‘Hijack’ Ending Explained: Does The Intense Finale Stick The Landing?

After seven hours of molar-cracking tension both in the air and on the ground, Apple TV+‘s high-octane thriller Hijack stuck the landing with an eventful finale titled “Brace Brace Brace,” full of twists, terror, and — thankfully — more Idris Elba.

The Season 1 finale, which premiered August 2, picked up right where Episode 6, “Comply Slowly,” left off. For those who need a refresher, the penultimate episode concluded with the most mind-blowing cliffhanger of the series. As a fight broke out between passengers and hijackers, a quiet passenger named Amanda (Holly Aird) heard her phone vibrate, looked down to read a text, casually locked herself in the bathroom, tied her hair back, and randomly pulled A GUN out of her bag. After loading the weapon, leaving the restroom, and looking around the plane, she shot the pilot (Ben Miles) square in his head and locked herself alone in the cockpit before the end credits rolled. AHHH!!!!

Whether you’ve seen Hijack Episode 7, “Brace Brace Brace,” and are in desperate need of a recap, or you simply can’t wait another second to learn the fate of Flight KA29’s passengers and need Hijack finale spoilers, Decider’s ending explained article has you covered. Wondering what Amanda’s deal is? If Edgar Janssen (Simon McBurney) and John Bailey-Brown (Ian Burfield) successfully escape authorities? If Kai (Jude Cudjoe) makes it out of his dad’s apartment alive? What Alec’s (Justin Salinger) role in the hijacking is? And if Sam (Elba) and the other passengers manage to safely land the plane? Brace, brace, brace yourselves for all the answers below.

Hijack Ending Explained: Episode 7 Recap

All season long, Hijack has excelled at ending episodes in ways that build maximum suspense, and though the week-long break after “Comply Slowly” was agonizing at times, “Brace Brace Brace” wasted no time unpacking the penultimate twist.

The finale opens on Amanda’s phone screen, which displays a single text: “NOW.” Locked in the cockpit, she begins deleting the flight plan, disabling autopilot, and flying the plane towards a new unknown location as passengers and main hijackers spiral into a heightened state of panic outside. As they fight for control of the gun, Stuart (Neil Maskell) tells Sam he doesn’t know who Amanda is and reveals she’s not with his hijacking group. Using his persuasive gift of gab, Sam convinces Stuart that handing over his loaded gun is the only way to save himself from the passenger rebellion. And once the threat of Stuart and his teammates is neutralized, Sam waves the loaded gun in front of fellow passengers and lays out their new reality. “This hijack is over. We have a different problem, a bigger problem, and less than an hour to fix it,” he explains. (Leave it to Hijack to create a bigger problem than the existing massive one!)

On the ground, officials also learn this isn’t a regular hijacking. It’s a bear raid — a hijack that coordinators leaked to the media so Kingdom Airlines shares would drop and they’d gain money for betting the other way. The worse the crash, the more money they stand to make. So the situation onboard has never been more dire. While Sam unsuccessfully tries to gain access to the cockpit, passengers notice the plane has veered off course. It’s flying over a body of water towards South London, where it will likely crash. And things on the ground certainly aren’t ideal — especially for Sam’s son Kai (Cudjoe), who manages to call authorities to the house but finds himself held at gunpoint after they leave by the two cleaners sent to kill his family.

If you thought things onboard Flight KA29 couldn’t get any worse, you were wrong! Two fighter jets are back alongside the plane prepared to shoot it down if given the order. Fearing the end may truly be near, a flight attendant finds the bag of cell phones the hijackers confiscated just as one of the phones starts ringing. Sam answers, and seconds later he’s on the line with air traffic control queen Alice (Eve Myles) who learns Amanda killed the pilot, locked herself in the cockpit, and the passengers have lost all control. Speaking of the cockpit, Amanda is having a proper emotional spiral as she anxiously stares at a screen of unanswered texts awaiting further instructions. Little does she know Edgar is holding out so long because he’s making millions from every penny that shares drop.

