Hijack

I've been looking forward to seeing Hijack ever since I first heard about it. Then my expectations grew even more after seeing the trailers. I can now say that those expectations were not only met but surpassed on every way. I'm a big Idris Elba fan as he's a terrific actor who good in just about everything he does. This is no different. As good as he's been this is actually one of his best jobs to date. This show is filled with tension and will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout each episode. His acting makes up for some uneven writing, the writing is good just uneven in places. I can't recommend this series enough. Give it a chance and I promise you won't be disappointed.

First of all, if you don't mind your conspiracy/hijack/action/ drama plots to have more holes than a kilogram of Swiss cheese, then you won't mind this. Personally, I find what it lacks in credibility is more than compensated by having massive viewer interaction. You could easily create a plot hole bingo with this if were binging over a night or two.

So many inaccuracies and unrealistic scenarios are saved by a stellar Brit cast, with Idris Elba and Archie Panjabi as the cool protagonists, Neil Maskell playing his archetypal cockney bad guy and sneering Simon McBurney as Mr Big and ultrasmart uber-villain - not so smart he was in prison to start with.

Despite all the shortcomings, it's an easy and enjoyable watch. Have a laugh at the caricature Brit politicians and super polite police.

Hijack is an intense thriller that's told in real time over the course of 7 hours, or 7 episodes. It's a hijacking on a plane to London with an extremely successful negotiator (Idris Elba) on board who does his best to step up and save the lives of everyone on the plane including his own. This is unlike any role Elba has played before and he absolutely knocks it out of the park. I'd be surprised if he's not nominated for best actor of a limited series. The show itself may get nominated but Elba definitely deserves it. I was hooked from the very beginning. This is a show that's probably best watched binged because you're not going to want to wait week to week for an episode.

Hijack, like Apple's Silo, is one of those series that is more enjoyable binging episodes back to back. Unlike the king of streaming, Netflix, that releases an entire series one shot, Apple's each-week format takes away from most series, especially one that is real-time linear storytelling. This show was enjoyable, and the seven hour flight detailed into seven almost one-hour episodes worked for this show, and probably the reason I enjoyed it more than I would have watching it weekly. Elba was great in his role, but his character was a little underwhelming, as was the season finale. I would've enjoyed this concept more if Elba had less talking and more action in his role. Aside from some plot holes and technical issues in the writing, this show is a decent one-time watch and better binged in half a day.

The first episode set up an interesting premise and introduction to the characters on this plane as well as on the ground. Unfortunately the further the series progressed the more implausible it became. Not implausible due to the many factual flaws around aviation in general but air traffic control in particular. These points are passable for e as this is clearly not a documentarybut a drama. So close enough to get a pass. However the show stetched credibilty to breaking point the further into the series it got. To the point where the final two episodes were sufficient to provoke rolled eyes, the final one being so far away from 'reality', that I really wondered if the writer had just lost interest and wanted it over and done with.