliding along the conveyor belt, doesn’t let viewers off until it’s finished. Each episode is a white-knuckled ride.

Speaking of timing and pacing, there’s one part where a character casually mentions the duality of a situation. She brings up the idea of Schrodinger’s cat. The scene is used to highlight a specific episode’s focus, but it also ended up speaking to the broader context of the show, flipping back and forth between air and land.

“Hijack” does an excellent job of keeping the viewer tuned to the most important part of the situation, whether in the clouds or on solid ground.

Why is Sam Nelson (Elba) in Dubai in the first place, and how did he lose his wife to another man? Viewers stumble onto these questions immediately, but there isn’t time to dive into those character aspects. So we must make assumptions based on minimal clues across the seven episodes.

We really only get a little bit of info about Elba’s character at the start and then have to glean from his calm and collected attitude in the face of danger that he has a knack for leadership at high-stakes levels. Most of the passengers, and even the hijackers, want to give into his agreeable attitude, which goes a long way in convincing viewers to do the same.

Frankly, Elba is one of the few actors who is instantly likable enough to pull this role off. The central role would have felt like a void without Elba’s natural charisma.

Failing to get a deeper understanding of Sam Nelson is unfortunate. Still, it’s mostly covered up by the other 200-plus people on the flight and on the ground that we need to know about and either like or hate, with only several minutes of screen time each.

Although the show’s time constraints push off any temptation to dwell on specific people’s backstories, the “Hijack” never felt detached from human connection. Contrary, by the end, there are more than a few people who can garner affection and empathy. Eve Myles, for one, is an integral figure, despite having a slow introduction.

“Hijack” is an intense thriller from the start, and each episode predictably adds more pressure and escalates the stakes. While the first episode might not be an edge-of-your-seat ride, subsequent episodes tend to have that effect.

The story doesn’t rely on wild twists and gotcha moments, but there are enough mysteries to keep viewers guessing until the end. There was one sleight of hand that was obvious and took me out of the thrill of the hunt at the time, but otherwise, the story felt authentic and believable at every turn.

As a side note, the soundtrack of songs scattered throughout the series is able to provide moments of levity. The music naturally appearing in on-screen situations plays a subtle but vital role in the show’s overall tone. Plus, knowing Elba’s musical side, it was hard not to analyze a particular scene for the audio equipment shown, thinking he might have had some input about it.

Audiences can’t have deep, emotional connections with many of the characters and also get a brisk-paced, edge-of-your-seat narrative—time doesn’t allow for it. So it’s hard to criticize the lack of character depth as a deep flaw with this limited series. (I also think stringing the show out longer than it was would have caused it to lose a lot of its allure.)

One of the confounding bits, however, is how the show places such great emphasis on timing but separates each episode over a weekly release schedule. I watched several episodes back-to-back because as tensions rose, I found it hard to pull myself away. Weekly viewers won’t have that same opportunity. It’s a shame.

While a weekly release schedule might be better for the business of streaming to gain additional viewers each week and have their chance for ongoing discussions, “Hijack” is a unique instance that should have bucked the trend and been released all at once.

In the thick of it, “Hijack” feels like a long movie. It’s episodic, sure, but its true strength comes from its relatively short runtime for a series and intricately woven narrative. This show was made for binge-watching.