“Upgrade” – Aired on February 4, 2019
Written by: Matthew Lau & Ezra W. Nachman
Directed by: Craig Zisk
Grade: 4,5 out of 5
Notice: All episode reviews contain spoilers
In terms of pure screenwriting, “Upgrade” is a solid hour considering that Manifest is now markedly on the last stretch before crossing Season 1’s finish line. It checks most of the boxes usually reserved for late outings of a season, such as the further clarification of details in previously explored plots, revelation of secrets (preferably the ones related to family or romance – Manifest does both) in order to escalate the drama factor, influx of ‘cons’ to counteract ‘pros’ – or vice-versa – to cloud the decision-making process of the protagonists, and regroupment of various plotlines to ride the crescendo leading to an inevitable, fast-approaching climax. Couple that quality script with banner performances by lead actors in a few key scenes, and the end product is “Upgrade,” a compelling hour of TV.
Take for instance the dialogue between Michaela and Lourdes outside the precinct. Each woman arrives to that moment carrying a heavy amount of guilt. Most of it spills out into the open as both express their frustration over what took place since the reappearance of Flight 828, including their pent-up bitterness toward each other. They defend their individual positions in earnest, seeking some unattainable compromise. It is a terrifically written dialogue because neither Lourdes nor Michaela is wrong! And it is precisely, and sadly, why they end the dialogue burdened by regrets in the same way that they broached it, unable to solve anything in the process. Imagine the helpless feeling of giving your best effort to resolve a difficult situation, at the cost of hurting the feelings of someone you care for, only to realize that your best effort was in vain. Luckily, with Melissa Roxburgh and Victoria Cartagena acting the parts, you don’t have to!
The script requires two actors to adequately transfer the profound malaise buried in the pages onto the screen, and boy do Roxburgh and Cartagena deliver just that in this two-minute-long scene! The viewer can sense the emotional strain wreaking havoc on both Michaela and Lourdes as they confess to, and accuse, each other, and yet remain unable to get on the same page at any level. The sequence is a good example of how a predictable plot development (because, frankly, we knew for a long time that Michaela and Lourdes would eventually have this confrontation) can still engage viewers thanks to carefully written dialogues and actors invested in their roles.
The above scene, which takes place midway through the episode, comes at the heels of an unpleasant morning for the Jared-Lourdes couple in an earlier scene in which Lourdes attempts to make love to her disinterested husband. When she asks him what is wrong, Jared mumbles something along the lines of “I need some time,” which is probably the last thing an insecure spouse wants to hear. Lourdes is woefully aware of the fact that she is losing him to Michaela, although one would wonder what took her so long to question him, considering that he has been serving as the full-time caretaker of the Stone family, particularly of Michaela, since time immemorial.
This is where even a brief appearance by Lourdes in the previous two episodes to show the progress of her discomfort may have helped, because we basically dive into full-crisis mode as soon as her storyline begins with her ‘mounting’ Jared. This is a case where “Upgrade” was forced to fill a hole created (unintentionally) by recent episodes.
The episode also showcases Saanvi’s much-needed return to prominence that began with last week’s “Cleared for Approach,” after spending a few episodes with only minor appearances until then. Her storyline plays out as the bottle-plot of the hour, but it does serve to expand the portrait of how the survivors of Flight 828 are perceived by the general populace. Last week’s episode presented, in a run-of-the-mill way, how the xenophobic portion of the population perceives the survivors, and delved into the dangers that such perception represents for our protagonists. That examination is expanded this week via Adrian (Jared Grimes), one of the survivors previously seen in “Crosswinds,” and through a more engaging storyline than the one from last week.
We last saw Adrian in “Crosswinds” walking up to a group of people who wanted to touch him in almost breathless reverence. This episode astutely provides continuity to that scene and it is always a good sign for a show when the writing room pays attention even to the smallest parts of the sum of its product.
Adrian has taken it upon himself to build on (or profit from, depending on your point of view, he is seen collecting money donations from the attendees) the view harbored by many that the survivors of the flight 828 are some sort of saviors with special powers to perform miracles. He has started the Church of the Returned, where a cringy looking poster of a dozen Flight 828 survivors, including our main characters, hangs on the wall. Those who revere the “returned” passengers, to whom Adrian refers as his “flock,” can attend sessions of prayer that begin with him saying, “Blessed is Flight 828, the vessel of the miracle,” and continue with his flock replying in unison, “Blessed are the returnees, the purveyors of that miracle.” Wide camera angles (just one example of the excellent work by Craig Zisk throughout the episode) showing the growing “flock” gathered in a closed space portray the beginnings of a creepy cult. And creepy is what Alice (Grace Rex), one of the Church’s attendees, becomes when she holds Saanvi hostage at gun point.
Rex is quite phenomenal in her role as Alice, the desperate wife with the capacity to resort to any means necessary to save her husband Jacob (Ben Cole) who is dying from cancer. She first approaches Saanvi at her office, pleading with her to take a look at her bedridden husband. Saanvi, our consummate doctor-scientist with a heart of gold, sympathizes with Alice who is quite convincing and agrees to pay a visit to their home. It’s unfortunately too late for Jacob, Saanvi confirms, and this is when Alice the wicked replaces Alice the desperate. She first slaps Saanvi, then shoves her to the ground, and finally points a gun at her, demanding that Saanvi work her “miracle” to cure Jacob, or else!
