10 Reasons You Should Be Watching ‘Manifest’
It’s not easy to find a good high concept show on network TV. Many shows have tried and failed to draw people into their complex plots, but NBC’s new show Manifest does not disappoint.
Manifest focuses on the mysterious Montego Flight 828. After a bumpy, but normal, the plane landed safely. However, the passengers soon realize something is very wrong. The plane has been missing for five years! It left Jamaica in 2013 and landed in New York in 2018.
And no one on the plane has aged a day! In fact, to them, only a few hours have passed.
The Stone family and the rest of passengers must find a way to re-enter a world that has moved on without them. Friends and family have mourned them and found a way to go on with their lives. Nothing is the same as it was before.
As if that isn’t enough, a deeper mystery quickly unfolds. Why were the passengers able to return? Are they meant for something more than an ordinary life?
In case you haven’t already seen this fascinating new show, here are 10 reasons you should be watching Manifest.
1. It’s Not Lost
Of course, Manifest has been compared to Lost early and often, but the shows are very different. A key change being the passengers of Montego flight 828 have no idea what happened while they were gone.
They don’t even know time passed at all. Manifest focuses on the characters reintegrating into the world while trying to figure out what happened and still is happening to them.
2. Intriguing Mystery
The mystery keeps growing with every episode. Where was the plane all that time? How is it possible that everyone is still the same age?
None of it makes sense. Manifest keeps you guessing. You want to discover what’s happening just as badly as the characters themselves.
And the mystery doesn’t end now that the plane is on the ground. There’s so much more to this story.
3. So Many Questions
Manifest poses many questions both before and after the flight. The passengers of flight 828 had complex lives even before their trip to Jamaica, and their problems didn’t disappear just because they did.
There’s a ton to learn about the character’s lives. Manifest has great pacing with a satisfying balance of questions and answers.
4. Tragic Relationships
These people were missing and assumed dead for five years. Their significant others have moved on, and you can’t blame them. It’s been a long time.
It’s evident it wasn’t easy for the people on the ground, but they did what they had to do. It’s heart-wrenching to watch the characters battle with their past and present feelings for each other.
It’s not possible for life to just back to how it was before, but the people on the plane feel like no time has passed at all. To them there is no before and after.
5. Family Dynamics
The Stone family is certainly not dull. They went on vacation as a family, but now that family looks very different. They had problems before the trip and certainly have them after.
Everyone is doing their best to reconnect, but the obstacles are tall. One of my favorite parts of Manifest is that Cal and Olive are twins. Now they are five years apart in age, and the contrast is striking.
6. Josh Dallas as Ben Stone
Josh Dallas’s last role was literally Prince Charming (on Once Upon a Time), and Ben Stone isn’t much different. He’s just trying to do what’s best for his family.
His whole world has been turned upside down. His son still has cancer, but it’s no longer considered terminal.
He barely knows his daughter anymore. He’s desperately trying to protect his sister, wife, and children from whatever mystery they’ve been sucked into.
7. Sci-Fi or Supernatural
Manifest constantly keeps you guessing about the origin of the plane’s disappearance and the passenger’s new powers. The force could easily be anything from divine intervention from God to aliens to humans with new technology and unknown motivation.
There are religious undertones surrounding the characters fulfilling their destiny. They were on flight 828, and Romans 8:28 happens to be Grandma Stone’s favorite bible verse as featured in the pilot.
There’s plenty of science mixed in too. Add in a shady NSA investigator, and it could easily be humans behind the whole deal.
8. It Reminds You How Much the World Has Changed
The passengers return to world filled with new technology and a totally different political climate.
What’s an Alexa and why are you talking to it? It’s fun to watch the character adjust. It’s easy to forget how fast the world moves and how much has changed.
9. Lots of Characters to Explore
There were 191 people on the plane. Here, Manifest does relate to Lost. All the people on the plane appear to be connected.
Each episode introduces you to new passengers, and they overlap each other in new ways. These complete strangers are going to need to work together to figure out the mystery.
10. Only Five Episodes Have Aired so Far
You’re only one short binge from being all caught up. It won’t take you long to watch all the episodes. Watch all the episodes on Hulu or NBC.com.
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Have you been watching Manifest? What reasons would you add? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Manifest airs Mondays at 10/9c on NBC.
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Meagan McNicholas
Meagan is a medical student by day and TV obsessive by night. While Lorelai Gilmore and Kate Beckett stole her heart, she has Jake Peralta and Leslie Knope to thank for keeping her laughing through the stressful times. Her knowledge of TV is unmatched, and she takes great pride in knowing her shows better than anyone else. Meagan has one year of school left before she attempts to be a better intern than Meredith Grey.