Hijack, season 2: metro, work, sleep (review)
A not really necessary sequel, aboard a Berlin metro that never seems to want to start. Idris Elba may have charisma, but we wonder why he is going back.
Always in the wrong place at the wrong time? Is Sam Nelson the John McCLane of negotiators?
After a thrilling and undeniably successful first season, Hijack attempts a season 2… which leaves a much more mixed impression.
Sam once again finds himself at the heart of a hijacking – yes again – but this time on a commuter train in Germany. As promised in the premise of the series, he attempts to negotiate to save his life and that of the passengers, and avoid becoming a tragic headline in the next day’s newspapers. The season is progressing on track…
Despite the still solid and charismatic presence of Idris Elba in the lead, the plot struggles to justify this new burst of episodes. The change of scenery – we go from a plane to the Berlin metro – is less effective. The underground space, more uniform and less anxiety-provoking, reduces tension and sometimes gives the impression of going in circles. The passengers, although essential to the system, remain largely in the background. The emotional impact is very poor and the dialogues very dull. Hijack stammers his concept.
There are some interesting twists. A latent suspense. But the script struggles to get the tension off the ground, like a first episode which has a hard time starting the machine, as if stuck in a Berlin station: this metro seems to never want to leave and tries as best it can to hang up its carriages in the first season, to justify its existence. The story is laborious, even boring, and never really manages to deliver the adrenaline rush we came for.
Despite its undeniable aesthetic qualities – the thriller is very well produced – Hijack 2 is very tedious to follow. Redundant. A sequel not entirely necessary.
Hijack season 2 has 8 episodes. The first two are available this Wednesday, January 14 on Apple TV, then a new episode every week until March 4.
