Idris Elba's Easy-To-Binge Thriller Derails on Rotten Tomatoes

1 week ago 20

Published Jan 25, 2026, 2:00 PM EST

Denis is a news writer for Collider. He has covered television for several years, starting with writing scripts for YouTube videos before transitioning to articles. He has reviewed shows across different genres. His favorite types of articles to write are exciting news updates about shows and episodic reviews of the same. He might say he doesn't have a favorite show, but he has watched The Wire, Shameless, The Big Bang Theory, and The Blacklist more than once. Find him on X tweeting about something random that occurred to him about a TV show or the industry.

Hijack is back for Season 2, over two years since the first season concluded, and the results are not impressive. The new season of the Idris Elba-led thriller debuted with a measly 20% score on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, but that score has risen to 58% as more reviews have been weighed. This is in stark contrast to the first season, which still boasts an impressive 90% on the same site. Overall, this low score for Hijack Season 2 has negatively impacted the series score, which now stands at 74%. The show is not out of the woods yet, as the audience score has not been added. Given that viewers gave Season 1 a 51% score, it will be interesting to see how they rate the latest one.

Elba stars in the British thriller as Sam Nelson, a high-profile corporate negotiator who finds himself in a crisis. In Season 1, Nelson is among the passengers on Kingdom Flight K29 that is hijacked. Nelson survives the ordeal, only to find himself in a similar situation in Season 2, where he is among the commuters on a Berlin underground train that is taken hostage. However, there is something different about this recent turn of events, where Nelson might not have found himself in this situation by accident. The season premiere features a massive twist that changes the entire premise. In an interview with Collider's Christina Radish, Elba had previously teased how the show could keep itself fresh in Season 2, saying,

"I'd wanna put him [Nelson] in a different scenario. I’d wanna keep the perspective of the audience through his eyes. If Sam Nelson was in a restaurant ordering food, then the scenario would be, 'Okay, you have two options, this food that’s gonna give you diarrhea, or this food that’s gonna put you to sleep. Choose.' That’s what I would wanna do. I wanna find a way to put the character in a situation that people can relate to."

Who Is Behind 'Hijack?'

The series was created and executive produced by George Kay and Jim Field Smith, the latter of whom also serves as the lead director. Elba stars and executive produces the crime thriller with executive producers Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta, and Tom Nash. Season 2 also stars Christine Adams, Max Beesley, and Archie Panjabi from Season 1, with Christian Näthe, Clare-Hope Ashitey, Lisa Vicari, Toby Jones, Karima McAdams, and Christiane Paul joining the cast.