Manifest’s Flight 828 officially landed.
*** Warning – stop reading if you have not watched the final episodes of Manifest Season 4 – spoilers ahead ***
And not just because the final 10 episodes dropped on June 2, 2023, but because the previously doomed flight finally landed on April 7, 2013, as it was supposed to—and with plenty of backstories that the passengers (the ones that survived the Death Date anyway) will forever carry with them. They’ve been bonded through a shared experience—shared trauma, if you will—that no one else can even begin to understand.
When the series first premiered, it was a rather interesting and unique premise as passengers from a flight that was considered missing landed in New York on November 8, 2018. While they thought they’d only been gone a few hours, they were actually gone for five years. As they readjusted to their “new normal” they began to experience Callings, which they eventually realized they had to solve in order to keep the Life Boat—captained by Ben (Josh Dallas) and Michaela Stone (Melissa Roxburgh)—afloat.
By following the Callings, they were one step closer to redemption, thus, beating the Death Date when it finally arrived on June 2, 2024. On Manifest Season 4 Part 2, that day finally came, and while no one was sure if they’d done enough, they really had no other choice but to weigh their souls and find out.
Cal, who was described as the “Holy Grail” over the course of four seasons, finally understood his purpose in the overall mission, making the sacrifice to merge with the other sapphire in the driftwood at Storm King Mountain in hopes of preventing the apocalypse.
Once that happened, the end of times began, with all of the passengers getting called to the exact same spot on the mountain where the earth began to crack and lava began to pour out.
And from there, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the missing plane emerged, completely intact, and ready for the final flight.
All of the passengers began boarding the vessel, which Angelina and her merry band of followers attempted to thwart, unsuccessfully, might I add. When Angelina was stripped of her sapphire powers, everyone turned on her as it was made evident that she was, as Adrian pointed out, a false prophet. She wanted to believe and drink her own Kool-Aid so badly, but in reality, she was steering her “flock” to eternal damnation by making them do horrible things to their fellow passengers (ie: Autumn poisoning Astrid) and forcing them to ignore the Callings.
Credit: Netflix/Manifest – The last shot of everyone as they were.
When she was knocked out by a lava rock, Ben contemplated leaving her behind, especially after everything she did to his family, including killing his wife Grace and kidnapping his newborn daughter Eden, but turning his back on someone in need was never Ben’s style so he risked everything to jump over the cracks in the Earth to carry Angelina through the fire onto the plane—the image that was prophesized by the Al Zuras journals had finally come to life in a rather stunning visual. It was his final test… and he passed with flying colors.
The rest was, quite literally, out of their control. As co-captain Amuta and Mick lifted the plane off the ground amid the volcanic activity, the rest of the passengers awaited their fate—and it wasn’t long before the bad guys like Paul, Russell, and Autumn began to burn up and explode into a pile of dust. Angelina was the final one, and she went down kicking and screaming, “I’m an angel, this can’t happen to me,” and yet, it did.
Adrian’s face began to light up, and in a jaw-dropping moment—and one proving that it’s never too late to do the right thing—Eagan traded his life for his friend. The lava cracks began to appear on his body before eventually subsiding, essentially underscoring that anyone who would sacrifice their own life for a friend deserves a second chance. Saanvi also began to show display cracking signs, and as she told Ben that she was ready to die, they disappeared, an indication that though she did take the Major’s life, she did a lot of good trying to help the lifeboat and mankind.
The passengers then had to band together to fight away a black cloud that formed into somewhat of a grim reaper that we previously saw with the Methheads, eager to bring down everyone with him. Ben passionately shouted that though the passengers weren’t perfect, they did the best they could, questioning, “isn’t that enough?”
And it seemed to be as everything went dead silent and the volcanic activity subsided. They beat the Death Date and saved the world.
Mick and Amuta then saw the glow appear up ahead, or rather, the long delirious burning blue, and Mick, as captain, decided to go right into the middle of it rather than chase it this time around.
Everything seemingly came to a standstill as the doors of the plane opened by themselves and all that was visible was a bright light, indicating that they’d gone into the glow.
As they all stepped out, their outfits reverted back to the ones they were wearing in the first episode, and as they stepped through the jetbridge doors, they saw all their loved ones waiting for them; they went back in time and landed when they were supposed to in 2013.
Grace was alive, as was Ben and Mick’s mom, which was a welcome sight for the family who had just endured quite an adventure. Even their dad, who had a stroke in 2024, was doing well.
It’s as if all was right in the world, including the fact that both Olive and Cal were children again able to grow up together as twins as it was always meant to be. Unfortunately, you can’t have it all, and regaining their childhood together came at the expense of Olive and TJ’s relationship. While it was a bummer for fans, we saw just how much Olive cared for how brother and how much they regretted not growing up together, so I think she’d be okay with this turn of events.
