Despite our vast differences, the one thing that makes us equal as people is that we’re all prone to weaknesses that come with being human. Our bodies are fragile, and our minds are too.
A hijacker was injured on Hijack Season 1 Episode 4, allowing Sam to get in touch with the human in the hijacker despite the current circumstances. Elsewhere, the incident team attempted to save two hundred and six … nay, two hundred and fifteen lives aboard Kingdom Flight 126.
It was confirmed in the worst way possible that the kidnappers on board were as bad as their counterparts on board when one passenger sadly lost their life.
So, they had real bullets all along.
While the early revelation that the bullets were fake rested some concerns on how weapons managed to get into the plane, real bullets in the plane raised the same question, which needed to be answered.
Yet there was no time for that because a crisis had occurred in the plane, and one was waiting to happen on the ground and outside the aircraft.
It is unreal how much coordination goes into ensuring that one plane ferries passengers from one corner of the earth to another.
To most people, flying is as easy as paying for a ticket, boarding on time, and reaching your destination.
But the people who work behind the scenes in various countries are the real heroes. They ensure no traffic accidents happen, and the response is swift and immediate in case of a crisis.
They would appreciate being remembered and focused on once in a while. Yet most would not have loved the circumstances under which it was happening currently.
In London, Alice was trying to calm down a distraught Romanian air controller who, for all she knew, they were about to be attacked.
The potential international crisis that could arise from an unresponsive plane became clear on Hijack Season 1 Episode 3, as Flight 126 cut through various airspaces with irregular communication.
That issue was the episode’s main focus, but as usual, a bit elevated.
An unresponsive plane is a cause for concern by itself.
But when that plane has all its blinds lowered, there’s no telling what it might be carrying and why the blinds were lowered close to Budapest and not anywhere else in that journey.
Yeah, Betina’s lost it. And she’s got a point, to be fair. They’ve got a non-communicative passenger plane heading straight for their capital city. I mean, if it was the other way around, if that plane was coming to London and it carried on ignoring us, we’d be shooting it down.
Alice
The Romanians had something to be afraid of.
To make matters worse, they got a glimpse inside the plane, and there was a weapon. That was enough to take any measures necessary.
While everyone in the crisis team was playing politics, being curt, and showing no genuine concern for the plane, Alice tried to use all the goodwill she had gained with the Romanians while working with flight control, but that goodwill was running out fast.
Zahra and Daniel seemed to be the only people working in that room.
On the plane, they were dealing with a crisis of their own.
To say the passengers were on edge is an understatement. But the hijackers were also on edge because things were not going well when they boarded that plane on Hijack Season 1 Episode 1.
They had an erratic leader who would lose his composure at the smallest sign of trouble.
The scariest thing that could have happened was if a passenger was injured. I did not anticipate a hijacker being injured, and when it happened, I held zero sympathy for him.
And maybe it was a good thing I was not on that flight because I would have responded very differently from how Sam did, and that would not have served anybody.
Would you have cared if the guy died? Good riddance, I would say. One less problem to deal with.
But Sam sympathized with him genuinely and didn’t want the guy dead.
He also saw an opportunity and killed two birds with one stone. It is the thing that might have made that successful as a corporate negotiator. He takes the road most people wouldn’t take, so he gets a different view. He then uses that view to his advantage.
Okay… Is it “Mum”? Yeah? 016 32… Yeah? 960 487?
Sam
Having someone’s life in your hands is huge, and I was happy that most characters didn’t take that lightly.
The flight attendant scoured the cabinets to find something strong enough to block the wounds; Sam tried to keep the hijacker alive for as long as possible; David ignored his wife and went to help; the fighter jet pilot delayed the takedown for as long as possible.
Controller: Two minutes. Confirmed for weapons release.
Jet Pilot: Are you sure about this?
Controller: Mars, you will obey the order.
Jet Pilot: Copy that.
One could almost hear him sigh in relief when the abort order came in, and he couldn’t wait to get out of there. He was staring directly at that plane, and the fact that he would be responsible for the death of over two hundred people was a huge weight lifted off his shoulders.
Controller: Abort. Abort. Disengage.
Jet Pilot: Copy that. Weapons cold. Returning to base.
We still didn’t know what the kidnappers wanted, but since they didn’t communicate directly, they were working for someone else.
And when the MP was given the folder with demands, it was confirmed.
In Hijack Season 1, nothing is straightforward, and I think a bigger thing must happen. My guess would be dirty politics. What’s yours?
One point it feels like the show is still missing is the organization the kidnappers work for. Clearly, they have reach bigger than a single country. They even found Sam’s address and visited the location.
Yet, they couldn’t have done some basic research to find out all the passengers’ occupations on the plane. It would have been much easier than screaming, “Is there a doctor here?”
“Not Responding” was as thrilling as ever and gained significant ground in the story. The episode’s plot was very well executed.
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Denis Kimathi is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. He has watched more dramas and comedies than he cares to remember. Catch him on social media obsessing over [excellent] past, current, and upcoming shows or going off about the politics of representation on TV. Follow him on Twitter.