Apple TV Plus clears Hijack season 2 for takeoff as hit Idris Elba thriller show gets renewed
Idris Elba is bringing Sam back for another airborne adventure on Apple TV Plus
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The Idris Elba-starringHijackwas the talk of TV landlast year, so it’s not a huge surprise to discover that a second season of the gripping drama has been cleared for takeoff byAppleTV. The show will once again feature Elba as Sam Nelson, a businessman who found himself caught up in a hijacking during a seven-hour trip to London from Dubai, and while details are currently secret, Elba promises that Hijack season two will bring “the high octane back”.
The news comes viaTV Line, which got hold of Idris Elba’s official statement about the second season of theApple TV Plusshow. “I was floored by the overwhelming audience response after season one,” Elba says. And it looks like the showrunners have found a way around what Elba previously told the site were “limited” possibilities for a second season. As Sam “isn’t a cop, he isn’t ex-military or a spy or anything like that… the likelihood of lightning striking at the same spot is rare”.
Not so rare that it can’t be solved by the power of TV – or one of thebest streaming services – though. As Elba said at the time, “there are ways that we can bring Sam back; I just don’t know what they are yet. But if the audience wants it, then we’ll make it happen.” Clearly, the audience wants it. So they’re making it happen.
Is Hijack worth streaming?
Yes. If you’ve ever watchedLuther– andthe NetflixLuthermoviein particular – you’ll know that Idris Elba’s sheer charisma can make even the most preposterous story hugely watchable, and the reviews for season one ofHijackare generally very good: it’s currently sitting at 88% from the critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
AsThe Globe and Mailput it: “The series is patently ridiculous, and features just a little too much time following characters on the ground (including Archie Panjabi’s anti-terrorism agent) instead of those in the sky, but Elba can sell the silliest of premises with ease.“ABC Newsagreed: “Idris Elba as a passenger out to bring everything home in one piece – as if – is a bonafide star who keeps the action humming.”
Like us, many critics liked the real-time storytelling – think 24 in the sky – that added an extra tension to the drama. TheRingersaid that while “Hijackwill inevitably remind you of a few different things:Air Force One, Inside Man, 24, The Commuter… Elba really owns this role.”
It’s deeply silly and doesn’t really stand up to close examination, but you could say the same about many of thebest Apple TV Plus shows– and asUSA Todaysays, “it’s got a movie star, flashy plot twists, pulse-quickening action and a figurative ticking clock. It’s a nice little reminder that TV can be thrilling”. Or as theSan Jose Mercury Newsput it, “it’s a shot of pure adrenaline”.
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Season one ofHijackis streaming now on Apple TV Plus.
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Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than a dozen books. Her memoir,Carrie Kills A Man, is on sale now and her next book, about pop music, is out in 2025. She is the singer in Glaswegian rock bandUnquiet Mind.
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