Kai’s failed escape plan gives the cleaners more incentive to kill him, but good old Detective Daniel (Max Beesley) calls to say he’s on his way. Not wanting to drag Daniel into danger, Kai tells him not to come in front of the cleaners, but he signals for help by saying he plans to ride the bike he was on that morning home as fast as he can. Since Kai was riding a stationary exercise bike, Daniel plays it cool, says he’s no longer en route, then speeds to Sam’s apartment to rescue him after hanging up.

After another outrageously close call, the jets stand down and passengers start powering on cell phones in hopes of reuniting them with their owners. As Sam speaks to Amanda through the cockpit door, Alec (Salinger) — you know, the guy who carried the bag of guns on the flight — approaches and explains she’ll never comply because the people who orchestrated the hijack are holding her family hostage. Sam asks how he knows, and Alec reveals he brought the guns on the plane and “did the deal” (the trading) because they’re holding his partner hostage. He adds that the hijack was supposed to be over as soon as they flew over London, so he’s confused why Amanda shows no signs of landing.

Though the bear raid may have seemed like a done deal for Edgar, his greed sparks a fight with John, who has him shot and killed. When Edgar falls to the ground, his phone lights up with texts from Amanda, which means she’s never getting the OK to call off the crash. She’s committed to following through with the plan in hopes of saving her family, but after someone finds Amanda’s phone and sees a photo of her and her daughter Elodie as her lock screen image, Sam does what he does best and makes a vulnerable, deeply human appeal, writing “WHAT WOULD ELODIE WANT?” and “WE ALL HAVE FAMILY” on signs in front of the cockpit camera.

With the plane set to crash in four minutes, Amanda’s phone rings, and Sam answers. She’s calling him from inside the cockpit, and breaking down over killing the pilot, a man with a family. Sam comforts her, says he knows about the deal, and tells her the bad guys will kill Elodie whether she crashes the plane or not, so she might as well land it.

After relentless tension, we finally get some relief on the ground when the alarm at Sam’s apartment complex sounds, and Daniel shows up to tell the cleaners everyone needs to evacuate because of an aircraft emergency. When the cleaners take Kai outside, authorities apprehend them and Kai goes free. But unfortunately, his dad isn’t out of the woods yet.

Feeling lost, Amanda lets Sam in the cockpit, and once he assures her she won’t face any charges on the ground they prepare to land the plane with help from Alice. In another classic Hijack twist, the plane flames out, loses power, and they’re forced to glide to a 5,000-foot runway for one shot at a risky landing. The priest onboard rallies the passengers as they brace (brace brace) for impact, and they manage to stick the landing. Well, stick is generous, but consider the circumstances, people!

In a moment of miraculous triumph, the flight attendant opens the aircraft door, passengers celebrate, and everyone deplanes. Sorry, almost everyone. As Sam goes back inside to grab the jewelry he bought for his wife, we see authorities arresting the four suspected hijackers: Jamie (Aimée Kelly), Jaden (Mohamed Elsandel), Terry (Jasper Britton), and….ALEC?! They got the wrong guy, which means Stuart’s still on the plane! He locks the door behind Sam, steals the two guns from the cockpit, and screams “IF I’M GOING DOWN, YOU’RE GOING DOWN WITH ME” as he hunts Hijack‘s leading man in the wreckage.

As he’s dodging Stuart, a spooked Sam texts Marsha “IM SORRY.” After minutes of brutally tense tiptoeing, he sends another text asking her to call him. She does, and the sound of the phone’s vibration leads Stuart — still reeling his brother’s death — to a closed bathroom door. Sure Sam’s inside, he readies himself to attack, only to find Sam’s phone inside — not Sam. Why? It was a trap! Sam lured him there to catch him by surprise, and after a brief showdown, armed men burst into the plane to apprehend Stuart. As the two men kneel face-to-face, Sam utters one of the most iconic final lines in a series: “Say cheese.” The two words were a callback to Episode 3 when Stuart taunted him with the same request.

In the final scene, a straight-up exhausted Sam makes his way out of the plane for good, and Hijack plays us out with another iconic end credits song reflective of his journey, James Carr’s “The Dark End of the Street.” This man has earned a long peaceful rest ON LAND.

Hijack is currently streaming on Apple TV+.