“Water Landing” – Aired on April 29, 2021
Writer: Matthew Lau
Director: Marisol Adler
Grade: 3 out of 5
Notice: All episode reviews contain spoilers
Short announcement:
I am finally able to resume my reviews after 10 months of putting the project aside. My apologies for the delay. As noted in my previous announcement, I have tackled a new adventure in my life, one that I absolutely love but that leaves me no time for hobbies such as writing detailed, quality reviews. Heck, I have not even found the time to watch the rest of Manifest‘s third season, although it suited me fine in a way, because I do not wish to write reviews influenced by my prior knowledge of the outcome of events in future episodes. Therefore, what you will read is the same as my reaction would be, if I watched the episode when it originally aired. It so happens that I have a week here, unexpectedly, during which I have some free time, so I will attempt to catch up as much as I can. I am glad to have found out that a 4th season is on its way, thanks to Netflix taking over the show! Yay!
End of announcement, onto the review.
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The hour begins by using one of Manifest’s standard operating procedures for episode openers – a flashback – that takes us to the immediate aftermath of Saanvi killing the Major in the Season 2 finale “Icing Conditions.” Vance’s all-purpose assistant Emmett is seen wrapping the Major’s body in a bag and putting it in the back of a garbage truck. This opening scene had me rejoiced, since Jared’s attempt to bring some clarity and peace of mind to Sarah by investigating her mother’s disappearance was the continuing storyline of Season 3 that had piqued my interest the most.
Remember the complaint that Jared investigated back in “Tailspin” about a sanitary truck making too much noise late on Saturday night by the park, and consulted with officer Molinaro who followed up on the complaint and talked to the truck driver, but let him go without a citation? This flashback puts on display the conversation in which Emmett works Molinaro’s emotions over with the sick-dog story that supposedly caused him to run behind schedule. “Water Landing” also features a dialogue between Jared and the woman who filed the complaint (named Allison according to the credits) that had me chuckling. Actor Angela Pierce perfectly nails the role of the spasmodic resident who sticks her nose into everyone’s business in the neighborhood and reports anything-n-everything to the authorities – her first question to Jared when he shows up at her doorstep: “Finally! Are you here about the loitering nannies?” Combine that with J. R. Ramirez’s dexterity in delivering one-liners as the officer overwhelmed by the woman’s negative energy, and you have the comedy portion of the hour covered.
We also learn via more flashbacks later in the episode that Emmett dropped the body into a creek, which fits neatly into the cover story fed to Jared by Agent Powell about the Major’s body being found submerged in a bog close to New Orleans, likely having been assassinated by a foreign asset based in the region. Powell menacingly tells Jared to drop his investigation into the disappearance of Kathryn Fitz, a.k.a. the Major, because it “threatens to expose a whole host of classified matters.” Aware of the Major’s intricate background in international matters, Jared buys this well-crafted story and informs Sarah of his findings. Sarah is devastated to learn that her mother is dead, although she suspected as much. Jared consoles her by saying that at least she knows that her mother “died a hero.” If only they really knew…
So, is this the end of the collaboration between Sarah and Jared? I am hoping Lauren Norvelle’s character remains in the show, but the writing room would need to find a way to make her relevant by allowing her to be more than just “the Major’s daughter,” so to speak.
Unfortunately, what takes place outside of the Sarah-Jared story is nothing to write home about in “Water Landing,” an episode that seems rather poised to fill an hour with run-of-the-mill scenes, with little character development, in order to get to more important matters in the next one. This would be fine if the hour in questions does a decent job of setting up the background in a meaningful way for what is to come and fill in voids that may lead to questions later when the denouements finally take place.
The episode’s other main story involves the cat-and-mouse game between Michaela and Jace. Jace is determined to find and kill Michaela who, for her part, is determined to catch him before even he gets his chance. This plotline is clunky at this juncture because the skeevy trio of Jace, Kory, and Pete is comprised of mostly one-dimensional characters with limited attributes that have already been squeezed out.
Consider, for example, Jace assaulting the woman who used to live at Michaela’s old address. For starters, the plausibility of such occurrence is low (Jace would have to literally do the assault without having even glanced at the woman, or else he would know it’s not Michaela), but more importantly, this scene was not even necessary. The audience did not need more cruelty from Jace to dislike him further, and Michaela did not need that to amplify her sense of urgency, especially knowing that Jace’s death date is a mere day later. Everyone knows that Jace is a vile piece of human detritus (credit goes to James McEmanin’s effective portrayal of such character). He is a scumbag of gargantuesque proportions! The fact that he gravely injured another woman adds nothing of substance to his profile, or to the episode.
