Hijack

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.

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.

And of course, the legion of armchair airline and counter-terrorism experts are along to tell everyone how a fictional programme isn't at all like the real world. No doubt they also take issue with the latest Star Trek for not having realistic Klingons, and Dr Who because real aliens are not made out of styrofoam. And if you pay attention to the date of those reviews, you will see they were all written after the first episode airs.

I have zero issue with a fictional TV programme's realism, so long as I am entertained. And Hijack is entertaining. It's a bit far-fetched in places. But the acting is good, no surprises there with Idris Elba, the whole cast is strong. There are some tense moments, handled well. In particular, you really feel that they are on a real plane, an incredible set.

If you are able to put your armchair joystick to one side, this is definitely worth a watch.

So let me get the obvious out of the way. This could never happen like this. I'm a pilot and almost everything about the aviation side of this show is about as wrong as you can get.

So if you can suspend your disbelief about the aviation, tech, firearms, policing and politics... you can actually enjoy this.

The suspense and trying to figure out how things are going to pan out makes this a pretty enjoyable watch in my view.

It could be better of course, but there is plenty here to get you engaged and the characters have plenty of depth to make them interesting and three dimensional.

So just put aside your objections to the obvious flaws, and enjoy the ride.

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.