Manifest Spoilers! New Details About The Hit NBC Drama We Can't Get Enough Of
We're obsessed with this show.
instagram Manifest spoilers! Did you catch the premiere of the new NBC show Manifest this week? If not, get to Hulu ASAP to give it a watch. It is a gripping, suspense-filled drama that has left us with so many questions. The basic premise of the show is that a flight took off from Jamaica and landed three and a half hours later in New York City. At least for the passengers on the flight it did. For those back on terra firma, five and a half years have passed since Montego Air Flight 828 took off.
The plane went missing and everyone on board was presumed dead. Sound familiar? The story was partially inspired by the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 that disappeared on March 8, 2014 en route from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to its destination of Beijing. It is killing us that we have to wait a whole week to see what happens next, so naturally we're hunting high and low for some juicy spoilers. What happens next on Manifest?
1. To sum it up
The pilot episode starts with the Stone family in an airport on their way home from vacation. The parents, two adult children, wife, and kids are waiting for a flight to New York City. There is tension with the daughter, Michaela, who has clearly recently been in some trouble. She is also chewing over her decision of whether or not to get engaged to her boyfriend Jared. Her mother and father encourage her to accept the proposal. The son, Ben, and his wife Grace have twins: Olive and Cal. Cal has leukemia and his prognosis is not good. The grandparents are trying to keep everyone calm. When the airline personnel announces that the flight is oversold and volunteers who give up their seat would get $400, Michaela jumps at the chance to get away from her family for some peace. Ben also jumps at the chance and Cal wants to go, too. The money from the airline also gives Ben and Grace the funding for another round of Cal's treatment. The Stone family goes their separate ways, presumably to meet up at home the next day.
2. Turbulence
Once Ben, Michaela, and Cal are on their flight, the subject of Michaela's pending engagement comes up again. Ben cryptically refers to the incident in her past and how it is time she allowed herself some happiness. At this point, we're pretty sure she killed someone as the family references are tiptoeing around it as if mentioning it might send Michaela off the deep end. The plane hits some serious turbulence, the overhead bins fly open and luggage spills out and the plane begins to plummet and it sure looks like the end. And then, as quickly as the turbulence began, the plane stabilizes. Give the crew and passengers some cocktails, stat!
3. Their landing
The rest of the flight is smooth sailing and when the pilot signals the airport on their approach, he's grilled like it is the Spanish Inquisition. The air traffic controllers ask him to repeat his flight number multiple times, ask where he's flying from, how many people are on board, and on and on. Ultimately, the plane is diverted to a nearby airport. Once everyone has disembarked, they learn that while only three and a half hours have passed for everyone on board, five and a half years have passed on earth. What the what?! Cal's twin Olive is now five years older than him. Cal's leukemia hasn't progressed at all (why would it, its only been three and a half hours). Michaela's fiancé has married someone else. And, sadly, Michaela and Ben's mother has died.
4. Set them free
Michaela, Ben, and the other passengers must resume life, which is a challenge considering everyone thought they were all dead. Michaela was a cop in 2013 who had been taken off-patrol and put on a desk. We don't know why yet. One bright spot is that with the passage of time, treatments for Cal's leukemia have advanced and what was terminal in 2013 is not in 2018, thanks to the research of another passenger on Flight 828 who was able to send that research off just before the turbulence hit.
Michaela and Ben begin hearing voices in their head that urge them to "set them free," which they interpret to be about two German Shepherd's locked behind a fence at a welding business. Long story short, they set the dogs free and Michela ends up finding two girls who had been abducted, the very case Michaela's boyfriend Jared (who is now married to her best friend, btw) had been working.
Oh, and Ben's wife apparently has a boyfriend but she hasn't told him yet. In the final scene of the pilot episode the passengers and crew of Montego Air Flight 828 all heard the same mysterious message that led to them to the airport. They stand on the other side of the fence from the tarmac, looking at the plane that had upended their lives so much. While looking at the plane, which is scheduled to be taken apart and examined the next day, it blows up.
5. The Bermuda Triangle
OK, so one theory is that the turbulence Montego Air Flight 828 experienced was some sort of Bermuda Triangle voodoo. The Bermuda Triangle is an area in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean where a number of airplanes and ships have disappeared under mysterious circumstances. The three points of the triangle are the southernmost tip of Florida, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico. Montego Air Flight 828 took off from Jamaica so definitely flew over at least a small part of the Bermuda Triangle.
6. A worm hole
It is possible that the plane hit some sort of wormhole or time/space vortex. A number of events in the pilot episode led me to believe there are parallel timelines happening in the world of Manifest and flight 828 somehow jumped from its era in 2013 through time to 2018.
7. What's ahead?
Well, for one thing, we are looking forward to finding out just what Michaela did that is weighing so heavily on her and just how Grace is going to break the news that she has moved on to Ben. The theme of the show seems to be about redemption and second choices. But what kind of choices do Michaela, Ben, and the rest of the passengers and crew have in a world that has moved on without them?
Manifest airs at 10pm on Mondays on NBC.
Amy Lamare is a Los Angeles based freelance writer covering entertainment, pop culture, beauty, fashion, fitness, technology, and the intersection of technology, business, and philanthropy. She is deeply devoted to her chocolate Labrador and an avid long distance runner. You can find her on Instagram and Facebook.