Manifest Season 1 Episode 4 Recap – Unclaimed Baggage

In this week’s episode of Manifest, we watch as the characters try to move past weighty issues they’ve been carrying around. Saanvi carries around a weight she hasn’t dealt with yet. She’s got a patient at the hospital whose scans look similar to a man brought in earlier with schizophrenia.

Ben is trying to move past his wife’s relationship with Danny, while Michaela has to figure out how to work with Jared. They’re not the only passengers who have baggage to handle in this week’s Manifest — even the flight attendant harbors a secret of her own.

There is a backstory: the flight attendant asks the captain if everything’s alright while on the plane. The captain said he had to know the idea. After some time, the flight attendant got something on the overhead compartment. She brought it inside her cabin and checked out if someone was watching her.

For Saanvi, it’s the knowledge that her hallucinations could be a dire medical diagnosis. Saanvi gets approached by a stone angel imploring her to “save him” at the hospital to kick off the mystery. It couldn’t have come at a worse time, as she becomes increasingly concerned about her MRI results. The head of neurology informs that her patient’s MRI is similar to the man brought in earlier, diagnosed with schizophrenia — not the news she had hoped to hear.

The random footprints lead Saanvi to the room of a man, who suddenly grabbed her, saying, “Bethany. The flight attendant.” Saanvi gets paranoid and doesn’t know what to do, so she just calls Ben to tell him what is happening — in the last episode, they confide a wonderful friendship after the plane event. Saanvi doesn’t know where to find Bethany (Nicole Beattie), but luckily Ben has all the details of the passengers; he created a database. While they are talking, Grace calls Ben; she receives a letter about the insurance company who requested to send back Grace’s death benefit because Ben came back. They don’t have money anymore because Ben was gone for five years, but the world is still rolling, and there are lots of bills to pay, including their business.

Jared and Michaela are outside the location they’re investigating while talking about lunch and snacks. Jared remembers Michaela likes Italian. Michaela mentions her favorite place; after some time, they get awkward. Jared gets down to get coffee, leaving his phone in the car. It rings, Michaela reads it. Jared returns; Michaela argues about the text. But she is interrupted when she sees a gray woman, saying, “Save him.” Assuming it’s the undercover cop, Michaela tells Jared they need to go in rather than wait for the signal. Jared pauses but agrees; they rush in ahead of the ATF, only to discover they ruined the operation. The ATF questions Jared, who gave the order to enter; he confesses.

Meanwhile, Olive is in the makeup store. She gets a makeover, but she can’t pay for the makeup. She says to the cashier she is going to think about it first. She likes the makeup so much, but she doesn’t have money, so she steals it and tries to get out fast. But the guard stops her and tells her to come with him. Ben receives a call, but when he goes to the store, the saleslady says Olive’s dad was already there — it was Danny. Unfortunately, Olive called Danny instead of him, so when they got home, they discussed. Ben even mentions he shoplifted a boomerang when he was 15. Grace goes home mad; she knows what happened to Olive. Ben starts to think how she knows it, then he remembers Danny — she told him in the previous episode she won’t see Danny again — an argument ensues.

Bethany’s Secret

Earlier, Bethany brought things from the overhead compartment to Thomas (Sheldon Best), pretending to be a flight attendant because the flight was redirected. Bethany says there are police at the airport, so she gave the money and phone to him.

Back to the present time, Saanvi goes to Bethany to know why the guy from the hospital kept calling Bethany; it turns out it’s Thomas. Bethany smuggled him because he is gay, and being gay in Jamaica is prohibited. Thomas is Bethany’s cousin’s boyfriend, Leo. The two were supposed to get out of Jamaica, but only Leo got a plane ticket. He hid in the cargo hold when the plane touched down and ran away unnoticed. Now he’s confused and doesn’t understand why it’s been five and a half years. He’s also unaware his boyfriend died a few years ago.

While attempting to determine how to repay the half-million, Ben comes across photos of Grace and her lover, Danny. Grace walks in, and Ben quickly puts the images away, telling her he thinks he’s come up with a reasonable payment plan that should work. Surprised and relieved by Ben’s project, Grace begins passionately kissing him.

Ben receives a phone call from Michaela, informing him about the stakeout and how Jared covered for her and is now trapped at work. She wants to tell Jared what’s going on, but Ben warns her if she does, Jared will be forced to lie to the NSA and anyone else watching them. He advised her to visit Saanvi because she had a similar vision.

Saanvi and Bethany go to the hospital to get Thomas, but a patient pushes the alarm — it was Thomas and he escaped. The NSA goes to the hospital to find the name John Doe, but the guy they are referring to is also Thomas. They get alarmed, so they start to find Thomas.

Saanvi sees the footprints again; she tells Bethany to follow her. Outside, they see Michaela, ready to say something, but Saanvi interrupts her; they need to find Thomas. Saanvi believes Vance will use Thomas as a guinea pig because he lacks family and is unaware of their situation, costing them five and a half years. While they are inside the car, Michaela tells them about the gray angel; Saanvi also shares about the footprints. They connected the two situations, and it turns out it is the Angel of the Water from Angels in America. Bethany says it is Leo’s favorite play, so they go there and see Thomas waiting for Leo.

Michaela tells Thomas she is a cop, and she will help him. She also tells him to come with them because there are people on the federal side who will get him. Michaela brings Thomas, Saanvi, and Bethany to the basement of Kelly.

Finally, Ben admits he may be the one who no longer fits in with the family. His wife and daughter have moved on, which is a difficult pill to swallow.

Thanks to Michaela, Thomas has a place to stay, but he’s now on the NSA’s radar. Who else could be added to their suspect list? This episode of Manifest concludes with Jared circling Michaela’s locations on a map. Could he be thinking about the offer they made him last week? One thing is sure: he will not give up on her until he receives some answers.

Ben messages Michaela. They meet, and she informs him of what happened to Thomas. Ben isn’t sure if listening to the voices and doing what they say is a good idea, but Michaela tells him they don’t have much choice.

Michaela returns to the angel statue in the final scene. “What do you want from me?” she asks, looking up at it.

Our Thoughts

We’re not sure about you, but we feel like we’ve got many unanswered questions after this episode!

Why do these characters have random callings? What is going to happen next? We’re so excited to find out!

We know we don’t have all the answers yet, but it’s so fun to try and piece together clues from what we know. We’ve got a fantastic cast of characters, some really cool superpowers, and lots of story twists, keeping us on our toes.

To be honest, we’re not sure how much time we’ll have to wait before we get some answers, but it’s worth it if the payoff is this good and also the strange shadow Cal drew.