‘Manifest’ Season 2, Episode 11 ‘Unaccompanied Minors’ Recap: Forgiveness

Finally! The shadow figures! This has bothered me since the first season of Manifest. It was such a big deal in the season but, somewhere along the line, the show seemed to have let go of it. Now, we’re getting to the bottom of it. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean the mystery is all cleared up though. Yeah, the bad guys were put behind bars for the meantime but, are they like the exers? Are they working for somebody? Are they working with the Major? See, there’s still a lot of questions that need to be answered. Hopefully, we’ll get to the bottom of this mystery at least soon enough. With that, here’s what happened in this week’s episode of Manifest titled “Unaccompanied Minors.”

The Bigger Fish

On a walk around the neighborhood, Michaela (Melissa Roxburgh) encounters a robbery. She catches up quickly with the suspect, a kid. But, the kid dupes her into thinking that he only stole a candy bar. At the same time, Michaela receives a calling to let him go. So, she does. And the kid quickly runs to the bus. But, as it turns out, the kid didn’t just steal a candy bar. He stole about 20 packs of cold medicine which is used to make meth. Michaela also finds out that a bodega nearby was also hit in much the same way.

Peter Kramer/NBC

In the precinct, Michaela confides in Jared (J.R. Ramirez) about what happened. Now, she thinks she was told to let the kid go because they have bigger fish to fry. Jared’s dubious about it, but he does help her.

After getting the identity of the kid, Oscar (Oliver Gifford),  from the bus cam, they confront him at his school. They find out that the dealings were done without the dealers and the kids meeting. And the bus was the drop-off point. With Drea’s (Ellen Tamaki) help, they find out who the account belongs to, a man named Jace Baylor (James McMenamin).

Hope Washing Away

Meanwhile, Zeke (Matt Long) is continuing both AA meetings and the treatment. However, as he admits in the meeting, with his days numbered, the steps to recovery are seemingly becoming more pointless to him. It’s getting harder and harder every day especially so on that day because it was his sister’s death anniversary. As the moderator explains though, it might be about closure. Zeke has been focused all this time about seeking forgiveness. But, maybe it’s time he’s the one who forgives.

Peter Kramer/NBC

Later on, in the hospital, Saanvi (Parveen Kaur) conducts more tests to see if how Zeke’s responding to the treatment. Unfortunately, it doesn’t yield the results she wants. Zeke is still freezing and the treatment hasn’t slowed it down.

Coincidence

On the other hand, Ben (Josh Dallas) and TJ (Garrett Wareing) both have a calling. Ben’s is a train coming at him. And TJ’s was a mosaic of a phoenix. Upon piecing it together, they find that there’s a phoenix mosaic in one of the subway’s nearby.

On the way there, a man drops a matchbox and TJ stops to return it to him. Later on, they see the same man sobbing in the subway. Suddenly, just as the train is approaching, the man starts walking quickly towards the rails. But, before he could jump, TJ and Ben tackle him to the ground. Then, they bring him to the hospital.

Peter Kramer/NBC

They think that was the purpose of the callings. However, they’re still puzzled by the why’s. Noticing the same matchbox the man was carrying earlier, Ben and TJ open it to discover a music box.  When Ben starts playing it, he immediately recognizes the tune as the one Grace was humming to their baby which she learned from Cal.

Later on, Ben heads up to check on Grace who was having the 4th-month checkup for the baby at the same hospital. When he mentions the melody, Zeke, who was with them, immediately recognizes it with great shock. As it turns out, his father made the melody.

Second Chances

Instead of rejoicing at the fact that Ben might’ve found his dad though, Zeke is furious. He’s still upset at the fact that his dad bailed on them when they needed him most. But, Ben tries to talk him through it. When nothing else seems to change Zeke’s mind, Ben reminds him that maybe this meeting, this chance of forgiveness is what he needs for closure. With that, Zeke goes to see his father.

The meeting is tense at best. But, it’s obviously filled with so much emotion especially when Zeke’s dad hands him the music box. After a while, they decide to do their yearly tradition for the Zeke’s sister’s death anniversary together. At the same time, Zeke decides to stop the treatment.

Peter Kramer/NBC

On his way out, Michaela arrives. And when Zeke admits that he’s stopping the treatment, she breaks down. After the whole thing with her dad, she expected him to keep fighting. But, now that Zeke has the closure he needs, he feels ready to go. And he tells Michaela to let go of him.

For some reason, that was a very painful moment. With all that they’ve been through in Manifest, I always thought Michaela and Zeke was endgame. But, now, I think Zeke might actually die. Weirdly enough, everything’s been going too well on Manifest all things considered. So, that’s one of the worst-case scenarios I have for the finale.

The Shadows

Later that night, Michaela joins Jared in a bust mission. While waiting, Michaela finally tells Jared about the death date and the truth about what’s happening to Zeke. Suddenly though, they see movement. The bus driver on Oliver’s bus arrives at Jace’s home for a delivery. With that, Michaela and Jared head in.

While Jared chases down one other suspect, Michaela corners two. Just as she’s cuffing one of them though, the man warns him that she shouldn’t be doing it lest she suffers holy vengeance. At the same time, Michaela has the same calling telling him to let the man go. This time though, she ignores it and arrests the men.

Peter Kramer/NBC

Back at home, Michaela and Zeke have another talk. But, of course, Zeke’s mind is set. However, he’s not going to let his last days be filled with sadness and regret anymore. And he wants to live one more memory with the love of his life before he goes. So, he goes down on one knee and proposes to Michaela. And of course, Michaela accepts with all her heart.

Meanwhile, back at the Stones’ residence, Ben puts Cal to bed. The kid hasn’t had bad dreams lately. But, that night, the shadows creep back in to terrorize him again. As it turns out, those shadows were the shadows of the three men Michaela just arrested.

Even with the identities of these men revealed, it’s still hard to piece together the answer to the mystery in Manifest. It’s like we have a thousand-piece puzzle and we only have a hundred or so pieces on our hands. Still, though, it’s one of the biggest breakthroughs in Manifest so I’m not complaining. Now, I’m excited to see where it will lead. Oh, and also, Saanvi got kicked out of her lab. So, see? Little pieces but, no big picture yet.

Manifest continues on Monday, March 30th, with “Call Sign” at 10/9c on NBC.