Thoughts on Manifest season 1...with spoilers (at the end)

Courtesy of YouTube

Back in 2012, I read a really good novel called Down to Earth (reviewed here). It was about a woman who goes skydiving and lands six-and-a-half years later. She's presumed missing and when she returns, her relationships aren't what they used to be.

When my friend told me about Manifest, it brought back memories of reading this novel and I knew I had to watch it. I went back later to find my review and saw that the main character's name was Michaela, just like one of the main characters on the show! There's a story line in this series that reminds me of another book I enjoyed, One True Loves (reviewed here). And there's even a character named Olive in that one, just like Ben's daughter.

Anyway, Manifest is a fascinating and somewhat terrifying show. It makes me nervous to get onto an airplane again, knowing what happened. Even if it is totally surreal. It's produced by Robert Zemeckis, who wrote one of my all-time favorite time travel films, Back to the Future. While Manifest has an aspect of time travel in a future direction, it also doesn't have a way for the characters to go back to the past to fix everything. (Like not get on that flight in the first place.)

There are aspects of other series that I really like, such as Orphan Black (all the conspiracies and people being chased around) and Stranger Things (Cal reminds me so much of Will, especially when he's connected to other characters). I like how they explore grief, difficult decisions, health issues, etc. The main mystery is what happened to Flight 828 and its passengers for five-and-a-half years. It was a blip in time to everyone on the plane, but it felt much longer to those on the ground who missed their loved ones and thought they were gone for good. There's a lot of psychology to explore for both everyone in the air and everyone on the ground. The callings have both psychic and religious aspects to them and I know there's a lot to figure out with those. I liked what some of them led to though. There's a lot of numerology, as well. (I even pointed that out in my review for Down to Earth, oddly enough.)

I don't want to give too much away here, so I'll share a trailer for those who haven't seen it and then share some further thoughts below. So please stop at the trailer if you don't want to see spoilers. Even if you think the show is cheesy or bizarre, it's a lot of fun to play MST3K with. My husband and I are constantly making comments to amuse each other while we watch it. And we both like this show a lot!



SPOILERS BELOW. Last chance to turn back...
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All I know is that season two HAS to happen. Season one had such a cliffhanger at the end. Who got shot: Mick, Jared, or Zeke? Any guesses? Also, The Major is going to be Saanvi's therapist? Yikes! I really hope it was an innocent mistake from the hot doctor's end because I really don't want him to be a bad guy. There are enough of them on this show! Also, I was hoping Vance wouldn't actually be dead and would show up in the end. Is that too much to ask for? Cal's prediction matching the date that Olive and Ben figured out gave me chills. And I had a feeling Grace would be pregnant with Danny's baby. Not surprising at all. I still want Saanvi and Ben to hook up. There's so much sexual tension between them. Maybe now Ben has an excuse to make it happen.

Here are my favorite and least favorite characters.

Favorite:
1. Saanvi
2. Olive
3. Cal
4. Ben (even though he does get in over his head, his heart is in the right place)
5. Zeke: I know he seems shifty, but I feel like he should be trusted.

Least Favorite:
1. Mick: She basically screwed over her best friend when she slept with Jared. When Lourdes got together with Jared, it was under the assumption that Mick was dead. Lourdes is clearly not dead and I feel bad for her.
2. Grace: Who actually likes her at all? There's no love for Grace as far as I know. She kicked Ben out for trying to protect his family and now she suddenly believes him after she didn't the first 10 times he told her to trust him?
3. Autumn: Even though she helped Mick in the end, I still don't trust her.
4. The Major: Obviously. I think she wants to hurt Cal.
5. Jared: Cheated on his wife and now he's being a jerk to Zeke.
6. Griffin: Such a horrible excuse for a human being. He got what was coming to him by trying to abuse the callings.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the show along with favorites and least favorites. If it gets renewed, where do you think the story will go next? What do you think really happened to Flight 828?