Idris Elba’s New Thriller Series Is Dominating Streaming Right Now
Idris Elba’s high-stakes thriller Hijack is storming Apple TV+, topping charts across multiple international markets as season 2 rolls out. The series is outpacing every rival on the platform.
Idris Elba has a knack for getting trapped in worst-case scenarios, and apparently we cannot look away. With Season 2 rolling out, Hijack just surged to the top of Apple TV+ in multiple countries and is holding there.
Hijack is owning Apple TV+ right now
On February 6, 2026, the series climbed to the very top of Apple TV+ TV rankings, per FlixPatrol. It leaped past some big in-house competition, including Shrinking, Pluribus, and Tehran. Over the past week, it has repeatedly taken the number-one slot in the United Kingdom, the Philippines, New Zealand, the United Arab Emirates, and Hong Kong.
The timing tracks: Season 2 is mid-run and clearly pulling in fresh viewers. The show came back because people asked for it after the 2023 debut, and the numbers suggest that bet paid off again.
Season 2 shifts the crisis and ups the stakes
Premiered January 14, 2026, Season 2 is dropping weekly and wraps on March 4, 2026. We pick up two years after the hijacking of Kingdom Airlines Flight KA29. Elba returns as Sam Nelson, a corporate negotiator who specializes in talking volatile situations down. Unfortunately for him, chaos finds him again: the action moves to Berlin, where a hostage situation erupts in the city’s underground transit system near a U-Bahn station, putting hundreds of commuters in danger. It is very much the Hijack formula, just grounded instead of airborne, and it still works.
Who else is in the mix
Alongside Elba, the season brings back and builds out a solid ensemble: Christine Adams as Marsha Smith Nelson, Max Beesley as DI Daniel O'Farrel, Archie Panjabi as DCI Zahra Gahfoor, and Ian Burfield as John Bailey Brown.
How it’s playing with viewers and critics
Reception has been broadly positive. As of now, Season 2 sits at 72 percent with critics on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 66 percent audience score. Not a runaway consensus, but clearly enough heat to power it up the charts.
Bottom line: if you were waiting to binge, the finale lands March 4. Until then, Hijack is the show to beat on Apple TV+.