Manifest Season 1 Episode 9 Recap – Dead Reckoning

The stakes are high after we learn two people aboard the plane are missing, but the drama doesn’t stop there. Suddenly, every one of the passengers feels each other’s pain, whether they’re physically injured or not. It’s unclear what this means for the future of the series, but it will undoubtedly leave many viewers on the edge of their seats as we wait for more answers about what exactly is going on with these people.

This episode kicked off when the passengers were under observation. Vance discovered one passenger had a lot of cases, so they arrested her. 

Presently, NSA Director Vance attempts to calm down Ben, who wants to look for the missing passengers now that they’ve discovered their location. Vance insists on assembling a strike team; they must be careful not to alert the scientists, or they will take off and relocate.

Michaela leaves to go to work and investigate Laurence Belson — the man they think runs the experimental lab. Vance gives him a burner to help her analyze. For Ben, Vance recommends spending time with his family, especially since it’s Saturday. If anything happens, he’ll call.

Grace and her children get in a little secret: a surprise party for Ben for being a hardworking dad. Olive and Cal decide to ask their dad to laser tagging. Ben approves. Someone calls on Ben’s phone, so Grace asks if he could attend work on weekends. Ben drops the call. Before she leaves, she jokes about taking care of their old dad.

Before they leave the house, Cal decides to practice shooting outside. He has a tryout on Monday. Ben tells him he could have warmed him up the whole week, but Cal mentions Ben hasn’t been around much.

While they are playing, Ben sees Autumn Cox (Shirley Rumierk) walking towards him, asking for help. He helps her in and asks what happened. Autumn says they were drugged and hooked up to monitors most of the time. The person behind it ran lots of tests, taking their blood samples. She just got a chance to spit her pills, so she escaped from the van, but she still doesn’t know who is behind it. 

Ben calls his sister and tells her about it. Michaela says it’s not safe for Autumn to stay in his garage, so she suggests bringing her to the boiler room where he will meet Fiona and Saanvi. 

Olive and Cal sulk; their dad is heading out instead of joining them to laser tag, but he promised he would be back at 4:30. Ben feels guilty about it.

Michaela doesn’t want to involve Jared in her whereabouts anymore, but Jared insists no matter what happens to her, he wants to know it immediately.

Fiona talks to Autumn and apologizes for what happened to her since she owns the research.

Saanvi says Fiona’s research is unethical, while Fiona says it’s theoretical to increase human connection. Saanvi points out the government doesn’t care if people get hurt so long as they get results from the research.

Fiona suggests telling Vance what is happening. Saanvi says Autumn has many cases, so she might end up in Jail just like Bethany. But Ben is convinced they must enlist Vance’s assistance.

Vance joins them in the boiler room, where Ben reveals information about the calling. Vance is skeptical and asks Autumn what she remembers about the location of the experiments and how much Belson knows about them. Ben becomes agitated and tells Vance they must leave immediately to save the missing passengers. He reveals Cal is linked to one of the patients, feeling the pain of the tests.

The scientists and Belson restart the testing at the secret location. Michaela, Saanvi, Cal, and Ben all feel the electroshock treatments on the missing passengers, causing pain. Vance witnesses everything and is taken aback as the test comes to a halt.

After the pain subsides, Ben summons Olive to check on Cal. When she knocks on his door, he says he’s too busy. Ben motions for her to enter; Cal draws a house but doesn’t look at her. As Olive walks out of the room, a drop of blood falls on Cal’s drawing — his nose is bleeding.

Vance agrees to form a group and will text Ben the meeting location.

Jared gets worried about what happened to Michaela. He asks if she is okay. Jared decides to join their team with Vance and Ben. They execute an operation to the missing passengers’ location, but they can’t see the missing people anywhere.

Back in their house, Grace is worried because Ben is not answering his phone. Two authorities from Ben’s company ask for him. Grace says he is at work, but they tell her Ben is already terminated, so she gets confused about where Ben is. She asks what happened, but the authorities don’t want to disclose it.

Olive goes to Cal’s room and finds out he is not there anymore — he goes after his dad. Ben gets shocked at how he got there. Cal shows his artwork of the location, and he keeps saying the missing passengers are there. Ben explains there are no people around. But Cal insists the missing passengers are there, pointing at the spot where his blood dropped — in between the trees. Hesitant, they check the area; Vance even says, “I followed a headache, I might as well follow a crayon drawing,” and they found a door.

Ben wants to bring Cal home, but Cal says only Ben could see them. Fiona, Vance, and Jared go inside the tunnel with the other agents. The gunfight begins. The scientist starts to charge the machine connected to the passengers, so Ben, Michaela, Cal feel the shock.

The place starts to burn as the gunfight continues. They catch Laurence. There is no way to see how they are going out, but Ben sees the lights no one can see. Fiona remembers what Cal said.

The location explodes, but Jared, Vance, and the others are still inside the tunnel.

Michaela rushes in immediately after the explosion, but a second, more enormous explosion follows, blowing her outside. Ben has also been concussed by the blast, shattering the windows of his car; Cal seats in the backseat. Ben manages to get to his feet and checks on Cal after seeing a vision of a peacock. Cal is fine, so Ben shifts his focus to his sister. She’s bruised and cut, but she’s okay.

Ben and Cal leave the location, but Michaela stays for Jared. She goes inside and finds Jared unconscious.

A short time later, Michaela is at the hospital, keeping an eye on Jared. Their head checks in on them, informing Jared is in danger. Vance does not make it. He wonders how she and Jared got involved in a terrorist hunt; she lies and claims they got a tip. Michaela sobs and prays aloud to whoever or whatever is behind the calling after he leaves. She claims she has completed all of the requirements and cannot afford to lose Jared. She begs he be spared.

Ben tries to talk to Grace, but she shuts him down, saying he’s changed and their marriage isn’t working. She requests he leave. An irritated Ben agrees, stating he cannot give her what she desires. He wants to take Cal with him, but she refuses, explaining she has already lost Cal and will not lose him again.

Ben is upset as he says goodbye to Olive, who was eavesdropping. He also bids farewell to Cal, who gives him a sympathetic nod and hands him his stuffed alligator to take with him.

Jared awakens in the hospital. Michaela expresses her gratitude to whoever or whatever is in charge of the calling. She coaxes Jared to open his eyes then tells him she’ll call his wife. He begs her not to and wishes for her to remain with him. She is correct.

Michaela later discovers Ben in the boiler room. He tells Michaela what happened between him and Grace, so she consoles him, telling him not to worry; they’ll find their place. Dr. Saanvi and Autumn Cox visit, but Dr. Saanvi has to leave for work. Autumn thanks Ben and Michaela once more for everything they have done.

When Ben and Michaela leave to get Autumn something to eat, she pulls out a cellphone hidden in her sock and texts someone, “What next?” Belson instructs her to lie to Ben by fabricating a story about escaping the experiments in a flashback. She’s been tasked with getting close to Ben and discovering who else he’s working with.

Our Thoughts

This week’s episode of Manifest was a huge step forward for the show’s overall plot. Not only do we find out the passengers are living in a simulation, but we also get to see exactly how they know so much about it and how it works. The mystery behind what happened before they woke up on Flight 828 will still be a while off, but now we’re at least closer to finding out their purpose and how they can help others wake up from the simulation around them. We also got a lot of emotional moments with the characters showcasing how far things have come since they woke up from the test. If it wasn’t enough, the main story took a turn for the worse when the explosion in the warehouse killed Vance!