“Crosswinds” – Aired on January 7, 2019
Written by: Amanda Green & MW Cartozian Wilson
Directed by: Michael Smith
Grade: 4 out of 5

Notice: All episode reviews contain spoilers

Back in October, NBC ordered three more episodes of Manifest bringing the total number to 16 for the inaugural season of the show. Considering the overall mazelike story arc that the show was building throughout the fall, the news seemed to hit the jackpot. Showrunners now had more room to untangle the intricacies of Flight 828’s mystery.

Well, “Crosswinds” is the kind of outing that makes you wish that NBC ordered yet one more episode from Jeff Rake and company. It carries multiple storylines that, for the most part, race toward compelling cliffhangers by the end of the hour. To that end, it also haplessly convolutes important details that could have been fleshed out so much better had it been a two-parter. Michael Smith’s stellar directing eases the plot-overloading to a point, but there is simply too much being thrown at the viewers’ faculties of perception. It’s an interesting contrast if taken into account the episodes that MW Cartozian Wilson and Amanda Green, co-writers of this one, penned earlier in the season. The former shared the writing credit for “Off Radar” that focused on a single storyline, and the latter was the co-writer for the game-changing “Connecting Flights” which was, in my opinion, the best outing of the show so far and advanced only a few plots while providing excellent sequences of character development.

“Crosswinds,” for its part, comes across like an athletic race – a sprint, more fittingly – in which there are six lanes for a dozen runners, and they are all zooming to the finish line but stumbling over each other in an attempt to fit into the limited number of lanes. As a result, it leads to a frantic crossing of the finish line, followed by confusion over what or who got lost in the shuffle during the race.

At the same time, it is undoubtedly the most ambitious episode of the season so far. For starters, it definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat. It contains some storylines that blossom and others that lead to more questions. It introduces two new consequential characters and welcomes back an older one. It teases the viewers about the identity of a powerful and mysterious individual. Some regular characters behave oddly while others make questionable decisions. Family matters take complicated turns. Finally, a multitude of cliffhangers close the curtain. Did I say how ambitious this episode was?

It all begins with Michaela standing in front of her mother’s grave and monologuing about the crossroads at which she stands in her life. Her monologue is accompanied by a clever collage of scenes that are designed to help us refresh our memory on past events. Next, we shift to a facility with a five-star ocean view where Fiona, Saanvi, and Autumn are observing the passengers that were rescued from the shady warehouse at the end of “Dead Reckoning.” The passengers are in a catatonic state and seem to twitch at the same time, reminding us that in the world of Manifest, “it’s all connected.” Saanvi suggests that all the passengers need to be brought together and share their experiences to get a better understanding of the phenomenon.

The intrigue of this scene is less in its contribution to the narrative than in its impact on viewers by challenging their perceptions of Fiona and Autumn. Fiona was last seen informing Ben and the authorities that she was taking the rescued passengers to a facility in a van. Given her enigmatic character development, many suspected, as I did, that she was scheming to “confiscate” the passengers away. That is apparently not the case, so the quandary over her true intentions will continue to linger on, at least until the identity of the Major – or the “Ma’am” to whom the shady scientist in “Off Radar” was talking on the phone – is revealed.

Autumn, at first glance, seems to have had a change of heart over Manifest‘s Christmas break. She is now ignoring the orders that she receives on the phone (with Laurence dead, I presume someone else took his place) and shows signs of wanting to join the good guys. As I mentioned in my review of “Dead Reckoning,” the possibility of an inner conflict in Autumn as a result of helping Laurence was explored in the flashback that showed her being taken into custody after the arrival of Flight 828. That conflict is further developed here, and Shirley Rumierk is up to the task with her performance. Autumn appears to have been coerced into helping the “bad guys” only because of her past criminal record. Kudos to writers on the attention to detail in maintaining this particular continuity, but again, I am not sure how many viewers were able to put together the two sequences and perceive the complexity of Autumn’s situation. Judging from dozens of social media reactions that I saw, many missed it and wondered why in the world Autumn made a 180-degree turn in this episode (she did not). This is an example of how overtaxing an episode with too many plotlines can lead to an unintended lack of appreciation for quality writing when it comes to details because it may go unnoticed in the brouhaha caused by all the other simultaneous twists and turns.

One of the passengers named Paul Santino (Kerry Malloy) wakes up when Michaela touches him. As she does so, she has a vision of a snowstorm and hears the calling, “Find her.” Just like that, another B storyline begins, with implications that may – but probably won’t – spill over to the rest of the season. Paul cannot remember anything from his past, including the fact that he is married. At first, we are led to believe that the calling refers to finding Paul’s wife, but we know better by now.

By the time this storyline gets solved, we find out that, according to his wife Helen (Frances Eve), Paul was an abusive husband. Michaela and Jared had trouble locating her because she went into hiding when Flight 828 reappeared. She feared for her life upon Paul’s return. It made me wonder for a while if the disappearance of the flight was initiated by someone or some entity who wanted one or more of the passengers to sink, or fly in this case, into oblivion (yes, it’s far-fetched, I know). In any case, the amount of time spent in Paul’s narrative would have been fine, in my opinion, if this were a two-parter. But with everything squeezed into less than 43 minutes, it appeared to distract from other significant developments that could have used more foregrounding.

One such example of a shortchanged sequence is when Fiona speaks to the passengers at the ocean-view facility, followed by Ben’s conversations with Captain Daly (Frank Deal) and Autumn.

Daly pulls Ben to the side and warns him about Fiona. He suspects that she is part of a conspiracy and that “this whole thing is her twisted science experiment.” It’s hard to blame Daly. After all, he just listened to Fiona inform everyone that she studies shared consciousness, that she believes to have been in the plane not by accident but because she was meant to be an “interpreter,” and that a “friend” of hers “lent” her the facility until the spring. Daly is indeed “aggro” as Autumn says after she approaches Ben following the captain’s agitated departure.

Autumn makes major revelations to Ben, confirming first that she did indeed hear “The Major” speak to Laurence over the speakerphone. Then, she says that the Major is a woman and that she made reference to a “Holy Grail.” Ben attempts to connect the dots, one of them being that the calling “Find her” may have to do with the Major. After he leaves, Autumn gets another text message, but throws her phone into the ocean in disgust.

Holy smokes! In that crucial sequence, apart from a major conspiracy theory advanced by Daly, the questioning of Fiona’s identity, three major revelations in relation to the forces behind the mystery of Flight 828 popping up during the Autumn-Ben dialogue, and the definite change of camp by Autumn, there is also the introduction of Adrian (Jared Grimes), another passenger who, by all accounts, will go much further than making a token appearance. Yet, these essential developments are compressed into less than three minutes. Again, I would have preferred to have seen this sequence, and the narratives in it, fleshed out a bit more, rather than having so much time sacrificed on Paul’s narrative that largely had no long-term consequences for one example, and on the Stone-family drama that had the same problem rehashed for another.  

Or is it that I am a fan of Frank Deal the actor (especially since his appearances on Law & Order: SVU and The Americans​), as I have noted in my earlier previews, and believe irrationally that Captain Daly deserves more time? Maybe. But if you want to judge for yourself the range of Deal’s prowess as an actor, consider the way he portrayed Capt. Daly in the initial two episodes of the show vs. in this one. In “Pilot” and “Reentry,” we saw a dexterous, composed pilot with a witty sense of humor, whereas Daly now appears to have metamorphosed into a perturbed man who appears to doubt everything and everyone related to that last plane he piloted. And Deal nails it each time, with flying colors. I cannot help but feel like Deal’s acting skills, and the scope of his character Daly, remain underused up to this point in the show. On the other hand, I know from the next episode’s teaser that he plays a central role in it, so I remain optimistic. We shall see.

Speaking of the Stone family crisis, I have officially quit my membership to ‘team Olive.’ It is hard to reconcile her behavior in this episode with that of the earlier ones. She literally guilt-manipulates Danny into coming to her house with the emblematic “If you still love us…” line. In doing so, she disregards her mother’s (and father’s) wishes, and seems to have forgotten that her brother exists. — Side thought: Not sure where Olive would be in the show, the cool Olive of the first few episodes or the idiotic one of late, without Blaise’s outstanding performance throughout the season. — Plus, it is not as if Danny has not already shown an inclination to drop by the Stone household – remember his ‘unannounced’ visit in “Connecting Flights”? He goes even further in this episode by accusing Ben of being “the whole reason this family is messed up” – whaaat? –  after Ben arrives to what happens to be his own family’s home and finds Danny there! Cal is the one who asked his dad to come to the house because, well, his feelings are ridiculously being ignored by Olive and Danny. As a matter fact, Cal, who is possibly the biggest outcast of the show, is the only one who does not behave oddly in this bizarre scene.

