Manifest – Dead Reckoning

By: Luke Joseph

The fall finale of “Manifest” was explosive, literally. As always the audience is greeted to a flashback of Flight 828, but this time it’s them at the airport were the passengers are being interrogated. One of those passengers is Autumn (Shirley Rumierk) who is horrified when Vance makes her aware that she has outstanding warrants for her arrest. Rather than be taken to jail she and the other missing passengers are brought to the warehouse.

“It is my job to make sure this mission is successful,” Vance (Daryl Edwards) explains to Ben (Josh Dallas) who is more than ready to storm the warehouse and save those missing passengers. It’s not just the passengers lives that he’s worried about. It’s Cal’s as well making Ben not only want to go into “Dad mode,” but “Hero mode” as well. Thankfully, Vance is able to talk him down and even convince him to head on home because it’s Saturday and he should be spending it with his family. Speaking of family, they’ve got a secret as Grace (Athena Karkanis) has decided to throw Ben a surprise BBQ and she’s depending on the kids to keep him distracted. Aw, time with the kids it sounds like something too good to be true and it is when Ben spots Autumn on the sidewalk making her ways towards him and looking distressed. Looking worse for wear as he spots electroshock burns on her temples, he escorts her into the garage where she tells him she had heard his name from the calling. She explains to him how she had managed to escape during a transport and it’s enough for him to want to help her. Put the laser tag on pause kids because Ben is going into “work,” but not before Cal (Jack Messina) gets him to promise he’ll be back for 4:30.

At the station Michaela (Melissa Roxburgh) receives a call from Ben as he tells her what just happened. She tells him he needs to get Autumn somewhere safe and she suggests he take her to the boiler room. She also tells Ben she’ll meet him there in a few, but just as she’s about to make her exit Jared (J.R. Ramirez) bumps into her. He can read her well and tells her if she’s in any type of danger he wants to know. “I’ll take that risk. I don’t care,” he claims. Oh Jared, could you be anymore obvious that you’re still carrying a torch for your ex?

Back at the boiler room Saavni (Parveen Kaur) and Professor Clarke (Francesca Faridany) meet with Ben and Autumn. Tensions are high considering Saanvi is putting the blame on Clarke, but in Clarke’s defense she never expected humans to be experimented on to such a degree. Ben believes they’ve reached the time were they need Vance, but Saanvi is hesitant. “Neuroscience is an arms race the government doesn’t care who gets hurt as long as they get results,” she explains but it’s not enough to convince Ben as he calls Vance and requests he get here asap. Upon arrival Ben reveals to Vance the details of the calling and as expected Vance has a hard time believing it, making Ben all the more impatient and vulnerable when he reveals that Cal is connected to one of the patients. “There is nothing I won’t do to protect my son. We have to go now,” he demands. Hey Vance, you need solid proof on how the passengers are connected and it’s about to happen in three, two, one…At the warehouse Subject Three is being subjected to phase two of the mirror treatment. They adjust it to forty percent, but only two patients feel it. Needing more, they crank the dial to eighty percent and this time all the passengers including those in the boiler room are experiencing the same pain as Subject Three.

With the pain subsiding, Ben hastily calls Olive (Luna Blaise) and asks her to check on Cal. Listening to her dad she knocks on his door only to have her brother shout that he’s busy. Again, Ben insists she check on her brother so she opens the door and spots that Cal is immersed in drawing. Unbeknownst to Olive, her brother’s nose is bleeding and she leaves. Checking back in at the Boiler Room Ben’s patience is running thin because he knows that they have to act now and it’s finally enough for Vance to throw his hands up in defeat and assemble a team. It looks like he wants to keep the others away from this, but he won’t be getting what we wants. “I’m not going to get in the way but I’m coming,” Ben firmly states and a short second later it’s Clarke’s turn as he says, “So am I. If they’re using my research you need me.” At the Stone House the BBQ is starting and Grace is waiting for her husbands arrival. She’s called him numerous times, but keeps getting redirected to voicemail. Sorry Grace, but you’re about to experience another disappointment because two men in suits invade the party and request to speak to her husband. She tells them he’s most likely stuck at work and they reveal a bombshell to her when they confess that Ben had been released from his position a day before.

