The biggest question of Hijack Season 2 is finally answered. Episode 3, titled “Baggage,” reveals the tragic reason Sam Nelson has taken a Berlin subway train hostage. The episode shows that Sam and his ex-wife Marsha’s son, Kai, was killed in a car accident exactly one year before the events of the hijacking. Sam believes the man he is demanding from authorities, John Bailey-Brown, is responsible for his son’s death. This personal loss is the powerful force driving Sam’s desperate actions.
The Tragic Loss of Kai Nelson
The episode confirms a major character’s fate from Season 1. Kai Nelson, played by Jude Cudjoe, is dead. He died off-screen between seasons in what was reported as a car accident. For Sam, the date of the hijacking is not random; it is the painful one-year anniversary of his son’s death. This detail helps explain Sam’s extreme emotional state and his singular focus on finding Bailey-Brown, whom he is convinced murdered Kai.
Series creator Jim Field Smith explained that this level of personal tragedy was necessary to make Sam’s actions believable. He stated that to justify Sam making the choices he does, the story needed a motivation of immense power.
“As a father myself, there’s nothing you wouldn’t do for your children, and if those children are under threat, there’s nothing you wouldn’t do. And the idea of Sam as vengeful father is incredibly powerful,” Smith said.
This grief has put Sam in what Smith describes as a “nihilistic state of mind,” where he cares more about getting answers and revenge than his own safety.
Sam Nelson is Being Blackmailed and Manipulated
A crucial twist in Episode 3 redefines the entire situation. Sam is not acting solely out of his own volition for revenge. He is being blackmailed. A shadowy group is threatening to kill his ex-wife, Marsha, if he does not follow their orders. They have sent him proof that they are watching her in her remote Scottish cabin. This means Sam is a pawn in a larger game, forced to hijack the train and demand Bailey-Brown’s release to save Marsha’s life.
This explains why Sam, the hero from Season 1, appears to have turned into a villain. He reveals this truth to two people on the train: the conductor, Otto, and the cyclist, Freddie. He explains that he has no desire to hurt anyone but must see this through to protect Marsha. This revelation reframes Sam from a ruthless hijacker into a desperate man being exploited because of his grief and vulnerability.
Police Chief Ada Winter Begins to See the Truth
On the other side of the crisis, Chief Ada Winter of the Berlin Federal Police starts to piece together that Sam is not what he seems. After learning about the death of Sam’s son, she becomes suspicious of his actions. She notes that he claimed to have killed a hostage but the situation did not add up.
Actress Christiane Paul, who plays Winter, shared her character’s perspective.
“She’s a very experienced police officer and I think she realized very quickly that he is not a bad person at all. What I’ve learned from the police guys I talked to is if you’re taking hostages, then you’re really, really desperate. That’s the last thing you want to do,” Paul said.
Winter understands that a man in Sam’s position must be acting under immense pressure. This insight leads her to doubt the simple narrative of a terrorist attack and begin negotiating with Sam differently, though she must still protect the public.
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Marsha’s Storyline Mirrors Sam’s Grief and Danger
While Sam is trapped underground in Berlin, Marsha is dealing with her own grief in isolation. She has retreated to a cabin in the Scottish Highlands to mourn Kai on the anniversary of his death. Creator Jim Field Smith described Marsha’s storyline as a “counterpoint” to Sam’s. Sam is stuck in a gritty, mechanical underground maze, while Marsha is in a wide-open, natural landscape.
However, her search for peace is shattered when “hell comes to visit her”. The same people blackmailing Sam send operatives to her cabin. Smith wanted to ensure Marsha was not a passive character this season.
“I didn’t want her to be a damsel in distress. I wanted her to be this incredibly capable and independent person who, when she realizes what danger she’s in, I wanted to say, ‘No. No, I’ve had enough and you can’t come here and do this to me and I’m going to fight back,’” Smith explained.
Her storyline becomes a separate thriller, showing her fighting back against the threats.
Key Events and Revelations in Episode 3
The episode resolves the major cliffhanger from Episode 2. The explosion at the subway station was a fake. Sam used a lighter to set fire to trash in a bin, creating smoke and panic to make authorities believe he had detonated a bomb. The cyclist, Freddie, was never in real danger from Sam and was brought back onto the train.
A more sinister plot is uncovered when a power outage stops the train. Sam and Otto go into the tunnel to talk and discover a real bomb has been attached to the underside of the train. This was not part of Sam’s plan and shocks him, proving the people manipulating him are willing to kill everyone onboard.
The episode ends with a brutal murder. Freddie is killed, but not by Sam. Another passenger, a plant working for the blackmailers, murders Freddie to keep him quiet. Sam finds the body and, in a strategic but cold move, places it on a station platform as proof to the police that he is serious. Passengers see the body as the train pulls away, spreading terror and confirming they are part of a real attack.
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