Ben, our model citizen-father-investigator-agent-genius, is alarmed that Saanvi has not answered his calls all morning. This eventually leads him to add the title “brother” to his ever-growing list of commendatory titles as he saves Saanvi with a clever move. If you have not seen the episode and you are wondering what I mean by that, I urge you to watch the related sequence, after which you may be tempted to start your own Church of Ben Stone, revering “Brother Ben” and him alone! Suffice it to say, this storyline is tightly written with the aim of drawing attention to a consequential development (Adrian’s church). Alice and Jacob’s gripping portrayal of a couple in despair highlights the destructive potential of excessive reverence a lot more potently than Cody the jerkwad’s portrayal of the conspiracy theorist did so last week with that of xenophobia.
In the meantime, Zeke and Michaela are finally back from their hiking expedition. They end up in the Stone household in the morning because Cal experienced the same nightmare that Zeke had, that of a scary looking wolf growling and jumping on him – Side note: I am not sure if the dismal-looking CGI representation of the wolf took away from the impact of the nightmare or if it ironically rendered it even more petrifying.
The budding relationship between Zeke and Cal is the cornerstone of this plotline. Zeke, with help from Grace, earns Cal’s trust by connecting with him through the loss of his sister, and then, by helping him understand the forces behind his drawings. The three of them work together to bring some sense to the wolf in Zeke’s dream. These scenes contain quite a bit of substance (credit to co-writers Matthew Lau and Ezra W. Nachman) and adequately contribute to Zeke’s character growth, an essential ingredient for a recurring character that joined the season late, especially if he is to play an important role in the final two episodes.
Cal eventually draws the image of the wolf lunging toward a blonde woman, “aunt Michaela” as Ben confirms, which begs the question, why did he not say anything before? He said himself that “it wasn’t just a wolf” before he began to draw the image, so it’s not like he did not know about Michaela. At the same time, a van is being lifted from the river by the NYPD at the waterfront under Michaela’s supervision. As she opens the driver door, a man who should have clearly been dead by now lunges toward her, and the episode ends with the sound of a wolf’s growling as the screen goes dark.
There is also a couple of brief-yet-purposeful scenes involving Olive and the Major. The former is helping Ben with her knowledge of mythology, searching for connections between the peacock and the petroglyph, and the latter is reiterating to her assistant Jansen that Ben is not to be touched yet because he is “only a vehicle to get to his son,” whom she sees as the “Holy Grail.”
The central plot surrounding Cal and his powers remain unsolved, as it should be. It is conspicuously linked to the overall mystery of Flight 828. Since the fall break, Manifest has done a good job of gradually bringing the spotlight back on Cal, the Stone family’s efforts to solve the puzzle, and the danger lurking in the form of a secretive operation being orchestrated by the Major. Recurring characters like Fiona, Captain Daly, Adrian, Vance, Bethany, and Autumn have been put to good use while avoiding the staleness that can rise from making their stories drag on for too long (ok, maybe not in Vance’s case), thus leaving room for the salient mystery to sufficiently evolve. I am eager to see if the show can also succeed in sticking the landing.
Last-minute thoughts:
– The cliffhanger ending of last week’s episode, when electrical storms appeared on top of Zeke and Michaela as they were standing next to the tree with the petroglyph, is flatly ignored. Not sure if that is a good move as it chips away at the viewer’s faith in cliffhangers if you have a few too many of those, but we are not there yet.
– Captain Riojas (Alfredo Narciso) is looking for someone at the precinct to oversee the recovery of the utility van from the river. Naturally, Michaela and Jared, who are busy discussing their discombobulated love life, are readily available. Michaela volunteers to take the day shift and Jared the night one. Either the NYPD in Manifest are grossly uncommitted to their work or New York happens to exist in an alternate reality where there are hardly any crimes. It’s especially ironic that Jared, who has done nothing but serve as the full-time caretaker of the Stone family so far, snarks at the idea at first by saying to the Captain, “Isn’t babysitting a little below our pay grade?”
– Speaking of Jared – and here comes the part where I take my reviewer hat off and go on a rant –, it is twice now that he remained vague or silent when Michaela put him on the spot about being married to Lourdes, following his sappy declarations of love to her. He even admitted to still loving Lourdes when Michaela did it the first time in “Contrails.” At the end of this episode, he plays the devastated husband-cheater-lover, at first asking Michaela in an accusatory tone what she told Lourdes. Few seconds later, he changes tune and says to Michaela, “maybe this [Lourdes leaving] was meant to happen, so that we could finally be together.” Jared, you are an adult! Michaela is acting like one, why don’t you do the same? Ok, done, my reviewer hat back on.
– Saanvi’s heart is still broken from her boyfriend not showing up at the airport for the flight to Jamaica. Does (should) that deserve any attention? With two episodes left, is there enough room to create a compelling storyline from that? We shall see.
Until the next episode…