The central conflict of Hijack Episode 3 can be better explained through the concept of Schrödinger’s cat. In one of the scenes, Sam Nelson’s ex-wife, Marsha, explains that more than one possibility can be true. There is always a duality until we investigate for ourselves to find out the actual truth. In the third episode, we come across two such paradoxes. On the ground, the authorities in London are still trying to figure out whether Kingdom 2-9 is hijacked or not. While on the plane itself, Sam Nelson has come across a similar dilemma. He found that the bullets in the hijacker’s gun could be fake, and that changed everything. There are more passengers on the plane than the hijackers, and the latter can easily be defeated. But what’s stopping Sam and the other passengers: the confusion regarding the bullets. One wrong move and someone can lose their life. But is Sam ready to gamble for the safety of the passengers? Let’s find out.
Spoilers Ahead
Did Zahra Believe Alice?
In the previous episode, Robin Allen, the captain of KA29, had deviated the plane from the original route by 3 degrees. Such a shift made Alice Sinclair suspicious, as she believed that something was wrong with the plane. Alice didn’t waste a moment revealing the information to Detective Zahra Gahfoor, a member of the counter-terrorism command. Zahra alerted the higher-ups, but they needed some concrete proof to think of a course of action.
On the plane, the Istanbul Command informed Allen about the three-degree deviation, and he quickly made the switch. However, the angle of the return was too acute, which would make a zigzag sign. According to Alice, such a deviation couldn’t be a mere coincidence, and Robin Allen is indeed trying to communicate something that he couldn’t vocally reveal. The authorities wanted to contact the plane to confirm, but the hijackers had turned off the wifi. As a precaution, they alerted the foreign secretary and decided to prepare for the worst.
Did Zahra Find The Passenger’s True Identity?
Zahra arranged the flight manifest of Kingdom 2–9 and sent it to her ex-partner, DI Daniel Farrell, who ran the names of all 216 passengers through the police records and found out that five of the passengers didn’t really exist. They might be traveling under fake passports, but they seemed valid. We believe these five hijackers are just some hired guns who don’t have any idea about the actual plan. One of the hijackers, Gerald (alias), made a phone call to contact “Start” through wifi and told them that the operation had commenced and they could begin their part of the plan.
The next move from the terrorists could be some sort of negotiation with the government, but we’ll have to wait till the next episode to find out what they really want. Nevertheless, it is implied in the episode that Gerald never met his contractor, as he told Gemma (an alias) that they had been in contact only through a voicemail. The person who is pulling the strings is surely going to make an appearance in the upcoming episode, and we cannot wait to find out what they really want. The police, on the other hand, had recognized the faces of these five hijackers, and thus, it would be difficult for them to just disappear.
How Did Nelson Find Out That The Bullets Are Fake?
So here, we come to the actual conflict of Hijack Episode 3. Yussuf, one of the elderly passengers sitting behind Sam Nelson, expressed his doubts as he revealed to a fellow passenger that the guns the hijackers were using could be fake. Yussuf had served in the Egyptian Army for thirty years and, during his tenure, had dealt with a lot of hijackings. At first, Nelson didn’t believe his words, but with no other option left, he decided to entertain the thought.
Hugo, an overly enthusiastic passenger sitting beside Nelson, decided to send a message to the economy class so that they could find the shell of the bullet that was fired and bring it to Yussuf so that he could figure out whether it was a blank or a real one. However, they failed to find the shell. In order to help Nelson, Yussuf drew the images of the real and fake bullets on a piece of paper so that they could easily differentiate between the two. However, none of them had actually seen the bullet inside the hijacker’s gun. Then came the flight attendant Arthur, who revealed to Nelson that a passenger named Naomi had actually found a stray bullet inside the toilet (Episode 1). Arthur believed that Naomi could confirm whether the one inside the magazine was fake or real. And so begins a discreet operation to deliver the drawings to Naomi to find out the truth.
Naomi and her entire group confirmed that the bullet they found matched the second illustration in the drawing, which was “B” for blank. As soon as Nelson received the confirmation, he decided to confront one of the hijackers and take him out. He planned to attack Marcus (alias), who was looking after the passengers at the back and was an easy target as he was isolated. But things didn’t go as planned. Our John Luther was bashed up by the old guy who, at the end of Hijack episode 3, pointed the gun at him. Nelson wasn’t afraid though, as he was certain that the bullet inside the gun was a fake. Marcus pulled the trigger, and from the looks of it, we believe that Nelson was shot as well. In case, it was a fake bullet, then Nelson wouldn’t get fatally injured, but if it was real, then there is going to be some blood in the upcoming episode.
Also, the leader of the pack, Gerald, had been loading the magazine with real bullets, and he might have had orders to really kill someone as the next part of the plan. We are not sure, but if Gerald really is in possession of a real gun, it further increases the stakes, and Nelson has to find some other way to deal with the hijackers and save the passengers. It’s also possible that it was Gerald who pulled the trigger, and the sound of the gun startled Nelson and the passengers. Only the fourth episode will be able to tell the story better.
We are just 3 episodes in and believing that there are some 4 episodes still left, we think the writers will dilute this conflict in the next episode. However, Nelson and Robin managed to alert the authorities on the ground, and thus, they are sure to take extreme measures to deal with the emergency as soon as possible. Let’s see what new revelations are brought to our screens in the fourth episode of Hijack.