In a way, it resets things to the way they always should’ve been if they never became variables in this divine experiment. Olive and TJ would’ve never happened initially considering the age difference. Or, they would have happened, but years down the line when it’s appropriate. There’s a moment during their final goodbye where Olive says she has to go to find a clue to ensure that they have a “future,” and in a way, I think it’s a hopeful clue that in time, TJ and Olive will end up together. But for now, TJ cannot wait around, and you can see when he runs into a young Olive, it crushes him, but he forces himself to move on with Violet (who is alive in this scenario and way too old for Cal), while also celebrating that fact that he got his mother back.
Of course, the fact that they dipped back about 11 years in time meant that a lot of people that existed in 2024 weren’t born yet, including Eden and Drea and Jared’s soon-to-be child, who was actually being born as the passengers were trying to stop the world from ending, however, considering Ben’s mindset has always been “what’s meant to be will be,” the understanding is that eventually, Eden and Hope will exist.
Credit: Netflix/Manifest – Ben and Mick ready to make the leap into the unknown for a better life.
Mick saw Jared waiting for her at the airport, and he informed her that he jumped the gun on proposing to her, but she already made up her mind. This second chance that they’ve all been given could not be squandered making the same mistakes again. There’s a reason she hesitated all those years ago, and she knew it as a fact now—they loved each other, but they didn’t belong together. So, as heartbreaking as it was (and as confusing as it was for Jared, who no longer had any recollection of what they’ve endured due to 828), she knew she was doing the right thing by stepping aside and making room for him to find Drea. He was powerless against Mick, and as long as she was in his life, he would choose her, so she did what was necessary so that they could both be with who they were meant to be with. “You’ve gotta have Hope,” she said, referring to the unborn baby.
In that moment, Mick also remembered that Zeke—who previously visited her from the glow after his death before reverting to his time in the cave where she reminded him to “find her” triggering his Calling that led him to her in the first place–once told her that they nearly met numerous times as he was even at the airport driving his cab when 828 was supposed to land. And thus, this means that if Mick had landed as she was supposed to (rather than disappearing into the glow), she likely would’ve taken his cab home and connected with him. They were fated to meet, and always meant to be soulmates. She rushed out to the cabs, finally finding Zeke’s and telling another customer to find a different ride because he was her “husband.” While Zeke didn’t know what she was talking about, he was totally into it and agreed to drive around New York while she told him everything.
On his way out of the airport, Jared bumped into Drea, and the two immediately connected, as he joined in to investigate a case of 9 missing passengers, including Angelina. As for Vance, he also arrived at the airport muttering that it was “impossible” for that many people to be missing from a flight. Oh, buddy, you have no idea.
Fans have complained that the ending, though fitting, undoes years of character growth and development for non-passengers, and that’s true, too. The passengers have been forever changed by their experiences, but their loved ones don’t have any recollection of what happened or what they endured in those years—some don’t even remember meeting despite being best friends in a different timeline like Vance and Ben. However, the idea is that this is a second chance and a fresh start at doing the right thing and making the right choices, with the passengers who do remember there to guide things along and make sure that, again, what’s meant to be will be. Ben knows Eden needs to exist, so he will ask Grace to have another baby. My guess is that Vance and Ben will cross paths as Vance’s investigation picks up and leads him to question what happened on that plane.
Saanvi, who finally got her happy ending with Alex (who came to the airport to find her love and mustered up the courage to embrace her truth!), will still be in the Stone’s life as Ben explains that she’s going to save Cal’s life from cancer. She and Ben may not have been endgame (though they definitely explored that connection when they thought the world was ending), but they’ve always had a profound connection, and I don’t think that will change in this timeline as he’ll make sure that she’s included as family.
The series made the most of its second chance with Netflix, delivering an outstanding series finale, and the hope is that the passengers will also make the most of their opportunity. And it’s a reminder that despite circumstances, some things are meant to fall into place no matter what.
There’s an alternative theory here that the passengers all died, and when they reached the glow and emerged in 2013, it was simply a dream or their idea of “heaven,” going back to the moment they’ve been dreaming about for years. I could see that happening because that means everyone else’s realities stayed intact in 2024—they saved the world by sacrificing themselves and dying, while Olive went on to raise Eden on her own while Drea and Jared welcomed baby Hope. However, it seems as though while a plausible theory, series creator Jake Rake debunked that on Twitter, while also discouraging the idea that there are two separate timelines.
Spoilers for #manifest this will be a thread
So I saw someone say they didn’t understand the ending. Like who the black figure was on the plane, where the callings come from and what they are, and if there are two separate timelines happening so like two of everyone.— Chelsey Schlough (@Fandomgeek1989) June 5, 2023
At the end of the day, it’s supposed to be an inspirational show—reminding people to do good, be good, and have faith. All good things, remember?
And as Dallas noted, there’s so much still unsaid, unanswered, and unexplored that personally, I’m not counting out a sequel somewhere down the line! Would the non-passengers start remembering? Would they get Callings? Would things turn out the way they should be?
It’s clear the fans would support a sequel/movie!