Hijack season 1 finale recap, review & ending explained

Open Go TV / August 5, 2023 / Reviews

The finale of Hijack sees Sam trying his best to convince Amanda to land the plane as it reaches London. The episode is now streaming on Apple TV+.

Episode 7 recap: Brace Brace Brace

The woman who kills the pilot and locks herself in the cockpit is Amanda Taunton. She is an aviation consultant who used to be in the Navy.

When the passengers subdue the other hijackers, Sam convinces Stuart to hand over his gun, which is the only loaded one, to him. Sam declares the hijack over, and the passengers tie the hijackers up.

The hijackers reveal that they do not know Amanda, as Edgar and John did not tell them anything about her. Like them, she got a text from someone and locked herself in the cockpit. Sam tries to speak to Amanda, but she does not give him a chance.

It turns out that the plane was hijacked because the OCG wanted to make money by betting against the airline’s stocks; the company’s share prices are dropping because of the hijack. The best outcome for the OCG will be if the plane crashes.

As planned, the plane changes its route; it’s now heading directly for Central London, not the airport. The RAF gets ready to shoot it down before it reaches the city. Furthermore, the plane’s fuel levels are very low.

When Daniel finds out that Marsha got a call from someone to confirm Sam’s address, he looks for Kai immediately. Meanwhile, the police arrive at Sam’s apartment because of Kai’s call but get convinced that nothing is amiss. They leave, and Kai gets caught by the members of the OCG.

London ATC has been trying to call all the passengers. As the hijackers are no longer in control, Sam and the others get all the phones back. A phone rings, and Sam picks it up. Alice finally gets in touch with someone onboard.

Initially, Sam lies to Alice because he fears that the RAF will shoot the plane down if they find out that Amanda is flying it. However, Alice makes him tell her the truth about the situation onboard.

The home secretary is ready to shoot the plane down and take the fall for the lives that will be lost, but the foreign secretary decides not to do that because they cannot kill their own citizens. If the plane crashes and causes more damage, she will take all the blame.

Daniel calls Kai, but Kai cannot tell him that he is in trouble, as the members of the OCG are holding him at gunpoint, so he talks about riding home on his bicycle, which is a spin bike, and Daniel realizes that Kai is in danger.

The fact that Kai’s life is in danger leaves no room for the authorities to suspect Sam’s involvement in the hijack. Daniel then goes to Sam’s apartment with armed officers and saves Kai’s life.

Amanda keeps messaging Edgar regarding her next course of action but does not get a response. A passenger on the plane tells the others that the OCG had taken his and Amanda’s families hostage and made them do their bidding.

Sam and the others get Amanda’s phone and come to know about her daughter. Amanda is doing all this and not listening to them because she wants to save her family.

Hijack season 1 ending explained in detail:

Does Sam convince Amanda to land the plane?

A disagreement between John and Edgar sees John killing Edgar, and Amanda never receives a reply to her text messages. While the other passengers try to break the cockpit door, Sam convinces Amanda to talk to him by talking about her daughter.

Amanda calls Sam and informs him that she is supposed to land the plane only if she gets a message from Edgar. If there is no message, she is supposed to crash it.

Sam then lies to her and tells her that the OCG is going to kill her daughter regardless of what she does. She cannot save her daughter, but she can save several other lives.

Sam implores her to save the lives of the passengers onboard, and Amanda agrees. She then allows Sam to enter the cockpit.

Is Amanda able to land the plane?

Amanda is too distressed to follow Alice’s instructions, so the home secretary assures her that she will not go to prison for killing the pilot, as she did it only because her daughter was being held hostage.

Finally, Amanda is able to focus and follow Alice’s instructions. It is not easy to land the plane due to several reasons, but with Alice and Sam’s help, she manages to do it. The passengers exit the plane and are now safe. They hand over the hijackers to the armed units, who surround the plane the moment it lands.

Is Sam dead or alive?

Sam is the last one to exit the plane. He gets his phone and then goes back to get the gift that he had bought for Marsha. What no one realizes is that Stuart has not been caught and that he is still on the plane.

When Stuart sees Sam, he shuts the doors of the plane. He knows that he is going down, so he intends to kill Sam as well. He chases Sam and shoots at him. Now that Sam has his phone, he sends an apology to Marsha and asks her to call him.

Stuart hears Sam’s phone ring and thinks that he is hiding in the toilet. However, when he goes to find him, Sam attacks him from behind and disarms him. The armed units then break the plane’s door and come to Sam’s rescue. Sam outsmarts Stuart once again and walks away as Stuart gets arrested.

Review

The episode depicts how different people act in different ways when they face danger. While some resort to violence, others, like Sam, think and act calmly. Then there are also people whose behavior never changes, like Lizzy’s mother.
Like all the other episodes, this one also shapes the events in a way that everything always ends up working in the protagonist’s favor, no matter how unconvincing it is.
The ending of the episode brings back the thrill that the show had lost after the first few episodes. The landing is exciting, but Sam and Stuart’s showdown could have been better.