Why Sam hijacked the train in Hijack Season 2 — Kai's death explained

Episode 3, "Baggage," of Hijack Season 2 finally explains why Sam (Idris Elba) has hijacked a train full of innocent passengers: a personal tragedy tied to his son. The episode reveals the “baggage” that has driven Sam’s drastic actions, though it does not answer every question. Earlier in the season Sam declared he had hijacked the train, demanded Clara find John Bailey Brown, and held the driver Otto hostage, even telling Clara authorities must find Brown "or people would die." He also told Otto he "knew what was involved when he took the money," confirming Otto’s prior awareness of something suspicious.

Episode 3 reveals Sam’s son Kai was killed a year earlier in what Sam believes was not an accident but murder, and Sam suspects Brown was behind it. The episode clarifies that Sam staged a fake killing of a passenger, Freddie, to make the hijack look real — though Freddie later turns up dead on the train, deepening the mystery.

The season adds further complications: Brown is in Berlin being held by German intelligence, a fact Peter Faber with British intelligence kept under wraps because Brown is a flight risk, and the authorities plan to extradite him to the U.K. Sam, however, is being ordered to get Brown onto the train — he even receives a message and a photo of his ex-wife Marsha at a hideaway cabin and is told "they" said Marsha would die if he failed.

A bomb on the train is confirmed, and the threads of coercion and threat become central to Sam’s actions.

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