When Grace firmly tells Danny to leave, Olive yells at her mother and storms to her room. Grace goes after her while Danny ‘I-lack-common-sense’ continues to remain in the house. Never mind all the lying and deception by Olive, because nobody seems to want to scold her in any way. In fact, Grace consoles her at one point. Even Ben joins the bizarre parade of behaviors when he calmly tells Danny to stay in the house and decides to leave himself, not before hugging Cal, and Olive! Excuse me, Ben? No attempt to even take Cal with you? O-kay. Danny leaves much later in the evening, not without promising Grace that he will be there for her if she ever wants him back. It’s the weakest storyline of the episode, one that panders to mushy-melodrama lovers who are not concerned with whether the scene has any significant contribution to the show or not (this one, certainly not).

Hold on, there is more, a lot more. I will not go into the details of every plot line in “Crosswinds” or else my review will end up being too convoluted itself (it may already be so). I cannot, however, skip Jared and Michaela who finally had their major ‘moment.’ Yes, they finally caved in to their desires and hopped in the sack. It’s been a long time coming anyway, and quite frankly, what did everyone expect when Jared showed up at Michaela’s place after the emotional talk that they had at work earlier? Their storyline is handled much more adroitly in this episode than the one involving the Stone family. It also helps that both Melissa Roxburgh and JR Ramirez put forth some of their finest performances in all the related scenes.

At last, there is Aaron Glover (Marquis Rodriguez), a podcaster who has the looks of a someone who just had his high-school prom last week. He is particularly interested in the mystery of Flight 828 and runs a podcast named “828-Gate.” Aaron is well-connected. Very well-connected. We do not need to ask how or why, we just need to know that he is. Our young podcaster has “sources,” you see, and those sources feed him so much information that he knows about secret meetings held by the Senate Intelligence Committee and House Appropriations, as well as the nature of clandestine funds earmarked by them. Heck, he even knows about code terms mentioned by the higher-ups like “Holy Grail” because he named the next episode of his podcast after it, “Chapter 6: Closing In on the Holy Grail.” Of course, his “confidential” sources can rest assured because Aaron “won’t name names.”

Naturally, Ben is intrigued by what Aaron knows and decides to collaborate with him. Aaron shares his information with Ben who, in return, agrees to be the guest on one of his podcasts. Except that Ben only wants the podcast released “if this ends badly.” If not, Aaron does not get to “blow the lid” and enjoy the ratings, but still gets to have access to a “Deep Throat” for an indeterminate amount of time into the future. Smart proposition Mr. Stone, very smart. I have a hunch that Aaron did not make his final appearance on the show. It feels like Manifest would benefit from keeping this side story alive.

Add NSA Deputy Jim Powell to the slew of characters in this episode behaving in ways that are irreconcilable with their disposition in earlier episodes. He secretly collaborates with Ben although as Vance’s assistant for several episodes, he showed more interest in questioning his boss who was expressing his own doubts about the mystery surrounding Flight 828, than in helping him. This shift in behavior is explained away by a vapid line earlier in the episode by Ben who says that although he does not trust Powell, he trusts his loyalty Vance. And I ask myself, what loyalty? Vance himself did not trust Powell enough to let him in on his collaboration with Ben.

“Crosswinds” ends with another collage of beautiful cuts – credit to Smith, again – accompanied by the wonderful sound of Mansionair’s “Easier” playing in the background. Some of these scenes depict the dire situations in which characters find themselves, such as Jared contemplating his marriage to Lourdes while she is asleep, and Grace doing the same while watching her children sleep. Others target the viewers’ already (and excessively) stimulated senses by throwing their way a series of cliffhangers.

In a coffee shop, Autumn gets confronted by a man in a black suit who instructs her to join “the Major” waiting for her in the car outside. Powell is manhandled by four agents in front of his home and pushed into an SUV with tinted windows. Out of nowhere, Saanvi makes a gigantesque discovery about what, or who, the term “Holy Grail” refers to (let’s not dwell on how on earth she did that). As if that were not enough, the last shocker comes when Cal, who is revealed to be the “Holy Grail” according to Saanvi’s epiphany seconds earlier, experiences the same snowstorm vision that Michaela had, except that he can see a picture of Michaela being held by someone in the snowstorm while hearing “Find her.”

It’s simply too many 11th-hour shockers and cliffhangers to throw at viewers on top of everything else that took place earlier in the episode. If the idea is to produce the “WHAT?!?!” effect by bombarding the senses, “Crosswinds” succeeds. I am just not sure how much justice it does to the characters involved, as well as to the essential plotlines contained in it.

Now imagine if this episode had a two-hour allotment to match its ambitions…

​Until the next episode…

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“Dead Reckoning” – Aired on November 26, 2018
Written by: Laura Putney & Margaret Easley
Directed by: Paul Holahan
Grade: 3,5 out of 5

Notice: All episode reviews contain spoilers

If I had to judge this fall finale based solely on action and production quality, I would give it a spotless five-star rating. Events occurred at an exciting pace, often leaving the viewers breathless and wondering what will happen next. Ben, Michaela, Jared, Director Vance, his squad, Dr. Fiona Clarke, Laurence the Singularity Project guy, the 11 passengers, and even Cal, all ended up at the same location (the warehouse) from converging plot-lines for an explosive (literally) conclusion to the storyline involving the experiments. The fact that the above events were not even spread throughout the hour, but rather squeezed into the first two-thirds of the episode, was even more striking.

“Dead Reckoning” begins with one of the missing passengers, Autumn Cox (Shirley Rumierk), magically showing up injured, outside the Stone household. She is specifically looking for Ben. She claims to have escaped from a van in which “they” were taking her somewhere! Somehow, Ben does not get suspicious at all about this woman’s sudden materialization out of the blues and reassures her, “we’re all in this together. You are safe now.”

He is not the only one swimming in the lake of naivety. Sooner than later, Vance, Saanvi, Clarke, and Director Vance (who would usually act like the epitome of suspicion) join Ben to brainstorm and make plans to save the 11 passengers, right in front of Autumn! Needless to say, she is an informer for the bad guys. This is only revealed at the very end of the episode and it comes across as a poor man’s cliffhanger because it was pretty much ‘telegraphed’ within a minute of her first appearance.

What I find more intriguing, however, is Autumn’s motivation. Is she a bona fide member of the “bad guys” or are they coercing her into snooping on Ben, Michaela and company, using her past criminal record as leverage? There is a flashback scene at the beginning of the episode that shows her being taken into custody from the facility where Flight 828 passengers were held, back in the first two episodes. Some guy in a suit gives Vance the outstanding warrants for her arrest as he is interviewing her. Vance lets the authorities take Autumn into custody, although she adamantly claims that she “didn’t do any of those things.”  

Back to the present time, where Vance and Ben have located the warehouse with the 11 missing passengers. Ben calls Michaela to inform her that he is going there with Fiona and Vance. Michaela will, of course, join them, along with Jared who happened to stand by Michaela at the precinct when she received the call. He heard the conversation and insisted on tagging along. This sets up an exciting sequence that takes place at the warehouse.

At first, Vance and his tactical unit do not find anyone, but then Cal shows up out of nowhere (more on this later) and insists that they search the smaller structure adjacent to the warehouse. He points to that location on his drawing from earlier in the day and exclaims, “They’re still here.” The squad finds a passage on the structure’s outside wall, one that leads them to the underground location where the experiments are conducted. Once the armed conflict begins, the action is potent, thoroughly entertaining, and greatly enhanced by director Paul Honahan’s skilled camera work, as well as by composer Danny Lux’s fitting score.

Alas, as is often the case with high-octane-action outings, parts of the narrative do not hold up very well under close scrutiny. I expect some gaps in storylines in a serialized format because one can always assume – or hope – that questions will be answered sooner or later. The long-term storytelling would fill in the missing pieces of the individual episodes. The other side of the coin is that those questions may never get answered, which would then point to slapdash writing. Unfortunately, a few (and important) details in “Dead Reckoning” appear to fit into the latter category.

Let’s take for example Cal’s storyline and his behavior. Ben calls Olive and asks her to check on Cal, because he knows that the experiments have resumed at the warehouse with the 11 passengers. Cal is indeed feeling the pain along with Marko like he first did back in “Off Radar.” Yet, when Olive goes upstairs to check on him, sees Cal (from behind) drawing something, and asks him if he is okay, Cal replies that he is fine, while bleeding from his nose and drawing a warehouse on a paper (Cal can see things, Cal can do a lot of things).

Why did Cal not simply tell Olive the truth? My wild guess is that he lied so he can escape the house without anyone noticing in order to make his way to the site himself. He leaves a note behind for his mom saying, “Dad needed me.” Could he not have told his father over the phone what he later told him face-to-face? Yes, he points to another structure adjacent to the warehouse on his drawing once he gets there to show his dad where to look, but he could have easily pointed his dad in the right direction over the phone and saved valuable time. It’s not like Ben would dismiss Cal’s word just because he said it over the phone. But no, he must lie to Olive, escape from the house so that his sister and mother can worry to death for the rest of the afternoon, and get to the warehouse himself.

