It wasn’t quite as fun to see Ben and Grace so angry with Michaela for not heeding the calling’s insistence that she let the criminals go. Surely they could see how difficult it would be to let a murderous meth cook go free just because of a voice in her head no matter how reliable it’s been in the past, especially since the callings’ innate goodness was recently called into question. It’s like Michaela said: “If we have zero control then what’s the point of us coming back in the first place?” Thankfully, we could see that Pete, Jace’s younger brother, was sympathetic to Cal in giving him a blanket and that circumstances would arise that could be taken advantage of.
For instance, Pete also allowed Cal to send the crucial text using the name “Doug,” which Olive was able to interpret as a reference to The Dugout diner in the Catskills. Combined with Zeke’s vision of Cal in the woods, a picture began to form that went beyond our initial interpretation that Zeke was reliving his final moments from when he almost died a year ago. The persistence with which Zeke followed his calling was inspirational even in the face of Michaela’s heartbreaking sobs, and his miraculous recovery speaks volumes about how the others might avoid their death dates.
But there’s plenty left to speculate about by the end of the episode, and the disappearance of Jace, Pete, and Kory shortly after a bolt of dark lightning breaks through the frozen lake is only the beginning of it. The fact that their bodies weren’t found beneath the ice probably indicates another time jump for them, but for what purpose we can only guess. The glow as Zeke came back from the dead is also something we’ve seen before, most recently with the Al-Zuras journal, and there’s plenty of material there for a season 3 story arc should Manifest get renewed.
And then there’s Saanvi — poor Saanvi! In last season’s finale, the good doctor was suffering from PTSD and was taken in by the Major. Now this year, she tries to pressure the hard-edged military leader into sharing information about a cure for the genetic anomaly, and she’s way out of her league. The Major has always been the most effective villain in Manifest because of her ability to anticipate what others would do and play her cards close to the vest, which is why it was strange that she let slip that Zeke’s blood held the key to weaponizing the mutation. Doubly surprising was the fact that Saanvi was able to track her down a second time and carry out her misguided threat using anaphylaxis to get information, leading to the Major’s death.
The desperation of Saanvi and Vance is actually the best setup we could have hoped for leading into the hiatus. Manifest has managed to give us closure on the season-long death date arc through the miraculous recovery of Zeke while still leaving things wide open for the government conspiracy angle, which has always been the strongest conflict in the show. While the disappearance of the drug dealers is now filed away with the disappearance of Flight 828 pilot, Captain Daly, and Fiona Clarke, the neural psychologist last season, we can now follow Ben’s example and build our own investigation board to lead us through our speculation until the next season arrives.
