Apple TV+ released the fifth episode of Hijack Season 2 on Wednesday, February 11, 2026. The episode, titled Outage, reveals that Sam Nelson was not randomly caught in the Berlin train hijacking. He was deliberately targeted because of his past with the hijackers from Flight KA29.
The communications blackout inside the tunnel forces the passengers to fight back. But the biggest shock happens in London. Detective Daniel O’Farrell tracks down Stuart Atterton (Neil Maskell), the surviving hijacker from Season 1. His return confirms that the Cheapside Firm, the same organization behind the plane hijacking, is also controlling the train attack.
Sam’s frightening realization changes the meaning of the entire season. This is no longer about saving strangers. This is personal.
Sam’s Frightening Realization: The Hijacking Is Not Random
The episode opens with the passengers trapped inside the U-Bahn train for hours. Food is running low. The hijackers are restless. Sam Nelson (Idris Elba) watches the situation slip away from him.
Sam comes to a frightening realization: the people holding the train are not working alone. Someone off-board is giving them orders. He does not know who yet, but he knows this is not a random act of terror.
Then the outage hits.
All communications inside the train go dead. Phones lose signal. The hijackers’ radios stop working. Even the train’s internal systems flicker and fail. The blackout isolates everyone. Passengers cannot call for help. Hijackers cannot receive orders. Sam cannot negotiate.
Without the hijackers able to contact their bosses, the power balance shifts. Passengers see fear in their captors’ eyes. A small group decides they are no longer willing to wait. They confront a hijacker directly. The scene is chaotic, loud, and raw. Sam steps in to prevent a bloodbath, but the damage is done. The hijackers now know the passengers are a threat.
Sam’s frightening realization about the off-board controller becomes the central question of the episode. Who is giving the orders? The answer comes from London.
Stuart’s Return Confirms the Cheapside Firm Connection
While Sam fights to keep the train from exploding into violence, DI Daniel O’Farrell (Max Beesley) makes progress on the ground.
Daniel tracks down Elaine Atterton, the mother of Lewis and Stuart. Viewers remember Lewis as the hijacker who died on Flight KA29 after pulling a pen from his own chest. Stuart was the nervous hijacker Sam manipulated into landing the plane.
Elaine is terrified. She reveals that her husband, Peter, was murdered by the same organization behind the Berlin hijacking. The group, known as the Cheapside Firm, punished Lewis for disobeying orders on the plane by killing their father. Elaine says she has no choice but to cooperate. If she talks, her remaining son Stuart will also be killed.
Then Neil Maskell appears on screen as Stuart.
Stuart initially claims he knows nothing about the Berlin train. But Daniel is not convinced. He mentions Stuart’s mother, father, and brother. The mention of his father’s murder strikes a visible nerve. Stuart’s face hardens. His loyalty to the people who killed his father is clearly not strong.
Jim Field Smith, series co-creator, explained why Stuart had to return.
“At the end of season 1, there is a lot of unanswered questions. There is a lot of unfinished business and Stuart probably represents the pinnacle of that unfinished business. This guy hurt [Sam’s] family and chose to hurt his family and vice versa. Stuart was thrown under the bus by his higher-ups in season 1 and he feels like he has got unfinished business too.”
Smith confirmed that Sam being on the train is not a coincidence. The Berlin hijacking is directly connected to Flight KA29. Sam was targeted.
The Weight of Lewis’s Death Returns
The episode circles back to Lewis, Stuart’s brother who died in Season 1.
In Season 1, Sam told Stuart that Lewis pulled a pen from his own wound, sacrificing himself to prevent the plane from landing. But in Episode 5, Sam reflects on that moment. The show leaves room for doubt. Did Lewis actually sacrifice himself, or did Sam help him along to save everyone else?
This ambiguity hangs over Stuart’s return. If Stuart believes Sam killed his brother, his motive for helping the new hijackers becomes clear. If Stuart knows Sam told the truth, his anger should be directed at the Cheapside Firm.
The episode does not answer this question. It leaves the tension dangling. This fuels the conflict inside the train and the brewing war between Sam and Stuart outside of it.
Passenger Rebellion and the Bomb Discovery
Back on the train, the outage continues to fuel suspicion and anger.
The passengers are not extras. They are individuals who have been pushed past their breaking point. One scene shows a group of men surrounding a hijacker, demanding the train move. Another shows a woman screaming at Sam, blaming him for making things worse.
The show uses the blackout to strip away the procedural elements. Without maps, timers, or communication feeds, the audience is as blind as the hostages. This creates an uncomfortable viewing experience. You feel the panic of not knowing who is in control.
Sam discovers there are eight bombs attached to the train. He warns the passengers: if anyone gets off, everyone dies.
Jess (Karima McAdams) , the woman who posed as a nurse, is revealed to be in charge of the detonator. She must reset the timer on the bombs every 15 minutes using a remote transceiver. This timing adds constant pressure to every scene.
Sam is forced to make decisions without any reliable information. Every word he chooses is heavy. Every strategy is a gamble.
Peter Faber and the Expanding Conspiracy
The episode also introduces more details about Peter Faber (Toby Jones) .
Investigators learn that Sam was likely recruited in a Berlin bar. A witness describes meeting a man who matches Faber’s description: an officer type, a bit full of himself.
Faber’s secret conversations with Olivia Thatcher (Clare-Hope Ashitey) remain suspicious. His behavior suggests he is either the master manipulator or another victim trapped in the Cheapside Firm’s network. The show deliberately keeps his true allegiance unclear.
Marsha in Danger
The threat extends beyond Berlin. Marsha Nelson-Smith (Christine Adams) , Sam’s ex-wife, is in Scotland. Neighbors who pretended to protect her reveal themselves as part of the operation.
Marsha is trapped. The organization is closing in on everyone connected to Sam. The personal stakes have never been higher.
The USB Drive and the Final Explosion
The episode ends with a devastating sequence. Jess fails to disarm the last bomb. Sam, injured, tries to evacuate the carriage. He fails. The final wagon explodes as the screen cuts to black.
But one detail changes everything. A USB drive hidden inside baby Benji’s bottle contains video evidence. The footage proves that Jess killed Freddie (Albrecht Schuch) . This recording will later help prove Sam’s innocence.
The question now is whether Sam survives to use it.
Hijack Season 2 Episode 5 Release Info and Streaming Details
Hijack Season 2 Episode 5 premiered globally on Wednesday, February 11, 2026.
Streaming Details for Global Audiences:
- USA & Canada: 12:00 a.m. PT / 3:00 a.m. ET on Apple TV+
- United Kingdom: 8:00 a.m. GMT
- Australia: 7:00 p.m. AEDT
- India: 1:30 p.m. IST
- Global: Available in over 100 countries on the Apple TV app. Supported devices include iPhone, iPad, Mac, Smart TVs, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, PlayStation, Xbox, and web browsers at tv.apple.com.
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Remaining Episode Schedule:
- Episode 6: Wednesday, February 18, 2026
- Episode 7: Wednesday, February 25, 2026
- Episode 8 (Season Finale): Wednesday, March 4, 2026
Official Cast of Hijack Season 2:
- Idris Elba as Sam Nelson
- Christine Adams as Marsha Nelson-Smith
- Max Beesley as DI Daniel O’Farrell
- Archie Panjabi as DCI Zahra Gahfoor
- Neil Maskell as Stuart Atterton (Episode 5 debut)
- Christian Näthe as Otto
- Clare-Hope Ashitey as Olivia Thatcher
- Lisa Vicari as Clara Berger
- Toby Jones as Peter Faber
- Christiane Paul as Ada Winter
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