It’s been slow going to figure out what’s happening and what Sam’s (Idris Elba) motivation is during this second season of Hijack.
In Hijack season 2 episode 3, “Baggage,” things are starting to come into focus.
Sam’s son
The biggest question is what happened to Sam’s son, Kai. He survived the first season, but it appears something happened to change that in the years since. Turns out, he is dead. He was killed in a car crash, but Sam is convinced it was murder as part of a plot from the same people who hijacked his plane. He’s been pressuring the German government for results, but hasn’t gotten any.
Turns out today is the one-year anniversary. It makes sense that the anniversary, combined with grief and anger, might have pushed Sam to take the train hostage. That is certainly what the German police and British intelligence agents believe. It makes perfect sense as to why Sam has taken the train.
As episode 2 ended, he sent Freddie (Albrecht Schuch) out on the platform with a briefcase he said was a bomb. It appeared he detonated the device to make a statement. With smoke billowing from the terminal, Sam is able to get what he wants and get the train moving again. Along the way, he picks up Freddie.
Turns out, while Sam needed to make a statement, he had no intention of hurting anyone. He faked the bomb to buy time. Now, he puts a 30-minute clock on finding John Bailey Brown. But the German police are at a loss, until they learn some footage was deleted.
The Chief (Christianne Paul) is able to deduce that it was the British that found Bailey Brown and are holding him. That’s why Peter Faber (Toby Jones) is really on scene. He admits as much and helps provide the photo that will help fulfill the requirements of Sam on the train. They give the photo, and everyone breathes a sigh of relief… for a moment.
There's a twist
Sam’s not really in charge, and whoever is has done the best job possible of setting things up and framing him. Sam lets Otto (Christian Nathe) and Freddie know what’s happening. He isn’t a bad guy. He has no intention of killing anyone, but he has to try and follow the rules or the people who killed his son will kill his ex-wife, Marsha (Christine Adams).
As it turns out, it wasn’t Sam that sent the flowers. Likely it was the same people who are keeping an eye on her, and using photos of her in seclusion to blackmail Sam. So, for now, he has no choice but to go back on his word and ask for Bailey Brown to be delivered to him.
Unwilling to go that far, Faber suspects that Sam isn’t a killer. They discover his ruse with the fake explosion, so Faber decides to go down and personally reason with Sam. They cause a power outage that stops the train.
Sam and Otto exit. Sam has plans to help Otto get free and have him call for help. But before they can make it happen, they discover there really is a bomb. The bomb is under the train. So, Sam quickly changes his plan. He can’t risk Otto heading out and the people running this operation deciding to blow up the train or kill Marsha.
But before they can get back, it turns out there is someone else planted on the train. That someone makes his way to the lead car and kills Freddie. It’s a stunning blow for Sam and Otto, who use it to their advantage. They leave Freddie’s body at the station as a move to get things going again and show they’re serious.
We don’t know who’s running this, but we know they mean business. That leaves Sam in a world of hurt as he tries to figure a way out.
Thoughts on Hijack season 2 episode 3
We finally got some more information this week. We know what happened to Sam’s son. We know why he took this train. And we know that Marsha isn’t a part of this, but a pawn being used by those pulling the strings. What do they want? How far will they go to get it?
Those are answers that we’ll have to wait for moving forward.
Hijack streams on Wednesdays on Apple TV. Check back next week as we recap the events of each episode on Show Snob.