The Hijacking of Flight 601 – Episode 3 Recap & Review

Dog Day Night

Episode 3 of The Hijacking of Flight 601 starts after Borja supposedly kills one of the passengers. He talks to Pirateque and tells him to have the money delivered by 4 am, or he will kill more passengers, starting with the Captain and the crew, and after that, turn the plane into a graveyard for every minute the money delays.

Pirateque and the Captain convince him to wait until 6 am since the airport is closed and they need more time to get to his location. Borja agrees, and after forcing the first class passenger to sit with the economic class passengers, El Toro pulls him to the back of the plane for a chat.

The Captain takes the opportunity to encourage Edie, who is disheartened and blames herself for the passengers’ death. He says that the airline and the government are to blame since they abandoned them and asked them to work together to ensure they got off the plane alive.

At the airline offices, Chavarriaga arrives, and while Pirateque thinks they should still send the money to the hijackers, he insists on letting President Pastrana handle the issue since the government is in talks with the Dutch government for military intervention. 

Edie’s youngest son at home has a high fever and starts crying out for his mother, making Edie feel uneasy on the plane. Meanwhile, Pirateque cannot tell the passenger’s family what is happening on the plane.

The Captain asks Ulises to honour his fight for the hungry people in Colombia by allowing them to get food and water for the passengers. Pirateque convinces Manchola to open the safe with the money, and they take matters into their own hands, trying to figure out how to get the money to the hijackers. 

Inside the plane, Barbara finds some sleeping pills inside a handbag left by one of the passengers, and they come up with a plan to knock out the hijackers by adding the pills to their food. The food and the water arrive, and Ulises sends Edie and Lequerica to get it. Lequerica gives Edie the manuals to open the floor air locks from where the passengers will jump off the plane once the hijackers fall asleep. 

The hijackers, pilots, and Barbara get a moment to chat during the meals, and Ulises talks about the lack of opportunities for the poor people in Colombia. He says that where he came from, the poor have two choices if they do not want to stay hungry, which includes becoming a footballer or taking a gun.

The Captain says that the people who choose to take guns and turn to crime for their next meal are lazy since there are so many other choices. They can wake up early to find work, study, or join the Air Force like he did. 

Barbara disagrees with the Captain, saying that some people are born without luck and waking up early does not change their situation. The Captain insists that then such people need to wake up even earlier because the people who choose to use guns are either lazy or murderers. His words infuriate El Toro, who suddenly attacks the Captain and wants to kill him. While all the commotion is happening in the cockpit, Edie opens the airlocks at the back, and Pirateque is on a plane heading to their location with the money. 

The plan to knock them out almost succeeds, but the Captain’s delay in sending the signal to allow the passengers to escape gives the hijackers enough time to figure out something is wrong. Therefore, they snort coke to keep them awake, and Barbara mentions her suspicion about the hijackers that Edie happens to have noticed, too.

They say that the hijackers do not talk like guerrillas, which means that they might be more dangerous than they think. The Captain asks Barbara to signal the passengers at the back for help dealing with El Toro while he deals with Ulises so they can escape. 

The plan is almost in motion, and every passenger is getting ready for the Captain’s signal when suddenly Pirateque arrives on a motorbike with the money. Ulises sends down Barbara, and Pirateque gives him 50,000 dollars, promising to send 50,000 more for every five passengers he releases.

When he gets the money, Ulises taunts the Captain, telling him he is just a chauffeur, and throws money at him as some tips, saying he can keep waking up early while they get what they want quickly by taking a gun. The Captain angrily sends the signal and attacks Ulises while those at the back attack El Toro. Edie opens the hatch, and the passengers fight to escape, trampling over each other to get ahead. 

After some time struggling, Ulises retakes control of the situation and threatens the Captain to start the engines by shooting Lequerica’s foot. Many passengers manage to escape, including one with El Toro’s gun, but some are still left in the plane with all the crew when the plane takes off. Pirateque is left stranded at the airport, watching as the plane takes off, blaming himself for not giving Ulises all the money. 

The Episode Review

This episode adds a mystery to the narrative when Barbara and Edie suspect that the kidnappers might not be who they say they are. Are they from a far more dangerous organisation or ordinary folks looking to make easy money? Edie’s kids are still home alone, and one might be sick, which tugs on the audience’s emotions, making us more anxious.

Pirateque goes against the company president and the country president’s decree not to negotiate with the terrorists and tries to deliver the money to the hijackers. What will happen to him in the next episode? How many passengers remain on board?

With the hijackers’ bargaining power decreased, what will they do to ensure their survival? Will the rest of the hostages make it out alive?