And get there, Cal does, in the most outré manner possible. He appears at the remote site in the blink of an eye. No, Scotty did not beam up him up, although I could swear that Cal must have made it there at warp-speed nine. Make it so, Ensign Cal!

Oh, but wait, he took the bus! I kid you not! Naturally, he knew which bus line to take and at which stop to get off, because he has superpowers and just “knows” (which, on a more serious note, will hopefully be clarified at some point in the future). Chicago Transit Authority evidently has bus lines that can take you at lightning speed to remote locations in the middle of nowhere. They even drop you off near warehouses surrounded by the NSA’s squad team about to engage in an operation. And if you are a kid, you can seemingly walk right up to within a few feet of a group of people composed of the NSA director, his tactical unit team members with machine guns, and detectives, and still remain unnoticed until you use your voice!! O-kay.

Finally, toward the end of the episode, when the Stone household finds itself smack in the middle of a crisis moment and Grace needs some answers as to what happened during the chaotic day, Cal is nowhere to be found. He could have easily told his mother what happened to help her understand. Or, he could disappear from the view during family scenes and do nothing to stop them from splitting up. He does the latter, although he is well aware of the rift forming between his mom and dad. He is even there to hug his dad as he is forced to leave. And playing the “he is only a kid” card goes only so far because he was not “just a kid” when he concocted a plan earlier in the day to lie to his sister, sneak out of the house by himself, while remaining cool-headed enough to leave a note behind for her mother, take the warp-speed bus, and join his dad, the NSA tactical unit, and others, just outside the warehouse of horrors. Corroborating his dad’s story to at least assuage some his mom’s concerns, I assure you, would have taken far less effort and planning than all the above.

Speaking of the Stone household crisis, Ben and Grace once again put forth the best that Manifest has to offer. Their storyline has been the most poignant one of the series so far and credit goes to Josh Dallas and Athena Karkanis for bringing alive the emotional roller-coaster that each character has experienced throughout the nine episodes. It is undeniable that their relationship either triggers the viewers’ sympathy, or stirs their anger, to the point where they take sides with far more frequency that in any other combination of characters in the series. If people care this much about them, it means that the writing room has succeeded in creating a winning synergy between Ben and Grace, and that the two actors in question have done a fine job of conveying that synergy to the viewers.

Let’s quickly examine what each had to go through in just this episode. One small advice before you read any further: drop your Ben/Josh-worship/hate or Athena/Grace-worship/hate fan boy-girl stance, and put on your impartiality hat (or else, the next three paragraphs will prove to be a futile exercise for you).

Consider Ben’s situation first and remember to limit yourself to only his perspective. Knowing that the experiments on the passengers are resuming, and having already endured a jolt himself, Ben’s urgent need to save the 11 passengers and his son increases exponentially. His window of opportunity is closing. Once he is at the site of the warehouse, he feels the bitter disappointment of not finding anything at first. Then, his son Cal shows up out of the blues and confirms that the passengers are there. Furthermore, as if Ben did not have enough pressure on him already, Cal designates Ben as the chosen one to save the survivors. Once underground, Ben indeed begins to see things nobody else can. Moments later, he gets mixed up in a deadly shoot-out. A bit later, he sees his sister fly 10 feet across the air following an explosion. He momentarily passes out himself. Once the passengers are saved (or so he believes, more on that later) and Cal is safe with him, he comes back home, only to face an angry wife who blames him for putting Cal in harm’s way. Worse still, she calls for an ending to their marriage later that evening. Can it get more roller-coaster-y than that? It’s hard not to feel bad for Ben.

Let’s now turn to Grace. Remember again to consider only her perspective and not what you know as the viewer. Her husband first goes back on his promise to spend the afternoon playing laser tag with Olive and Cal, saying “something came up with work.” Later that day, she cannot get in touch with him because Ben is neither answering his phone nor returning her calls despite her voice messages. She has to learn from a some agent in a suit, a complete stranger to her, who showed up unannounced at her home, that that he is not actually at work, that they are looking for him, and that his job had been terminated the evening before. In other words, she just found out that Ben lied to her more than once earlier in the morning about “something with work.” To make matters worse, Cal sneaks out of the house leaving a vague note about helping his dad. The next time she sees them is hours later when they arrive to the house in a car that appears to have came out of the war zone. They both look messy themselves and Ben has blood stains on his face. Later that evening, when Grace seeks answers, the only explanation Ben offers is that Cal just “showed up.” Grace actually has to push further by asking, “why didn’t you bring him home immediately?” To that, Ben gives the ultimate dodge answer: “You don’t understand. You weren’t on the plane.” Cal, who could help clarify things, is not speaking either. It’s hard not feel bad for Grace.

The point here is that the Ben-Grace storyline is engaging and well-written, with both short and long-term consequences being taken into consideration. I am not even sure that the Danny complication is necessary at this point. The Grace-Ben dynamics offer compelling enough drama (and dilemma) by themselves, and at some point, Danny’s insertion into the storyline as a third-wheel wrecking-ball character will begin to come across forced and petty – it already does at some level. He appears in the promo for the upcoming episodes after the break, so it is obvious that the writers want to keep him in the picture.

I just hope it’s not one of these “she ran to Danny’s arms after her husband left” type of plot advancement that they have in mind because not only would it feel artificial, but it would also not make much sense. Grace had already quit seeing Danny – despite her involvement with him prior to Flight 828’s reappearance – and directly told him so, emphasizing that she was going to work on rebuilding her family. In other words, she made a conscious choice, and followed it through with a genuine effort to make it work between her and Ben. The couple seemed happy together last week, taking major steps to restore their relationship. Hooking Grace and Danny up after this episode’s bad day at the office for the Stones would not only come across ham-fisted but also feel as yet another one of those tired narratives designed to make the woman appear as if she needs a man in her life to feel safe. Her husband left (never mind that she pushed him out), so she must move on to the next man available, because she cannot be without one – talk about the Danny’s role being reduced to an orbital tool!!

And what about Lourdes, the other “third-wheel” character of Manifest? Where was she in this episode? After a brief and somewhat otiose appearance in last week’s “Point of No Return,” Lourdes does not show up at all this time. The irony is that it would have only made sense for her to appear in this one as opposed to last week’s episode. Her husband is gravely injured at the hospital following the explosion, and Michaela is waiting by his side. He wakes up eventually, which means that he has now been at the hospital for a while, and Michaela is still the only one by his side. According to her, “Lourdes is on her way,” and that’s it. The writing room may have gotten the last two episodes mixed up in terms of giving Lourdes a week off.

I will miss Vance. Anytime a character grows in complexity and relevance through a number of episodes, I find it questionable to eliminate him/her from the show. This is what happened with Vance here. Actor Daryl Edwards brought his A game to the character, making him appear hateful or sympathetic, depending on the context du jour.

Speaking of recurring characters’ fates, it is hard to tell if Laurence is dead or not. He looks dead as Michaela walks by his unconscious body after the explosion, but one cannot be certain. He was the closest character Manifest had at this point to a one-dimensional villain. I am a lot more interested in Fiona, perhaps the most enigmatic recurring character in the show.

Fiona does play a major role in saving the 11 passengers from the warehouse in “Dead Reckoning,” but I am afraid Ben, Saanvi, Vance, and company are getting duped by her in the same way they got duped by Autumn in the beginning of the hour (even though they were both ‘telegraphed’). Fiona is last seen leaving the site in charge of the van transporting the 11 passengers away from the remote facility to safety. She says to Ben, “I found a remote property. I am going to take them there. They’ll be safe with me.” Ben agrees without a hesitation, naturally. Never mind that 11 missing passengers are possibly the most important group of people in the world at that moment, and that they are being transported to a facility in a truck with just Fiona and a driver, following a raid that caused the NSA Director and members of his tactical unit to die. In any case, I can’t help but think that Fiona is the “Ma’am” from whom the shady scientist was receiving orders on the phone in “Off Radar.”  

Last-minute thoughts:

– I don’t know if people get to see those brief promotion spots on Xfinity’s OnDemand menu featuring Melissa Roxburgh and Josh Dallas, but I find them corny as heck.

– I repeat, Cal’s increasing superpowers will need some type of an explanation. 

– I know some ‘Manifesters’ hope that Vance is not dead or that somehow he may have faked his own death. I wrote this review with the assumption that he died. People involved in the show have put up posts on social media thanking Edwards for his performance as Vance and saying that they will miss him. Unless they are pulling a massive wool over the eyes of everyone, Vance is gone.

– I should underline again the high-quality of the production during the action scenes in the warehouse. The explosion shot with Michaela (or her stunt) flying back in the air, and the few seconds following it were also very well filmed.

