The seventh episode of the AppleTV+ limited series Hijack aired, and with it, the series came to its conclusion. It was truly a fun ride while it lasted. But every good thing must come to an end eventually, no matter how much you don’t want it to. The final episode had the responsibility of neatly tying up all loose ends, and it tried to do that but, in the process, hurried through the plot. In the previous episode, Robin Allen was shot dead, and now that the plane was nearing London, the question became, will it land safely or will it crash? There were over 200 people on the plane. Saving them by providing external help seemed impossible, even for Louise and Neil. The plan had to be executed from inside the plane. Sam was put on the spot again, and it was left to his negotiating acumen to get the plane to land safely. Edgar was on the run, and the wild card entry—the mysterious woman’s identity—was finally revealed. Here’s a detailed recap of the final episode of Hijack.
Spoilers Ahead
Who Was The Woman Who Shot Robin, And Why?
Sam thought that attacking the hijackers was a good plan to finally get the plane under control and let Robin land the plane. Well, that plan was now history as far as Sam was concerned. He knew he had a bigger problem on hand. Robin had been shot dead, and the passengers were thinking that they would just barge into the cockpit and land the plane. Sam tried to convince the raging passengers that Stuart and the other hijackers were not really the problem now. It was the woman who had shot Robin and was flying the plane. It took some doing, but Sam finally drilled this point into everybody’s heads. Now the main question remained: Who was the woman flying the plane?
Stuart had no idea who the woman was. He was tied up along with the other hijackers but stated that she was not part of their plan. The passengers found a bag on her seat. Through that, it became clear that her name was Amanda, and she was definitely a mother. Sam tried to communicate via the cabin landline, but Amanda unplugged the phone in the cockpit. She definitely wasn’t in the mood to be talked into leaving the cockpit. A man who understood Amanda’s predicament came to the forefront to untangle the mystery. He was the same man who had been the last to board the flight, and who Sam had helped enter. He confessed that he was the one who had made the trade with Devlin and helped bring the guns on board. He made the trade because Devlin had kidnapped his partner, and he knew Amanda’s daughter, Elody, was also being held hostage. Amanda was like a ‘fail-safe’ to the hijacking plan. If all else failed, she was ordered to kill the pilot and take hold of the cockpit.
Why Was Edgar Killed?
Watching the episodes, you might have thought Edgar was behind it all, but twists and turns are what the series is all about. The authorities in Collingwood Hall realized that Edgar Janssen and John Bailey-Brown were simply decoys. The main aim was to make a “bear raid” in the market, where profits are made by betting against the declining stock. A great specimen of the unpredictable writing came when Edgar was watching the stocks of Kingdom Airlines plummet. Every minute, Edgar was winning the trade and earning a whopping 18 million dollars. Beside him was John, who wanted Edgar to message Amanda to land the plane. Why wasn’t he sending the message, you ask? He was simply a greedy man. He wanted the plane to crash so he could milk every dollar out of this trade that Devlin had set up with the man in the plane, whose partner he had taken hostage.
John tried to convince Edgar to message Amanda about landing the plane, as he didn’t want it to crash. It was a miracle that they were chosen out of all the other high-profile criminals to be the decoys for this devious money-making trade by Devlin. When John saw that Edgar wasn’t appreciating the position they were in, he ordered another hitman, John’s partner perhaps, to kill Edgar. John and his partner in crime probably left to flee the country and he called Devlin to make the trade. Poor Amanda never received any message, and she continued to lower the plane’s altitude. If her crashing the plane meant Elody could survive, she was going to proceed with it. When Sam found out that Amanda was doing it all because her daughter Elody’s life was in danger, he tried to reason with her and told her that the men who had kidnapped her daughter would kill her irrespective of the fact whether Amanda landed the plane or not. He had understood that she wouldn’t pay any attention unless Elody was brought into the conversation, and Sam succeeded. Amanda allowed him to enter the cockpit.
How Did Sam Nelson Save The Day?
Amanda was an aviation consultant, and Sam was trying everything to persuade her not to crash the plane. She knew how to operate the plane, had deviated it from its original route and was going to crash it, as she didn’t get any message from Edgar. When Sam appealed to her emotions and brought Elody into the conversation, she actually realized what kind of monster she was being. There were over 200 people on board. Every one of them had family, and she was going to crash the plane, killing all of them, just to save her daughter. She was also guilt-ridden and for good reason. She had shot Robin. She even feared that if the plane landed, she would be arrested. Sam had to find a way to assure her that she wouldn’t be arrested, but just stating that fact wasn’t going to help. He needed someone with authority to order that.
Luckily, a man from British Air Traffic Control found the mobile number of a passenger on the flight. He dialed the number, and because the Wi-Fi had been switched back on, he connected. Sam picked up the phone, and Alice Sinclair, who had been trying constantly to connect to the pilot, was on the other end. She was in touch with the Home Secretary, Neil, and when Sam told her that Amanda really needed to be assured that she wouldn’t be arrested, Neil had no option but to give the order that, given the circumstances, she would be pardoned. Amanda was relieved, and now, with Sam’s help, she tried to land the plane. There was a threat of the plane getting shot down by British fighter jets for a brief moment, but after the authorities figured out Amanda was flying the plane, the jets stood down. It was now up to Sam and Amanda to land the plane. They were guided by Alice to the nearest landing strip while KA29 was almost out of fuel because of the deviated path. Amanda maneuvered the plane to perfection and landed it safely, saving the lives of everybody present on the plane.
Sam had done it. The police were waiting to arrest the hijackers. They succeeded, but Stuart still hid in the plane, and he was not in the right frame of mind. He had lost his brother in the sham of a hijack. He needed revenge, and Sam was the only man left on the plane. Stuart, the helpless hijacker, tried to kill Sam, but Sam outdid him once again, and Stuart was arrested before he could do any more damage. Would Devlin be caught? Maybe yes. I say this only because Danny managed to arrest the two hitmen who were holding Sam’s son hostage. They would be questioned along with the other hijackers, and surely some progress would be made. Sam was finally back to his homeland. He realized how fortunate he was to survive, but he also realized that he never should have boarded the plane in the first place. His ex-wife was happy with Danny, and it was Sam’s job to make his son understand that, although when Danny saved him from the hit men, he realized that Danny was indeed a good man.
What about a second season, then? Would Sam, the consummate negotiator, be back for a second innings? Idris Elba, who played Sam, said in an interview that he wouldn’t mind reprising the role, although he added that he couldn’t put his character through another one of these tortuous hijackings. There is no news of a second season as of yet, but let’s just hope the makers tweak the concept a bit, and we might just get to see Sam in action again. He had proved so efficient up in the air, and wouldn’t everyone just love to see him suited up, ready to close deals on the ground as well?