In Jace’s RV, Drea and Michaela discover wall drawings made by Pete the scumbag which pique Olive’s curiosity when she sees a photo of them later in Ben’s X-Files-Moulder-like basement. She remembers them from the research that she and Angelina made when they were looking into Ma’at back in “Wingman.” On campus, she meets Levi (we finally hear his name), the artifact-expert dude played by Will Peltz from “Wingman,” who is stupefied by this revelation because the symbols are the exact same ones as those on the 2000-year-old piece of papyrus that he is working on forming from the artifacts sent by TJ from Egypt Nobody has seen those symbols in centuries. This ongoing mythological plotline is so far a winner for season 3, mostly because noteworthy revelations originate from it, and also because Angelina, Olive, and Levi have good chemistry in their nerdy ways.
Levi associates the drawings to an Egyptian allegory called “The Last Trial.” It depicts the story of three prisoners who are given a second chance to correct their previous sins. Although the first two succeed in correcting course, they ultimately fail because the third one chooses revenge over forgiveness. The skeevy trio is essentially playing the modern version of this story. Olive immediately informs Ben that the calling is not for Jace to kill Michaela but rather a test of his free will. If Jace chooses not to kill her, they will be saved.
At this point, our protagonists need to find out from Kory and Pete where the vision of Michaela getting killed by Jace takes place, so that they can locate the scumbag. For no apparent logical reason (read: plot requirement), Kory cannot pinpoint the location (other than “trees” around), but Pete can (“by the lake”). Pete needs to be the more centralized character, you see, being in Vance’s custody ‘n-all, so that the episode can delve into the extra minutes of Ben trying to talk to him while Dr. Gupta wants “the unicorn” all to herself because… “greater good” in the name “science.”
I refuse to belabor through the endless talks Ben has with Pete who shakes and repeats through trembling lips variations of the same things about Angelina and his brother. Nor did I care much for Gupta complaining about Ben’s presence, Saanvi throwing temper tantrums of guilt, and Vance listening passively to Ben criticizing him for thinking about “progress.” At the end of this otiosely drawn-out storyline, Ben basically offers himself for study in exchange for Pete (who suddenly has a modified calling midway through the episode that makes him claim adamantly that he must be present when they find Jace). And just like that, we’re good to go! Why didn’t anyone think of this adequate compromise before? Because it would not have allowed room for the ramrodded arguments involving Ben, Vance, and Gupta, nor for the repetitive Ben-Pete dialogues.
Back at Tarik’s place, Grace is listening to her brother’s proposal about reopening the family restaurant. She will entertain the idea, but makes it clear to Tarik, once again, that they are trying as a family to not just “keep a low profile” as Tarik mentions, but rather to “avoid having any profile whatsoever.” This somehow does not stop Tarik from talking freely at a bar about his sister being at his home and being a great cook, etc. Of course, this attracts the attention of a reporter who happens to sit nearby. He is later seen photographing Grace through the window of the house, so that he can add the photo to his news story.
The hour ends with Michaela and Zeke walking through the woods by the lake, searching for Jace. Zeke gets another one of his ripple-epiphany moments to sense Jace’s presence, shortly after which Michaela loses sight of Zeke who is seen laying on the ground, unconscious, before credits start rolling.
Last-minute thoughts:
— Another episode goes by with zero explanation on how/why Zeke is getting these ripple-epiphany moments. They sure insist on taking place at the most convenient moments to advance the plot, but I keep hoping that the writing room will at least provide a passable reason for their existence within the domain of Manifest’s core tenets that goes beyond their usefulness in inserting them at will to move things alone, so to speak.
— Did Ben (or anyone in the audience) really believe Olive would obey her father’s directive when he told her to stay safe instead of going to campus to investigate the symbols? Yeah, I didn’t think so.
— This episode has so many ties to “Wingman” that it almost makes me wonder why they were not aired back-to-back. It’s hard enough to follow mythologically referenced storylines, and the connections turn fuzzier in one’s memory when there is another episode inserted in between before you get to the one updating the plotline. I had to go back and read my own review of “Wingman” to remember some of it.
Until the next episode…
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