– Michaela’s explanation for Jared not dying in the explosion like Vance sounds too flimsy for me at this point. It has to do with her asking whoever is communicating the callings to spare Jared’s life, or something. I am curious to see if the writers are willing to delve into this narrative, and in case they do, how they would make it work.

– Back in October, NBC ordered three more episodes of Manifest. It will be interesting to see how the storylines will be handled once the season 1 mid-season premiere airs on January 7th. I would be curious to know if Jeff Rake and company changed anything of importance once they found out they had three episodes of extra room to tell stories.

– Dear Mr. Rake, please bring back Captain William Daly (Frank Deal) in one of the future episodes.

​Until the next episode…

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“S.N.A.F.U.” – Aired on November 12, 2018
Written by: Jeff Rake & Bobak Esfarjani
Directed by: Michael Schultz
Grade: 4 out of 5

Notice: All episode reviews contain spoilers

After last week’s single-story oriented “Off Radar,” the latest episode of Manifest gets back to managing a few storylines, and does so without any major hiccups. A new character named Fiona Clarke (Francesca Faridany) whose appearance was signaled in the last outing makes her entrance. The 11-passenger conspiracy is tackled in more depth. Olive, Danny, and Lourdes are back in the picture.

In the episode’s A story, Director Vance realizes that Ben is more efficient than not only his own team, but also all known detectives in the land of TV shows, and probably, real life. I already touched on Ben’s warp-speed investigative skills in my last review and he continues to plow full-steam ahead in this hour. So much so that Vance lets Ben find what appears to be a crucial piece of evidence while he snoops on him through NSA’s surveillance gadgetry, only to snatch it away from him at the end after Sherlock – I mean Ben – has done all the work.

Remember Unified Dynamic Systems (UDS)? Ben and Michaela learned in “Off Radar” that the buses carrying the passengers were contracted to the government by UDS. Our agent-investigator-citizen-father Ben concocts a plan. He reckons that he can find information in their books, thus he applies for an entry-level accounting job at JP Williamson, the lucrative firm that handles UDS’s accounts. Then, he plans on following the money trail to unearth the location where they are holding the passengers. He is confident that he can “blend in.” Stone… Ben Stone!

His intentions are revealed to the viewers through an excellent montage of short scenes, accompanied by a low-yet-effective score, during which we see cuts of Ben informing Saanvi and Michaela of his plan, mixed in with those of his job interview with a woman at the firm who struggles to believe that an over-qualified individual like Ben would apply for a “junior revenue accountant” position. The sequence is well-directed by the legendary Michael Schultz (Krush Groove, The Last Dragon), ending with Ben getting the job thanks to his charming smile and convincing pitch.

There is another similar sequence later with Ben updating Saanvi on the phone of his progress in the company which led him to temporarily steal his boss’s access card so that he could get into the computer files and identify Clarke as the woman who is “working for whoever took the missing passengers.” It helps of course that Ben’s boss, a gung-ho happy chum named Ronnie Wilcox (Michael Drayer), is a buzzy loose mouth who comes across as a malleable Flight 828 fanboy. Ronnie acts like he just met his long-lost drinking buddy as soon he shakes Ben’s hand for the first time. He expresses his disbelief in being in a position to supervise “the Ben Stone,” frequently pats him on the back, often chuckles, and uses phrases like “slow your roll B-Stone” when Ben appears enthusiastic to help him with Tier 1 companies like UDS (because Ben’s lowly position does not give him access to their books). Ronnie also happens to run a regular poker game with some IT guys in the company and wants Ben to join them. How convenient for Ben, right? Once again, Schultz’s directing and the score shine in this sequence, along with Drayer’s performance as Ronnie.

And honestly, that level of excellence in directing, acting, and scoring, is imperative to the flow of the first 15 minutes because it makes up for some of the outrageously fast plot advancement that zooms us to the point where Ben and Saanvi meet Fiona Clarke face to face at around 20 minutes into the episode!

Clarke is a well-known professor who, after being blackballed in the field of her original studies, neural psychology, shifted her attention to spirituality where she gained her fame and money. She was also a passenger in the plane and she happened to say the peculiar line “Now, we’re all in this together,” to the now-dead Kelly. Is that an echo of her possible knowledge of the events before they occurred? I hope the writers plan on fleshing out the potential represented by that possibility rather than dropping it due to the abundance of mysteries that are already piling up at a concerning rate.

Speaking of mysteries piling up, “S.N.A.F.U.” does not provide a resolution to any of them but does make an effort to take substantial steps in the right direction through minor reveals. Let’s take for example, the introduction of Clarke into the story.

“S.N.A.F.U.” pays a great deal of attention to revealing Clarke’s connection to UDS, including a suspenseful line – “Finally. I’ve been waiting for you” – delivered by her to Ben and Saanvi when she first comes face to face with them, before the show goes into a commercial break. Yet, the next scene is a dialogue between the three of them in which Clarke claims no knowledge of experiencing any callings or of the 11 detained passengers. She simply appears to be excited to meet other people who suffered in the wake of the traumatic events of Flight 828. Ben and Saanvi decide on the spot to go full disclosure (not sure about the wisdom of doing so, didn’t they just meet her?) and tell her about all their discoveries.

Clarke responds innocently that she was approached by a non-profit interested in her mind-body research under the umbrella of her Mirror Factor study. The reveal (or the added mystery, I shall say) is that the non-profit is called The Singularity Project. Ben quickly puts the dots together and ties the project’s name to the mysterious “SP” that he saw next to her name in some computer file, during his earlier investigation. There is no big mystery-solving here, but we are moving forward.

Ben also does just that. He moves forward, he digs deeper.

He joins the poker game noted above to get cozy with the IT guys. His target is another malleable guy named David James (Charlie Hudson III) – the chirpy Ronnie introduces him as the “insignificantly small cog in the IT machinery.” It takes Ben a short visit to David’s office and an ‘accidental’ dump of coffee in his lap to get him to temporarily leave his office for a change of clothes. That is all the time Ben needs as he gets into David’s computer and downloads all the SP-related data into his flash drive. That is also when Vance makes his appearance, confiscating the flash drive from Ben as he was attempting to leave the building.

We have indeed moved closer to solving some mysteries. There is now concrete evidence in Vance’s possession. The Director is also suspicious of the people working in his team (he lies to his deputy by saying that Ben was clean). Ben, for his part, may have lost his key piece of evidence but at least he is now certain about the names involved in the conspiracy of the 11 passengers, although that does not help him much at this point with regard to protecting Cal.

Clarke’s role appears to be diminished at this point. Or is it? See my earlier mention about her line to Kelly in the plane and also remember the shady looking scientist phoning a certain “ma’am” in the last episode. 

Up to this point, I have delved into the best of what “S.N.A.F.U.” had to offer. The Ben-Saanvi-Clarke-Vance storyline carries the episode. Unfortunately, there is also, as Paul Harvey would say, “the rest of the story.”

Michaela, with Jared’s help as usual, is trying to help a boy named Carlos (Mateo Ferro) whose uncle is killed. Michaela is motivated by the fact that she is hearing a heartbeat that seems to lead her to Carlos. It turns out at the end (I am bypassing the bland intricacies of this storyline) that Evie, Michaela’s best friend who had died in their car accident, was Carlos’s heart donor and that Michaela was hearing Evie’s heartbeat – thus, the inclusion of the minor scene showing Michaela’s visit to Evie’s still-grieving parents. The story lacks the pizazz of the previous ones centering on her callings and it ultimately results in more of the same, which is that “it’s all connected.” We have already reached this conclusion many times, in a much more consequential manner in “Connecting Flights” for example. Michaela even rehashes it herself in the closing scene: “I had to know that the callings were right, that it is all connected […] to us, to each other. That’s what all of this is for. It has to be.”

The only meaningful addition in this storyline is Jared’s confession to Michaela that Vance had asked him to snoop on her, followed by his confirmation that he will be doing nothing of the sort. He is 100% on Michaela’s side, and I reckon that many more viewers just jumped on the good detective’s bandwagon.

Lourdes, Olive, and Danny appear in scenes that border from weird to extraneous. Danny and Olive are practicing rock-climbing together and this leads to some malaise on Olive’s part who goes back and forth between continuing the activity and dropping it. In the meantime, Ben comes face to face with Danny outside of his home as the latter is dropping Olive after their practice. Danny says, “I’m not gonna get in your way, Ben. Olive’s not my kid. But I stepped in when you were gone, and I care about her. When she comes to me, I can’t turn her away.” This is the same guy who showed up at the door step of the family unannounced and applied some emotional pressure to Grace in “Connecting Flights” even though Grace firmly told him to stay away because she was trying to rebuild her family. Ben responds, “Nice to see you, Danny,” and walks away. I would have had a few more words to say had I been in his shoes, but then again, I am not Ben, the consummate diplomat.

