The search for the truth behind Flight 828 will continue! The fourth season of the wildly popular supernatural drama Manifest is coming to Netflix later this year.
Fans were left gutted and reeling for answers when NBC canceled Manifest after its third season last summer. A #SaveManifest social media campaign was launched to try and find a new home for the beloved missing plane show. A few months later, Netflix responded to the demand by officially ordering a fourth season (making the well-timed announcement on August 28th at 8:28 am).
However, just because we’ve got a second life for Manifest doesn’t mean it will continue indefinitely. The fourth season will be the last, and creator Jeff Rake has promised the team will deliver a worthy conclusion to the story. This season must ensure that the story comes full circle and ties loose ends.
Just to name a few burning questions, where did Cal disappear to at the end of the season? How will the passengers continue to work at beating the death date? Why did the entire plane (with the returned pilot inside) vanish from the research facility? Tackling these burning questions is one way the show could keep the fans invested when the final season takes flight.
Where Did Cal Disappear To?
One overarching element of the third season revolved around the resurrected tailfin of Flight 828. Found in the waters off Cuba, the tailfin is transferred to the government’s Project Eureka lab under the watchful eyes of NSA boss Vance (Daryl Edwards) and the stoic Dr. Gupta (Mahira Kakkar). The facility experiments on the tailfin all season to find clues about what happened to the plane and why the tailfin was found if the plane had supposedly returned intact. Ben (Josh Dallas) and Saanvi (Parveen Kaur) manage to infiltrate the facility to unsuccessfully try and stop the testing, as it is causing earthquakes and other catastrophes. The discovery of the driftwood ostensibly from Noah’s Ark only added to the chaos.
Enter Cal (Jack Messina). After some convincing from the ever-trustworthy Angelina (Holly Taylor), Cal goes to the Eureka facility to see the tailfin. While Ben and Grace (Athena Karkanis) arrive to get him and beg Gupta to stop testing, Cal touches the tailfin and disappears.
We don’t see where he went, and he doesn’t return until the last moments of the season finale. In his return, he comforts a dying Grace after her attack by Angelina. The only catch is he’s now aged up roughly five and a half years. Hey, that’s how long the plane was missing! Where did Cal go after touching the tailfin? As Cal is holding Grace in her last moments, he remarks, “I know what we need to do now.” What do they need to do? Is this a way to beat the death date? Only time will tell, and fans deserve a worthy answer to this question in the final season.
The Death Date
Speaking of the death date… After spending the bulk of the series researching and understanding how to beat the death dates, the entirety of what they learned was thrown out the metaphorical window in the third season. Ben, Michaela (Melissa Roxburgh), and the rest of the group understood that you only have as much time back as you were gone. For the 828 passengers, their plane vanished for five and a half years, so they would all have five and a half years after they returned before meeting their deaths. The group thought one could beat their death date by following the callings and making up for any of their life’s wrongs. This theory was proven right when Zeke (Matt Long) saved Cal from drowning in the second season finale at the end of his death date. He beat his death date because he did what the Callings instructed.
The same couldn’t be said for Jace, Pete, and Kory, the three criminals who were the reason for Cal drowning in the lake. They seemingly also drowned until they emerged from the lake alive and well, just like the 828 passengers. This meant that the three of them had their own death dates, equal to the time they spent in the lake. While Pete and Kory attempted to redeem their lives and listen to the Callings, Jace did not, continuing his reign of terror throughout the third season. When their death date arrived, the group assumed that Pete and Kory would live because they followed the Callings, but plot twist, that didn’t happen. To beat the death date, all three would have needed to work with the Callings. Since Jace didn’t, the three all died together.
This threw a big wrench in the 828er’s plans. Rather than everyone working to beat the death date on their own, they had to get every passenger to follow the Callings. If not, all the passengers would die together. When you have passengers like Eagan and Adrian, who are only out for themselves and vehemently opposed to Ben, teamwork is harder to accomplish.
Let’s hope the fourth season will offer some way for the passengers to work around the death date. Our favorite characters shouldn’t have to die because some passengers are bent on sinking the group’s lifeboat.
The Michaela-Jared-Zeke Love Triangle
Even before the plane disappeared, Michaela was unsure if she wanted a long-term relationship with Jared (J.R. Ramirez). Obviously, disappearing for five years didn’t help their situation, and Jared moved on in her absence. Michaela did as well, forming a relationship and later marrying Zeke. However, there have been hints throughout the series that seem to show that Jared is still in love with Michaela, culminating in the third season finale when he openly admits she is the love of his life.
Zeke’s ability to read people tells him that Michaela may feel the same way, and the two need to discuss their relationship. It seems they are on thin ice, and this complicated love triangle will likely spill over into the fourth season.