On paper, at least, the new Apple TV+ thriller Hijack has everything going for it. The series boasts a star-studded cast, including Idris Elba and The Good Wife’s Archie Panjab. It’s got a high-octane plot that unfolds over the course of a 7-hour plane flight to London which gets, as you can tell by the title, hijacked. And the show is built around a nifty storytelling gimmick in the form of Hijack occurring in real-time across the seven episodes of this series, the first two of which are now streaming on Apple TV+.
For me, at least, the show also comes right on time. I’m a fan of the more curated approach to content that Apple TV+ has taken, such that its hits-to-misses ratio is much better than, say, Netflix’s. Also, Apple’s Silo drops its finale this Friday, and earlier this month saw the end of Apple’s equally fantastic Drops of God — two shows that rank among the best of what 2023 has had to offer TV fans so far. That also means that the decks are clear, at least for an Apple TV+ subscriber like me, to get hooked on a quality new series from the streamer.
If you, too, are ready for the next big Apple TV+ release, here’s everything you need to know about Hijack, starting with this official summary:
“Told in real time, Hijack is a tense thriller that follows the journey of a hijacked plane as it makes its way to London over a seven-hour flight, and authorities on the ground scramble for answers. Elba will star as Sam Nelson, an accomplished negotiator in the business world who needs to step up and use all his guile to try and save the lives of the passengers — but, his high-risk strategy could be his undoing.”
Panjabi, meanwhile, plays the role of Zahra Gahfoor — a counterterrorism officer on the ground when the plane is hijacked who becomes part of the investigation. The series also stars Christine Adams, Max Beesley, Eve Myles, Neil Maskell, Jasper Britton, Harry Michell, Aimée Kelly, Mohamed Elsandel, and Ben Miles.
Hijack was created by Jim Field Smith and George Kay, who also wrote and co-created two fantastic Netflix series (Lupin and Criminal). Additionally, it’s the first series to debut from Elba’s first-look deal with Apple TV+ and his Green Door Pictures. And as far as what I like about the show: Because of the claustrophobic premise and setting, there’s not a lot of storytelling fat here that will annoy you. You are literally being taken for a ride, along with the other passengers on Flight KA29 from Dubai to London — and at just 7 episodes, Hijack doesn’t require a huge investment of your time.
The writing is crisp, Elba and Panjabi give exactly the solid performances that you’d expect from them, and the whole thing is absolutely pulse-pounding enough to put Hijack in Apple TV+’s growing must-watch column of quality TV series.
