Warning: This post contains spoilers for The Hijack season 2, episodes 1 and 2.
What you need to know
Hijack Season 2 got off to a rocky start.
In the season premiere, corporate negotiator Sam Nelson (Idris Elba) appears to have committed the unlikely event of being taken hostage for the second time on a crowded Berlin subway train. But in the episode’s final moments, Sam tells the horrified conductor Otto (Christian Nethe), “I’m going to hijack this train.”
It’s a bold twist, and one that immediately answers the question of how a normal guy like Sam would find himself in the same high-stakes situation twice. For Elba, 53, seeing Sam overcome the hijacking from a different angle and letting viewers understand why he would take such drastic measures helped convince him that a second season of the Apple TV thriller series was a good idea.
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“I was like, ‘Okay, that’s smart. That’s good,'” the actor tells PEOPLE of his initial reaction to the premiere twist. “So, keeping in mind, I’m kind of trying to officially put the team and the second season together during the success of the first season. So we were trying to figure out what to do? What to do? How do we do it? And then this idea came to me: ‘What if he’s the hijacker?’ And I was like, ‘Right.’ And everything started cascading. ”
He added, “When you have a good idea, it usually opens the door to other good ideas.”
In the first season, Sam used his skills as a negotiator to try to convince the people who had hijacked the plane he happened to be on, while also working with other passengers to try to defuse the situation. This time, Sam is in a completely different position, and Elba is looking forward to watching viewers try to unravel his character’s motivations.
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“As an actor, from a performance standpoint, there’s a lot to chew on and be a part of, and I’m really enjoying it,” the Head of State star shares. “But I really hope that viewers of Season 2 will take the hard look they deserve and go, ‘What? Hijack 2? There’s no way this could happen again to this guy. But here we are.'”
In addition to Elba, Hijack season 2 also stars Christine Adams, Max Beesley, Archie Panjabi, Nate, Claire-Hope Ashitey, Lisa Vicari, Toby Jones, Karima McAdams, and Christian Paul. As the season continues to unfold, a group of authorities on the ground will work to uncover the motive behind Sam’s train hijacking, as well as try to solve the ongoing hostage crisis with as few casualties as possible.
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New episodes of Hijack season 2 will continue to premiere every Wednesday on Apple TV until the season finale on March 4.