There is also an uncomfortable (and noncore) dinner scene with Lourdes, Michaela, and Jared, that gets interrupted, thankfully, when Michaela hears a calling and leaves. We are already aware of the fact that seeing Lourdes and Jared together still hurts Michaela no matter how much she tries to appear accepting of Lourdes’s friendship, and we know equally well that Lourdes feels guilty toward her friend. The dinner scene simply re-re-re-confirms this dynamic that may get old quickly if it is repeatedly harped on with scenes such as this one without any change in status.

Then, there is the closing shot, Cal’s drawing of Carlos with Evie’s heart on the refrigerator. “What does it mean?”**

**imitating some of the show’s actors who try to balloon the shock-effect of the cliffhangers by posting messages on social media right when each episode ends.

Last-minute thoughts:

– Deputy Powell (Tim Moriarty) is giving bad vibes and it seems that Vance is feeling them too.

– The connection between Cal and Marko is still on. It’s one of the more promising arcs in Manifest so far.

– Carlos enters the precinct and walks back to the detectives’ area carrying a gun in his hand (in a paper bag). Is that even possible without anyone checking him?

– Officer Diaz (Omar Torres) takes the recurring token-character award thus far. Three appearances and hardly anyone knows his name.

– Carlos donned the same facial expression throughout the episode.

– Again, stellar directing by Michael Schultz.  

​Until the next episode…

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“Off Radar” – Aired on November 5, 2018
Written by: Matthew Lau & MW Cartozian Wilson
Directed by: Felix Enriquez Alcala
Grade: 3,5 out of 5

Notice: All episode reviews contain spoilers

I must express praise for the variety of narrative and rhythm that Manifest’s writing room assigns to episodes. In just six outings, we have had slow-burners (ex: “Reentry”), fast-paced rides with multiple plots moving at the same time (ex: “Turbulence”), and a mix of both (ex: “Pilot” and “Connecting Flights”). “Off Radar” brings yet another form of narrative, one that builds on a single A story without any B or C ones. The hour solely centers on Cal and his connection to other passengers from the plane. The love triangles are swept under the rug. Danny and Lourdes do not appear. Neither does Olive!

Perhaps, it was necessary to have an episode entirely dedicated to developing Cal’s role in the core mystery. Frankly, his character development had lagged behind that of other main ones throughout the first five episodes. Then, there was also the previous episode’s closing scene. It not only signaled that Cal is a key player in the search for an answer to what happened on Flight 828, but it was also a game changer in moving “the parameters of Flight 828’s central mystery from the ‘what’ to the ‘how’” – yes, I just did the unthinkable, I quoted myself.

The hour did suffer, however, from some clumsy dialogues and questionable sequences, mostly led by Ben’s dubiously efficient investigative savoir faire. A conversation taking place between Saanvi and Ben toward the end of the episode echoed my sentiments:

Saanvi: “I am guessing you got a game plan for that?”

Ben: “And to think you just met me.”

No kidding! I mean, Ben made Jessica Fletcher, Sherlock Holmes, Columbo, and Adrian Monk look like rookies in this outing. Dear Director Vance, please hire this man and pay him top dough!

Here is a summary of Ben’s accomplishments in “Off Radar”:

– After his assessment that Cal and a passenger are somehow physically connected, he uses his magic iPad/tablet to find, in record time, the identity of the passenger in question. Marko Valeriev (Nikolai Tsankov), a Bulgarian, was looking for translation help in the plane and petted Cal on the head as he was passing by him. We see current shots of Valeriev severely suffering from tests being done to him in a sketchy facility and his pain is somehow being transmitted to Cal who is also in grave pain at the hospital.

– Ben goes through a bunch of news footage that he accumulated on his magic tablet, to figure out in record time again that 11 passengers never appear in any of them. He identifies them as either foreign nationals or people with no relatives. We are witnessing some outstanding investigative prowess on Ben’s part here folks!

– After Saanvi remembers that an “older woman” sitting behind her in the plane helped Valeriev with the translation, it takes Ben literally five seconds to pull out her profile. Anna Ross (Jacqueline Antaramanian) is her name, and naturally, she turns out to be a fountain of information – I mean, really! She distinctly remembers Valeriev getting on one of the buses that moved the passengers.

– Thanks again to the news footage, Ben figures out that there are five buses that moved the passengers instead of four as the records showed.

– Michaela informs Ben from the precinct that one of the buses separated from the other four and took exit 16 “outside of Woodbury” after a toll. That is all Ben needs to know. His magic tablet pinpoints the location of the exit. He immediately pulls out a large paper map to examine the area. He reduces the possible locations of the bus to four buildings in a huge area of farm land thanks to some superior drawing skills on the map. Let’s not dwell on the fact that the bus could have driven anywhere from that exit for five minutes, or for an hour, or five hours, because that peculiarity is covered with the line, “there is only a handful of roads they could have taken without tripping another scanner.”** Okay, I can live with that.

**The footage of the fifth bus moving as Ben narrates its possible location is aptly sequenced by the experienced director Felix Enriquez Alcala.

Unless I am mistaken, Ben accomplishes all of the above in a few hours (or less) from the hospital where Cal’s life is hanging by a thread. His findings eventually lead Mick and Jared to locate the secret compound while it’s still daytime.

Director Vance, I already told you what to do. Hire this man and add him to your team!

Never mind that at the compound, experiments are being held on passengers impacted from the greatest anomaly of modern times and that it’s supposed to be heavily guarded with armed men and drones. Michaela and Jared get within about a hundred yards of it without any trouble, pull their car to the side, get out, and observe the building before a guard finally arrives to tell them to leave. As they are leaving, they even get to conveniently stop at the building’s driveway with a clear shot of the front door. Michaela takes pictures while the guard simply watches them from afar. As he begins moving again toward the car, our two heroes drive away. Don’t ask me if the guard even bothered to get the plate number. Michaela and Jared sure got what they wanted, without breaking a sweat.

Ben, desperate for answers, leaves the hospital to find Director Vance – “give me an hour,” he says to his wife who can’t believe that he is leaving her alone while Cal is in critical condition.

Grace is struggling on multiple fronts. Put yourself in her shoes for a second. Remember that she does not have the luxury of knowing what the viewers know. From her point of view, Ben is asking her to take a leap of faith and place her son’s life into the lap of a wild, implausible theory that he has developed because he has been “seeing things, hearing voices.” In the meantime, she is helplessly watching Cal’s life wither away. To make matters worse, Ben leaves her alone in pursuit of answers to his absurd-sounding theory. Then, when the critical moment hits and she is asked to make a life or death decision on behalf of her son, she is alone and pressured by Saanvi and the doctor into buying into an idea that could possibly result in Cal’s death. At one point, Grace is so overwhelmed that she escapes into the bathroom and has a nervous breakdown. Athena Karkanis excels throughout the episode, putting forth a golden hour of acting performance.

I should add that Grace warns Ben about not falling into the deep end again at one point. This is the second time that she refers to a previous breakdown by Ben. I am expecting an episode at some point that explores in depth the troubled period in question in the couple’s past. It has to do with Ben shutting down over five years ago – from Grace’s perspective – after Cal’s initial cancer diagnosis.

Ben finds Vance and his sidekick, the NSA Deputy Tim Powell (Tim Moriarty). He threatens to go public if they don’t locate Valeriev so that Cal can be saved. He leaves empty-handed but Vance’s interest is piqued. He makes a few phone calls and begins asking questions. That is enough for the experiments in the shady compound to come to a halt and for the passengers to be transported to another unknown location. Valeriev’s treatment is thus interrupted, which also means that Cal is temporarily safe although his ordeal is far from over. The teaser for next week’s episode indicates that his connection to the mystery will be explored further. 

The sequence noted above also confirms my suspicion about Vance that I expressed back in my review of episode 3. Vance is not the one-dimensional “bad guy.” This is conveyed to the viewers through a phone call made by some individual to a “Ma’am,” informing her that they had to temporarily “terminate the experiment because somebody in the NSA started poking around.” Vance the disruptor finds the compound, and a bloody tissue inside on the floor, after it has been abandoned by the actual bad guys who work for a corporation named Unified Dynamic Systems (UDS). Michaela has learned that the buses carrying the passengers were contracted to the government by UDS.   

Last-minute thoughts:

– Michaela finally opens up to Jared about the callings and he is willing to listen. Ben has less success with Grace when he does the same.

– Will Danny and/or Lourdes be back next week?

– In the last episode, Jared felt the pressure from Vance who was basically demanding that Jared keep him abreast of Michaela’s activities. Now that Michaela has let Jared in on the callings, what will the good NYPD detective do? He indeed owes Vance after what happened in the last episode with the internal police investigation.

– Is there a point to that short scene with scientists advancing theories (or not advancing any) on the disappearance of Flight 828?

– There is obviously a point to showing a woman named Fiona Clarke speaking on a TV screen in the hospital. Michaela momentarily notices her, and the chyron indicates that she is one of the passengers of Flight 828. I am assuming that is the “ma’am” and the teaser for next episode shows that we will meet her.