At the warehouse Vance, his team, Michaela and Jared (who insisted he was going) storm inside expecting to be greeted to something but instead find nothing. Things get heated outside when Jared starts to argue with Vance because he still doesn’t trust the guy. However, before fists can fly Cal shows up out of nowhere (Oh damn Ben! Grace is really going to give it to you.) and tells his dad that the missing passengers are there. “I’m supposed to help you find them,” he explains pointing to the picture he had drawn that shows a building off to the side of the warehouse. Ben tells Vance to check between the trees and they discover a secret building. Cal tells his father that he has to go with Vance because this is his calling and he’s the only one that can see them. Even though he’s hesitant, he caves and follows Vance, Jared, Clarke and the tactical team inside. This causes Michaela to hang back with Cal outside. Seconds in, Vance and his ops team are involved in a shootout with armed guards. Hearing the commotion Belson (Brian Willies) tells the scientists to evacuate and destroy what they can’t take with them. They can’t afford to leave any evidence and that even consists of the eleven passengers as he turns on the electroshock to put an end to them. Luckily, Vance and his men break into the lab and chase after Belson and the rest of the evil scientists. Trying to shut down the machine Clarke gets thrown back, but she’s okay and instructs Ben to unhook each passenger from the electrodes.

Leading what’s left of the passengers/test subjects, we see Ben, Clarke and the ops team make their way through the tunnels, but they reach a problem because they have no idea on how to find the way out. Don’t worry Ben, remember how Cal told you only you’d see it? Just like that pathlights display on the floor giving Ben the correct route to find the exit.

Sadly, Vance, Jared and his team aren’t seeing any lights, but they’ve captured Belson and the other scientists. However, justice won’t be served and answers won’t be discovered if they all die. Thanks to the shoot out the exchange of gunfire has caused a fire inside of the lab and once reaching the oxygen tank they explode. Witnessing this from outside, Michaela runs in right after the explosion but BOOM – a second and larger explosion happens and pushes her straight back outside. Ben also gets knocked back but manages to get himself to stand but first he has a vision of a peacock standing before him. Yeah, you heard right a peacock and no we have no clue what that means. Checking on his son he’s relieved to see that Cal is fine but the windows of his car not so much. Now, realizing it’s time to go he makes a grab for his sister but she’s refusing to leave because she can’t lose Jared. Knowing she’s not going to budge he opts to take Cal home but before he leaves he watches as the missing passengers are loaded up into a van. He’s surprised to see her getting in with them. She explains to Ben that she found a remote location and is going to keep them safe. Does she feel guilty because her research did this or is it something more malicious?

At the hospital, because Michaela had managed to pull Jared out from the rubble, she is confronted by their boss. He wonders how they ended up in a terrorist hunt and of course she lies saying it had been from a tip they had gotten. After he leaves she heads into Jared’s room and begins to cry, but more importantly she prays to whatever force has been responsible for these callings. She begs them to spare Jared because she can’t lose him. Good news Jared! Michaela clearly is still in love with you, but bad news is you’re screwed because you’re still married to Lourdes. A short while later, maybe fate has been kind to Michaela because Jared is waking up and it’s enough for Michaela to say thank you because he’s alive. She’s grateful he’s alive and he’s grateful she’s there but where is his wife? Not there yet. And when Michaela tells him she’ll call her he asks her not to because he wants her to stay with him and she does.

“I thought I could just ignore the last five years of my life. That we could start over right where we left off because you were the same even if I wasn’t. You’re not the same. I just don’t know you and I don’t think this is right anymore.” Ouch, Grace is really digging the knife deeper into Ben’s heart. He’s trying to reason with her, but she’s just not hearing it. She wants him out and as much as it hurts he agrees, but he wants to take Cal with him because only he can protect him. Grace had been in mourning for five years believing to have lost her son and she’s not going to do it again. Gutted at the turn of events he says his goodbyes and shares an understanding nod with his son who gives him a stuffed alligator to take with him and just like that he’s gone.

Later, Michaela finds Ben in the boiler room and he tells her everything that happened. Saanvi drops off Autumn because she has to go to work and Ben and Michaela decide to leave so they can pick Autumn up something to eat. Alone, Autumn removes a cellphone she has been hiding and texts “what next” to an unknown number. A flashback is shown with Belson telling her to lie and say she escaped from the experiments. Apparently, she excels at lying and has been recruited to get close to Ben and learn who else is working with him.