Hijack

Things take a little while to develop in the first episode of Hijack‘s second season. But once we learned exactly what was going on, we were locked back into what we expect to be a fast-paced season, with the usual excellent performance from Idris Elba.

“Hijack” is an intensely watchable series that keeps your attention and anxiety up. It may not be as iconic as “Die Hard,” but it understands the thrill of the chase and has enough momentum to punch our ticket for Season 3.

If you’ve tuned in for one minute, you’ll be there for them all. So enjoy, and I’ll see you again at the end of what promises to be another rollicking ride.

This episode moves at an excellent pace, coming in relatively short compared to bloated streaming shows and introducing us to the players and four settings—train, embassy, control center, Marsha’s cabin—that will probably shape the season. Let’s hope the pace continues or the questions about whether or not this sophomore outing justifies its existence will only grow louder.

There’s only so much the headliner can do to enliven a story that builds on its predecessor in predictable ways, and whose thrills, as before, are mitigated by an eight-episode, six-and-a-half-hour length that routinely dampens the action’s power.

Like its predecessor, “Hijack” is a fun escapist thrill-ride, though it does go off the rails and sticks too closely to the same playbook as Season 1 — trading air passengers for Berlin train commuters.

A lesser if still compelling outing for Idris Elba’s have-a-go hero as he once again navigates the perils of public transport.

With its too-classic feel and overly-modern design, Hijack season 2 is engaging but simply unremarkable, and better binge-watched in March.

“Hijack” is not an ambitious series. And yet Season 2 still isn’t ambitious enough. It doesn’t do the work to magnify Elba’s charisma, utilize its subway setting, or design a payoff worth the time it takes to get there.

Instead of a streamlined storyline aided by a robust throughline of taut tension, the season is a jumble of plot points stretching between the past and the present. As a result, it becomes clunky, cumbersome and wearisome.