The stakes are high, and the setting has moved underground. Idris Elba returns as crisis negotiator Sam Nelson in Hijack Season 2, premiering January 14, 2026, on Apple TV+. This time, the tense action shifts from a hijacked plane to a commandeered train in the Berlin Underground, with Elba sharing that his character is in a completely different, damaged state of mind.
Season 1 followed Sam Nelson using his corporate negotiation skills to save lives during a seven-hour flight hijacking from Dubai to London. The new season picks up with Sam again caught in the middle of a hostage situation, but on a Berlin subway car. Authorities on the ground in both Germany and the UK scramble to respond, while Sam works from inside the train.
A Changed and “Broken” Hero
A major focus of the new season is the transformation of Sam Nelson. Both Elba and series co-creator and director Jim Field Smith state that Sam is a changed man when audiences meet him again.
Elba explained the character’s shift, noting, “Psychologically, I was trying to put him in a very different place. Physically, there is a difference to the way he looks from Season 1 and that was intentional. When you find out what is going on through the season, you realize this is a broken man.”
Jim Field Smith echoed this, stating their goal was for Sam to feel like a different person from his first appearance. “Our whole guiding principle with Sam was that I wanted him to start Season 2 as a completely different character from the Sam Nelson you’ve left behind,” Field Smith said. “In the very first frame when the camera resolves on him this season, you’re supposed to think, ‘What the hell’s happened to this guy?’”
New Hostage Crisis on a Berlin U-Bahn
The plot for the second season exchanges the airborne tension for a claustrophobic, ground-level crisis. The story involves a Berlin Underground train where commuters are taken hostage. This new setting provides a different kind of pressure and movement compared to the static plane interior of the first season.
Elba highlighted the dynamic filming environment, saying, “There were a lot of people on the train. There’s a lot of movement in and out trains, doorways, [and] movement along. There’s a lot going on.” The production built a meticulous, full-scale replica of a Berlin U-Bahn train at a studio in East London to achieve authenticity, with Field Smith insisting it be a “millimetre perfect” match for filming that also took place on location in Berlin.
Returning and New Faces
Elba leads a cast that includes several returning actors from the first season. Christine Adams returns as Sam’s estranged wife, Marsha, alongside Max Beesley as DI Daniel O’Farrell and Archie Panjabi as DCI Zahra Gahfoor.
They are joined by a roster of new actors playing original characters caught up in the Berlin incident. The new cast includes Toby Jones, Christiane Paul, Christian Näthe, Lisa Vicari, Clare-Hope Ashitey, and Karima McAdams. These new characters are designed to show how Sam adapts his methods under pressure while facing cultural and language barriers in a foreign city.
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Creative Challenges and Global Appeal
The creators faced the challenge of maintaining the show’s successful, real-time thriller format in a new environment. Jim Field Smith discussed the intentional international aspect of the series, which was a key part of Season 1’s global appeal.
“One of the great things about Season 1 is we had such a great global response,” Field Smith noted. “It had an international aspect… In Season 2 the train is staying in one city, and really you have to bring the internationality to the show.” This is achieved through the involvement of both German and British authorities responding to the crisis.
The second season consists of eight episodes. New episodes will be released weekly every Wednesday, culminating in the season finale on March 4, 2026.
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