– What is the deal with the man bumping hard into Ross in the hotel lobby? Was that thrown in there just to have a reason to fit the “men can’t keep it in their pants” line? Okay, but a bit distracting.

– I don’t care if Montego Air is a fictional airline. Get me on one of their flights, pretty please! I want to have the surreal experience of walking in an ultra-wide aisle in a plane like the one I saw in the flashback scene at the beginning.

​Until the next episode…

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“Connecting Flights” – Aired on Oct 22, 2018
Written by: Amanda Green & Margaret Rose Lester
Directed by: Tawnia McKiernan
Grade: 5 out of 5

Notice: All episode reviews contain spoilers

Color me impressed! This tightly packed episode briskly advances a few narratives at the same time without conveying the feeling of being rushed, and still manages to sprinkle across the hour several genuine moments of character development. More importantly, it brings some desperately needed clarification to at least one area – the beginning and development of the relationships between Danny and Grace, and of Lourdes and Jared. After four episodes of mystery piling, some degree of hole-patching is always welcome.

Furthermore, “Connecting Flights” is a game changer. It moves the parameters of Flight 828’s central mystery from the “what” to the “how.” Cal’s storyline firmly lands Manifest (no pun intended) into the area of the paranormal. As Ben says late in the episode to Michaela: “It’s not like with us. He [Cal] is different.”

Don’t get me wrong, we had already been hovering (again, no pun intended) over the paranormal zone. Heck, the show’s premise is built upon the mystical. But the gist of the unexplained had remained, until this episode, in the domain of ambiguous callings leading to premonitions, and a plane that somehow disappeared five and a half years ago and reappeared recently. The show’s characters had essentially been busy tackling the complications brought about to their daily lives by the missing five and a half years. “Connecting Flights” changes that routine. Cal’s storyline confirms that at least one passenger directly witnessed the phenomenon that holds the key to the mystery that matters the most: how did Flight 828 lose five and a half years of earth time?

New information is injected into the narratives of the stifling Ben-Grace-Danny and Jared-Michaela-Lourdes love triangles. These triangles are still emotionally charged alright, but thanks to a series of shrewdly arranged flashback sequences that got complemented by pertinent follow-up scenes in the present**, the characters of Lourdes and Danny have now gained some depth. They no longer play the emblematic role of the supporting characters who only exist to complicate the lives of the main ones.

**Kudos to writers Amanda Green and Margaret Rose Lester for their obvious attention to detail with regard to the flow of those scenes, as well as to director Tawnia McKiernan for the impeccable camera execution.

Now, the ball is on the viewer’s court. Can you build some sympathy for Danny and Lourdes or not? Unlike many others, I never developed an aversion to either of them at any moment during the first four episodes. Why should they ignore their attraction to the other person, especially when it is being reciprocated? It is not like either Danny or Lourdes began “making a move” immediately after the plane’s disappearance. Or perhaps, the more intriguing question is, how do you feel about Jared and Grace**? How long is it acceptable for them to grieve before they can move on to other people without being judged?

**See my last-minute thoughts about the uneven – or, unfair – nature of the audience’s reaction on social media to Jared and Grace.

We are not far from the point at which the intricacies of these relationships will undoubtedly manifest their thorny side. Take Danny for example. He seemed like a great guy who showed a lot of love toward Grace and Olive, and seemed to fill the void left behind by Ben. So yes, I sympathized a lot with Danny until this episode.

Until… this episode.

My sympathy for him came to a screeching halt when he showed up at the Stones’s house against Grace’s wishes and used the Olive card on her. His point was so simple, yet so outrageous. According to him, it did not matter that Grace loves her husband and wants to stay with him (she had told him so). He was standing there, literally arguing that he does not want to let Olive go.

Grace: “Danny, I told you I am trying to rebuild my marriage!”

Danny: “This isn’t about you and me, Grace. This is about Olive.”

Excuse me Danny? You mean the daughter of someone else with whom you got to spend three years because you fell in love with her mother? Danny did not stop there either. He brought up his previous lover that he had lost before meeting Grace and continued: “So I know I’ll survive losing you. But I am not sure I know how to get over losing that… amazing kid.” Well, Danny, that is your problem, and not one for which you need to unexpectedly show up at the door step of the Stones and put pressure on Grace. The fact that you went that far in desperation of your desire to be with Olive when she already has a family (and one that loves her) is borderline creepy, dude! Plus, at least be honest. You want Grace back, you are not there just because of Olive.

To complicate matters, Olive later says to Grace that she loves her dad and she is glad that he is back, but then adds, “Danny is my dad too.” Grace replies, “I know.” And I am screaming to myself: “How are Danny and Ben put in the same boat here? Are you kidding me!?!?” In any case, Grace’s life is about to get unbearably painful and I am afraid Ben will be asked to play the adult in the room, thus find himself on the short end of the stick.

But hold on, you see what I did above? I could not resist, I took sides. I am certain that I am not the only one doing so either. The point here is that “Connecting Flights” creates clever human conflicts, engages the audience in these types of debates, and does so without spilling over to over-dramatization. The divide between good and bad treads on a thin line of ambiguity. I may not like some of things that character A, B, or C does, but my interest is piqued by their stories. This kind of story-telling is an asset, not a liability.

In the meantime, Ben takes Cal to Coney Island for a day of fun but can’t stop hearing the phrase “it’s all connected” in his head. As they are heading back home, out of nowhere, Cal begins to run away from Ben and heads into the alleys of the subway. He runs on impulse, but with conviction. He leads Ben, without knowing, to Thomas’s hideout in the subway. Ben asks Cal repeatedly how he knew where to find Thomas, but Cal does not know. He does, however, say “it’s all connected,” which is the same phrase that has been ringing in Ben’s ears all day. The hour ends on another flashback scene of Cal looking from the plane window into the bright light outside and saying, “it’s all connected.”

There is however more to the Ben-Cal storyline than this revelation. It causes Ben to reevaluate his earlier decision to drop his investigation into the mystery of Flight 828 and focus on spending time with his family. It is evident by the end of the hour that, the events of his day with Cal have led him to make a 180-degree turn-around from his earlier stance. “I can’t walk away now,” he confirms to Michaela. He is determined to seek answers.

NSA Director Vance is also in pursuit of answers. While everyone grapples with the “what” and the “how,” Vance is strictly preoccupied with the “who.” It’s all about security and control for the Director; security of the country (a noble cause) and controlling people (a not-so-noble one). He even weighs in with the NYPD to ensure that Jared gets no more than a light 10-day slap on the hand for his mistake from last week. He is aiming to gain leverage on Jared and twist the detective’s arm into reporting to him directly everything that Michaela does or says. He is quite intelligent and efficient, but his NSA crew is either grossly underpopulated or utterly incompetent. They cannot catch anyone, they are constantly late to the action (hospital scene in “Unclaimed Baggage”), and people under their watch seem to evade them without much difficulty. Is it a stretch to claim that, in a real-life setting, poor Dir. Vance would bear the brunt of the blame and probably be relieved of his duties by now?

Last-minute thoughts:

– Cal notices the door move in Thomas’s subway hideout, and insists that he and Ben leave. Only a few moments later, when everyone else notices the door being forced from the other side, he changes his tune and wants to stay: “I think she is a friend.” The person on the other side of the door turns out to be Georgia, Bethany’s wife. She is there to take Thomas to a safe house. Why did Cal want to leave so vehemently seconds earlier? We will never know (he does not either). But, we know that Ben is right. Cal is indeed different than the rest.

– So far, the writing room has pulled a respectable job of balancing between screen time between the few main characters and the recurring ones. One of the advantages of the show’s premise is that the writers have an abundance of characters from which they can draw to create compelling stories. Few of the names on the manifest have already been explored (ex: Kelly, Radd, Bethany). It would be nice to see one episode centering on the role (if any) that Capt. Daly played in the phenomenon. Considering the acting talents of Frank Deal who can bring any character alive (see him as Gary Levine on Gypsy, or his guest-star appearances in The Americans and The Knick), I certainly hope that his character is not slotted for a short-lived appearance or a quick write-off.

– There is a lot of anger on social media flowing in the direction of Lourdes and Grace. Am I sensing a hint of sexism here? Why is it that Grace is on the receiving end of a lot more anger that Danny is in the Ben love triangle, whereas in the Michaela one, people are not nearly as furious with Jared as they are with Lourdes? Grace and Jared are the ones who moved on in the absence of Ben and Michaela. Yet Grace the wife is getting slammed while the fiance Jared gets off hardly with a scratch. And no, the “one is just a fiancé, the other one is a spouse” explanation does not wash.

– Bethany is arrested. Does that mean we will not get to see her wife Georgia again? I hope not. Eva Kaminsky, who has guest-starred in more shows that I can name, is always a delight to watch.

