I initially stopped watching Manifest after season 1 so it was great to have it on Netflix for a weekend binge of seasons 2, 3 and newly released 4 part 1. If you’ve not watched the show, here is a brief summary:
The passengers of flight 828 from Jamaica disappeared. Their families presumed them dead but the plane landed 5 years later. What had been 5 years for the families was the regular flight time for the passengers, albeit a bumpy flight with lots of turbulence. The returned passengers started hearing and seeing things that they were compelled to follow which they labeled “Callings”. Of course people began to be suspicious of the passengers and the government surveilled them and they experienced increased ostracization all while having to avoid the negative results if they didn’t follow the Callings. Episode to episode was a mystery to figure out the puzzles that are the Callings, piecing together what happened to the flight, avoiding government suspicion and being targeted by hate groups. If that wasn’t enough there is a looming “Death Date” the passengers of flight 828 are trying to beat.
The show can get a little repetitive but is nonetheless interesting watching the characters arrive at answers to the Callings and nearing answers to the meaning of it all. At times characters become frustrating and the show can stray from sci-fi and can feel like a hallmark channel movie. Season 4 feels like a series finale, especially with part 1 featuring many callbacks to earlier seasons and closing the loop on hanging questions while still leaving off on a cliffhanger teasing a part 2.
Manifest aired on NBC on September 24, 2018. NBC renewed the show for seasons 2 and 3 but canceled it following season 3. Netflix stepped in and just released season 4 part 1 on November 4th. The air date for part 2 has not been announced so far but I’ve seen speculation that it will be released on June 2nd, a year before the shows ‘Death Date’ or perhaps June 24th for the same reason as the Death Date is June 2, 2024 and I can’t imagine part 2 will take that long to be released.