Manifest Season 1 Episode 8 Recap – Point of No Return

We’ve spent a lot of this episode showing how the passengers have struggled to adapt to their new lives. Ben’s storyline has been the most effective because it balances the show’s supernatural and family elements. This week, Ben carries the main storyline on his shoulders, as he has done in the past.

This episode begins when they are still on the plane. Cal said to Ben he was not afraid of the flight. He doesn’t want to be in New York; it’s where he got cancer.

Back to the present time, after Cal goes to sleep, Ben and Michaela talk about Cal’s plan. Cal wants to go back to school because he wants to experience ordinary things for kids, but Ben is worried about it. He thinks at any moment, the test or torture to Marko will happen again, and he knows Cal is connected to it and might get sick again; worst: die. Michaela says they should live normal lives, let Cal go to school, and focus on his wife, for they don’t know when their situation ends. Besides, they have to assume someone’s watching them.

On the farm, where they are doing the test, a guy talks to the scientist, asking how much longer before fully operational. He gives 48 hours to finalize the test, but the guy wants to accelerate it to just 18 hours — Vance might know something about it, causing them inconvenience.

In the morning, Ben brings a cup of milk to his wife. They talk about Cal’s plan. Ben agrees Cal should have an everyday life like the other kids, and he is good with the idea of Cal going to school again. But he asks Grace for a condition: they need to bring their life back — having a date night and romantic time for each other.

On Cal’s first day of class, he wants to walk with Olive to school, but his mom insists she’s going to drop Cal at his school — he’s just protected by his mother, after all he’s been through. Olive agrees with Cal since it’s only six blocks away from their house and assures their parents she will call and text anything strange.

Michaela hurries. She doesn’t want to think about Jared, but their captain insists they ride patrol together. Grace tells Michaela maybe Jared requested it.

The kids talk about Cal at the campus, but Olive cheers him up.

Jared welcomes Michaela with a joke; she is late. Michaela suddenly hears the voice, saying, “Don’t lose him,” then looks at Jared. Her boss then requires her to handle a jumper situation.

At JP Williamson, Ronnie shows Ben a website where all the whereabouts of Flight 828 passengers could be seen. He even tells Ben to have a picture and post it there for their company’s publicity. Suddenly, the fire alarm rings; all employees go outside the building. Ben sees Vance outside. He follows him to the parking and asks if he pulled the fire alarm.

Vance grabs Ben’s phone and destroys it, then says he caused the fire alarm to happen. He also tells Ben they need each other to know what is happening and who is behind the events.

Michaela is on the roof to speak with the jumper, Harvey, a passenger from Flight 828. People help her don a harness while she’s talking with him. Jared worries about Michaela. Michaela walks over to Harvey. Harvey (Richard Topol) reminisces, saying he can see the house where he grew up. Then he quickly mentions people are dying. Michaela probes and says she understands, but Harvey jumps to his death.

Back to Ben, he’s still gathering data from the company. While he is browsing, he sees something and calls Fiona. He tells Fiona about the data, including heart rates and brain activity. Fiona gets shocked when Ben starts to say electrical data and voltage levels. She remembers it’s connected to the callings, that the people behind are trying to replicate it by electrical-cortical simulation. She mentions she used it on rats where most of them died. Ben ends the call with the assurance of stopping the experiment.

Michaela calls Ben about Harvey and shares that Harvey talked about people dying. She talks about the calling she heard in the morning and asks Ben if he heard it. Michaela thought the calling was about Jared but now thinks it is for Harvey, saying, “Don’t lose him.” But she still lost him, so she feels guilty.

Grace is in the store having a video call with Olive, asking how Cal’s day is going. She also asks her daughter for good makeup for their date night with Ben. Then she runs on Lourdes and asks her how the adjustment is going. She says everything is good and sees the pregnancy test in Lourdes’ basket.

Michaela and Jared go to Harvey’s place for further investigation. Michaela opens one of the rooms. In shock, she sees blood painted in the room: “I am the Angel of Death.” Michaela realizes Harvey blames himself for what happened to the plane. Jared sees a piece of a newspaper where it contains the people who have already died.

They go to the pub, and the bartender reveals Harvey told her and two others about knowing things would happen before they happened. Michaela believes the other two people died because Harvey told them about the calling.

Meanwhile, Ben meets with Vance and informs him Clarke will meet with Singularity again to plant a bug.

Professor Fiona Clarke meets Laurence, the man talking with the scientist earlier, and secretly plants the bug under his desk. Vance listens as Ben attempts to access the company’s system while Fiona talks to him. Laurence (Brian Wiles) receives a call and informs Clarke the meeting must be terminated and rescheduled. Laurence reports to a military major someone is attempting to access their system — stating the exact words Ben searched. Vance now knows Singularity is behind the missing passengers, but he is curious about who in the military is involved.

After more digging, they discover the passengers are relocated to Brooklyn. Vance recommends Ben spend his date night with his wife. He’ll have someone from the NSA triangulate cell phone use from Singularity and Brooklyn to figure out where they’re keeping them.

On-campus, Cal is still the talk of the town. He joins lunch with Olive, Kevin, and his old friends. They plan what they’ll do together when they get home while Grace and Ben go on a date night. Grace runs into Michaela at the house and informs her she has seen Lourdes; she and Jared are trying to conceive. Grace advises Michaela to get on with her life.

Grace and Ben are having a sweet night to make up for all the years Ben was gone. They celebrate Ben’s new job and their future.

Ben tells Michaela she was correct; Grace desperately needed a date night. Michaela warns Ben about Jared and Grace. She worries because they told them about the calling. Michaela receives a text from Jared while they’re talking.

Michaela runs into Jared at a crime scene. It turns out the bartender they spoke with is no longer alive — electrocuted in a freak accident. Jared, taken aback, tells Michaela he doesn’t believe her theory. She admits she can’t stand if something terrible happens to him because of her, especially since he and Lourdes are starting a family. After giving him her blessing, she turns and walks away. Suddenly, she hears the voice, saying, “Don’t lose him.”

Ben goes to check on Cal, still awake. He reminds him it is late, but Cal is afraid to sleep because he fears losing everything if he closes his eyes. Ben assures him he will not and promises to make sure of it.

Ben visits Vance. They realize the information they need is not on the flash drive; it’s not yet filed. Ben enters the building after hours using his supervisor’s security pass to locate the file. He finds it, takes a photo with his phone, and slips out.

Ben, Michaela, and Vance collaborate to narrow down the location to Red Hook. The 11 missing passengers are being held in this location.

Our Thoughts

I’m still not sure what the government’s role is in all of this. I don’t know anything about Vance, other than he’s not a friend of Ben and Michaela. I’ve also been left with some questions about The Singularity Project. For instance, I’m not sure what the main bad guy wants or why he must wear a tie. It’s clear that the UDS people are all working together — they seem to be in this for their reasons. But we don’t know what those reasons are, and they haven’t had much of a chance to show us.