– Did I say that I thought this was the best outing of Season 1 so far (with “Reentry” a close second)? 

– This was the best outing of Season 1 so far. ​   

​Until next episode…

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“Unclaimed Baggage” – Aired on Oct 15, 2018
Written by: Laura Putney & Margaret Rose Lester
Directed by: Craig Zisk
Grade: 4 out of 5

Notice: All episode reviews contain spoilers

A decent, yet benign, fourth outing by Manifest, one that flows fairly well within its confines. While “Reentry” (ep.2) focused on character development and moved at a measured pace, and “Turbulence” (ep.3) was motivated by rapid plot advancement at the cost of character growth, “Unclaimed Baggage” manages to do a bit of both, although it carries less substance than either of the two previous episodes. No need to look for big revelations to the overall arc here. There are, however, two stand-alone stories that keep the hour interesting.

One of them centers on a stowaway passenger, previously unknown to everyone except Bethany (Mugga), the flight attendant. We first see him as a deranged patient when he runs into Saanvi at the hospital, asking for Bethany. Saanvi, with Ben’s help, locates Bethany and visits her to get the full scoop on him.

Well, the scoop is quite charged. His name is Thomas (Sheldon Best) and he is the boyfriend of Leo, Bethany’s cousin. Bethany was trying to help Thomas (who does not have a passport) escape so that he could join Leo who had already left for the USA. Thomas and Leo were in danger in Jamaica because they had caused a social ruckus as activists seeking justice for a third gay friend who was beaten to death. Bethany asks Saanvi, “You have any idea how dangerous being gay can be in Jamaica?”

Leo apparently disappeared during the years of Thomas’s disappearance aboard Flight 828. Poor Thomas is now alone, in shock, pumped with anti-psychotic drugs at the hospital, sought by the authorities, and he desperately needs help. It’s a well-written, elaborate-yet-plausible backstory, although its desired impact is held back by Mugga’s somewhat phlegmatic delivery.

Note: Hats off to writers Laura Putney and Margaret Rose Lester for coming up with a rich backstory to the mystery of the stowaway passenger. This is an instance where the writing room could have easily succumbed to the traps of lazy writing and spit out a pedestrian reason for Thomas’s risky trip, and probably gotten away with it since it is of no consequence to the overall story involving him, Bethany, Saanvi, and Michaela. Instead, they chose to pay attention to detail. Nice!

Saanvi wants to assist Bethany in getting Thomas out of the hospital before the NSA and Director Vance can get to him. She also has a personal interest in doing so, because Thomas is related to the visions that she is having. Earlier at the hospital, a gray, statue-like woman, who leaves wet footprints behind her, had appeared in front of her. Saanvi visited Dr. Feldman (Gary Lee Mahmoud), the head of the neurology department, asking his opinion on her brain scan, except she claimed that it was the scan of one of her patients. That is when Dr. Feldman noted that the brain scan was similar to another patient who happens to be Thomas. He noted that it could possibly be the early stages of schizophrenia. A worried Saanvi left Dr. Feldman’s office and noticed the wet footprints again. They led her to Thomas’s room at which point he ran into her arms frantically calling for Bethany.

Michaela is also having visions of a similar gray, statue-like woman, except hers has wings and whispers “save him” to her. This happens on a day where Michaela is part of the NYPD’s team that is helping the ATF with an operation that involves the busting of a rogue group while they are buying guns. The ATF also has an undercover agent on site posing as a member of the group. During a somewhat unimaginative discussion that Michaela is having with Jared (it basically amounts to Jared being worried about Michaela) while they are staking out the building and waiting for ATF’s word for action, the gray angel appears to her, repeating the words “save him” several times. Michaela takes it as a reference to the undercover operative and vigorously insists that they move in now to save him. Jared reluctantly agrees and gives the green light to the NYPD team standing by.

Michaela is wrong. The operation is botched. The operative was not in danger, yet his cover is now blown. Jared takes the fall for having made the call, Michaela wants to come forward, but both Jared and Ben convince her to stay quiet for different, but valid, reasons. She cannot reveal that she is having visions and attract even more attention to the survivors of Flight 828. As Ben warns, they would get locked up in “some government psych facility” if they were to come clean about the premonitions.

Of course, there is more to the gray angel appearing and whispering “save him” to Michaela, just like there was more to the calling “set them free” in “Pilot” than the two chained dogs. When Ben suggests to her that Saanvi has been having similar visions, Michaela decides to go talk to her. In the most contrived moment of the episode, Michaela’s car drives right in front of Saanvi and Bethany who are frantically running away from the hospital after almost getting caught by authorities while they were trying to sneak out of the hospital with Thomas, using fake discharge papers.

They conveniently – and naturally – get in her car and Michaela drives them away just as Director Vance comes out of the hospital one second later, looking for the two of them. They are long gone, thanks to the artificially coincidental appearance of Michaela in her car. Thomas is not with them either because he apparently had managed to leave the hospital undetected, earlier in the day. As Saanvi and Michaela are telling each other about the gray woman that they have been seeing (Micheala’s with wings, Saanvi’s with wet footprints), it dawns on Bethany that they are talking about The Angel of the Waters, the statue at the top of the Bethesda Fountain. The angel also happens to be a big part of Leo’s favorite play, Angels in America by Tony Kushner (Pulitzer Price winner in 1993). Thus, that is where Thomas must be, they figure, and that is where they find Thomas, of course!

They take him to a boiler room previously owned by Kelly, who was shot dead at the end of episode 2. According to Michaela, the building will be tied up in probate courts for years, so nobody should be coming down there anytime soon. Is that even a plausible expectation? Don’t ask me. The bottom line is, we now have a reliable hide-out space that can be used in future episodes, if needed. In any case, the weakest sequence of the episode that began with Michaela’s car cutting in front of Saanvi and Bethany, ends in some boiler room only known to our protagonists.

The second – and the better – story revolves around the strife within the Stone family. Ben, probably the most magnanimous character that currently exists on the land of TV shows, cannot seem to catch a break on the home front.

First, he learns that their household is basically bankrupt. Among the many updates that Grace did not care to give Ben in a timely manner once he reappeared, is the fact that the insurance company had paid her half a million dollars for Ben’s presumed death. Now, they want it back. To make matters worse, Grace used that money to cover the debt that she had accumulated over the two years following Ben’s disappearance because she had “shut down.” She even took out a home equity line of credit to finance her catering gig, so there is no equity left on their house. She is filled with shame and guilt as she confirms that “there is nothing left,” but Ben, the ultra-positive individual that he is, hugs her, consoles her, and says, “We’re gonna figure this out.” Oh Ben… If it were only that easy!

He also has a hard time connecting with Olive, and it goes beyond semantics (reference: “romper” vs “overalls”). Olive acts a bit distant. She later gets caught stealing at Bluemercury, the luxury beauty shop, and leaves a message for her mom to come and pick her up. Grace listens to the message in the middle of a romantic moment with Ben who offers to go and get her: “I need to work on my Olive speak. Perfect opportunity.” If you have not boarded the Ben train by now, I would recommend getting yourself checked, there may be something wrong. Let’s remind ourselves the context here. The guy just discovered some photos of Grace and her previous lover in a box at the basement while he was calculating numbers on a whiteboard to figure out how he can help the family climb out of debt. Grace entered and he put that aside to get romantic with his wife before getting interrupted by Olive’s voicemail to her mom (in all fairness, Grace also seemed to be disappointed there). He offered to go get Olive himself to give Grace a chance to rest. Little does he know that the biggest disappointment is yet to come.

Once Ben arrives to the store to pick Olive up, not only does he get slapped with the terrible news that his daughter got caught shoplifting, but also sinks deep into the well of disappointment when he realizes that Danny (Daniel Sunjata), his wife’s lover during his absence, is already at the shop comforting Olive while they are waiting for Grace. Meeting the lover of your wife unexpectedly, because your daughter chose to call him for comfort instead of calling you… Can a father feel anymore miserable than Ben does at that moment?

The brief encounter scene between Ben and Danny achieves its goal thanks to Josh Dallas and Daniel Sunjata who convey perfectly the malaise felt by the two men. This is followed by the strongest scene of the episode, a well-written dialogue between father and daughter, including a heartfelt confession by a teary-eyed Olive. Ben promises not to tell Grace about the incident upon Olive’s request as they hug.

Grace learns of it anyway and scolds Ben for not telling her, and in the process, gives away the fact that she had talked to Danny since she could not have known of it otherwise. Now, it’s Ben’s turn to scold Grace. The argument ends on an unpleasant note, with Ben angered by the fact that neither Olive nor Grace “seem to be able to let this guy go.” He wonders out loud if it is even fair that he asks them to, and leaves to get some air. In those last moments, only a timid “Ben…” comes out of Grace’s mouth, which officially makes me jump off the Grace bandwagon. Until then, I had been on Grace’s side, even when she was finding it hard to tell Ben about Danny, because I found her reassurances to Ben sincere when she said that she loved him and only him, and that she left Danny behind. I still believe that she loves Ben, but her passive stance while her husband was justifiably upset accompanied by a meek “Ben…” did not cut it. Plus, she is obviously still in contact with Danny, as the closing sequence showed. Grace needs to be honest with Ben and lay all her cards on the table, not just the few selected ones.

