Hijack

Just go with it. Don't take this series seriously. Most things about it are in the realms of ridiculousness.

However, it's binge worthy stuff. Whether it's Idris Elba's coolness under pressure and sheer screen magnetism or the constant surprises and cliff hangers, you just can't enough of this stuff.

This series does what it says on the tin. It's a hijack. But there are different layers of story waiting to unfold.

There are a few irritants such as some of the miscast hijackers and irritating passengers and yes Elba is constantly to cool for school.

But on the most part this feels like a pretty original of stupid idea which draws you in and refuses to let you leave.

Try it and let it hijack you.

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.

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.

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.

Hijack is an intense thriller that's told in real time over the course of 7 hours, or 7 episodes. It's a hijacking on a plane to London with an extremely successful negotiator (Idris Elba) on board who does his best to step up and save the lives of everyone on the plane including his own. This is unlike any role Elba has played before and he absolutely knocks it out of the park. I'd be surprised if he's not nominated for best actor of a limited series. The show itself may get nominated but Elba definitely deserves it. I was hooked from the very beginning. This is a show that's probably best watched binged because you're not going to want to wait week to week for an episode.