Neither of these storylines provide any answers to the many questions facing Manifest’s overall arc. I am not sure if that is a good thing. I will repeat what I said in my review of episode 3: You can build such a high pile of mysteries that you can drown yourself in it, not knowing how to climb out of the hole when time arrives for payoffs and resolutions.

I appreciated the writers avoiding the ubiquitous cliff-hanger finish to the episode for a change. A montage of the main characters dealing with their issues, ending with Michaela asking the Angel of the Waters statue, “What do you want from me?” is a fitting ending.

Last-minute thoughts:

– Maybe I have bad hearing, but it seems to me like the background music in scenes where the characters speak in a low voice, or whisper, is a bit loud, making them harder to understand. I don’t know who is responsible of setting the volume levels (the sound editor?), but it would be nice to hear without strain what the characters say.

– I said multiple times in my previous reviews that I was firmly on Team Olive. I must admit that I wondered a couple of times during this episode if I made that call too soon. Having said that, I am still, and undoubtedly, on the Luna Blaise bandwagon. Passionate, high-quality performances by her in each episode so far.

​Until the next episode…

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“Turbulence” – Aired on Oct 8, 2018
Written by: Gregory Nelson & Bobak Esfarjani
Directed by: Paul Holahan
Grade: 3,5 out of 5

Notice: All episode reviews contain spoilers

After last week’s stellar “Reentry” that advanced at a measured pace and contained an ample amount of character development, “Turbulence” owns up to its title and attempts to simultaneously barrel through several plotlines. The result is a dose of narrative pandemonium, one that overloads the senses and takes attention away from the couple of storylines with promising intrigues. This is not to say that “Turbulence” does not have some good moments – it definitely does –, and the main cast continues to produce fine performances. It’s just that it suffers from glitches and stumbles precisely because it tries to carry such a bulky load in a single outing.

Within that load, one finds:

– The background story of Michaela’s tragic car accident that resulted in her friend Evie’s death.

– Related to the above, Michaela’s pursuit of “own your truth,” much like her pursuit of “set them free” in “Pilot.”

– Related to the above, Michaela’s efforts to reconcile with Evie’s parents, including her gut-wrenching realization that Beverly, the mom, has Alzheimer’s disease in possibly the most emotional scene of the outing.

– A fairly complicated investigation of Kelly Taylor’s murder.

– Cal’s struggle with Olive dating his once best friend Kevin.

– Ben’s ongoing reactions to his new discoveries about Olive and Grace. His daughter is dating and sexually active.  His wife has given several men keys to the house. She also has a lover – “had,” according to her.

– Isaiah (Olli Haaskivi), the suspect in Kelly’s murder, who does a decent impersonation of Ben Linus in Lost‘s early seasons by talking in riddles and uttering doctrines.

– Saanvi’s discovery of a “genetic marker” in Cal’s blood, and subsequently in hers, that neither had before the flight, pointing to Ischemic Stroke which alludes to near-death experiences.

– NSA Dir. Robert Vance behaving dickishly toward anyone and everyone.

– Jared having to deal with Michaela’s topsy-turvy behavior at work and a sketchy request by Vance.

– Signs of a cover-up, a secret operation, or something, by the government.

I may have even left out one or two others. In any case, you name it, “Turbulence” has it.

Due to the limited time allowed to juggle all these developments, artificial coincidences appear at an alarming rate. As a consequence, some storylines suffer quality-wise, while others, that actually do show potential, get shortchanged in terms of depth. For an example of the former, let’s consider the storyline involving Ben and Michaela, as they aim to solve Kelly’s murder:

– Detective Donovan (The Americans’ alumni Brandon J. Dirden), who is in charge of Kelly’s murder-scene investigation, allows, with little or no resistance, Michaela to enter the crime scene, although she is clearly out her jurisdiction. Furthermore, he does not even check the identity of the man accompanying her (Ben) – the justification implied is that he is surely her partner.

– NSA Dir. Vance happens to enter the crime scene just after Det. Donovan briefs Ben and Michaela on the essential information gathered by his team, and not one second earlier. As expected, Vance tells Ben and Michaela to leave and scolds Donovan for letting them in, but who cares? Our two heroes got what they needed.

– As soon as they walk outside, Ben and Michaela conveniently run into Patrick Taylor, Kelly’s husband, who happens to be alone and available to talk.

– When they decide later to go to the Taylor residence to talk to him some more, ‘poof’ walks in Christine the housekeeper, a key character who provides them with a valuable piece of information. According to her, Kelly had bruises on her arms a day earlier when she came back from the mall after getting her hair done. As to why Christine would even volunteer that information, considering what she had done (as it turns out later), I have no idea.

– Ben and Michaela go the mall and randomly spot a woman named Tami (Ella Ayberk) in the vicinity of the hair salon, who runs away when she sees them, probably because Ben and Michaela did not need to spend more than a minute at the mall before finding answers. She runs away just enough, you see, so they can still catch up with her in a quiet basement area where they can have a convenient chat during which Tami suddenly turns into a golden fountain of information.

Now, for an example of the latter (a.k.a. potent-but-shortchanged storylines), let’s consider Saanvi’s search for answers to the ultimate puzzle of Manifest: what exactly happened to the souls in that plane while everyone else aged five and a half years? Saanvi’s storyline occupies barely two minutes of the episode, yet it is the most consequential one out of all of them. Parveen Kaur continues to excel in portraying the motivated doctor-scientist-researcher. Luckily, the episode ends on a revelation made by Saanvi, echoing an in-depth exploration of the phenomenon in the upcoming episode(s), and in the process, giving Kaur a chance to further flesh out her character.

Another character that needs more growth is the NSA Director Vance. Despite his continually gloomy-doomy disposition and arrogance, I do not see him as a one-dimensional character. For example, he did not appear to be just another uniform or suit, so to speak, in that brief meeting with government officials in “Reentry.” It would be nice if Vance remained outside the mean-government-vs-good-citizen dichotomy. Daryl Edwards certainly possesses the talent to thrive if given the chance to operate with a rich and layered character rather than the one-dimensional villain of the shady government.

Last-minute thoughts:

– Who is Rob (James Hiroyuki Liao) and why is he so protective of Danny? And what is the logical explanation behind the absurd notion that, somehow, Grace is cheating on Danny with her husband?

– Michaela running into Christine with the necklace in her car as she saves Beverly is a nice twist that places “own your truth” into a meaningful perspective.

– I do not necessarily agree with the interpretation made by many on social media that Grace did not answer Ben’s question when he asked if she loved Danny. She says, in a firm tone, looking directly into his eyes, “I love you, Ben” (her emphasis). Then adds, “I never stopped. Not for a moment. Not for 5 ½ years.” It does not mean that Danny will not be an issue in the future – he will, judging by the next-episode teaser. But, since the late stages of the previous episode, in my opinion, it has become clear that Grace loves her husband.

– How old is Olive exactly? I ask because I would like to know why she is having to sneak out of the house through the window. Regardless, I am still firmly on Team Olive! By the way, can twins be anymore delightful than her and Cal are, under such strenuous circumstances?

– Patrick and Kelly owning a mall, Patrick only renting to illegals so he can blackmail them into extortion, Kelly wanting to expose it after the flight and getting killed in the process, not because she was aiming to come clean, but because the ex-maid could not handle her return after 5+ years with Patrick, is an elaborate enough narrative that you could almost build a season on it. It’s a shame that it had to get reduced to the role of a B story in a 42-minute episode.

– Grace needs to be an open book with everything that she went through while Ben and Cal were absent. Ben getting slapped with one overwhelming discovery (condom under Olive’s bed) after another (men having access to their house), only to have Grace offer the ex-post-facto explanations for each, is not an efficient way to deal with the process of healing as a couple.

– The writing room is throwing a plethora of curve balls at Ben and Grace, and actors Josh Dallas and Athena Karkanis appear to be having fun running away with them.  

– Mysteries are rapidly piling up. It creates a great whaaat! effect for rating purposes, but the danger of falling into the same trap as Lost lurks beneath. You can build such a high pile of mysteries that you can drown yourself in it, not knowing how to climb out of the hole when time arrives for payoffs and resolutions.

– Speaking of pay-offs, Christine was the “shadow man” from last week’s episode, if I understood correctly. It’s basically a variance of the cliché about the maid who kills out of jealousy, a somewhat reductive pay-off to a promising plotline.

– Kelly may be dead, but her body is still needed!

​Until the next episode…

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