‘Manifest’ Season 2, Episode 7 ‘Emergency Exit’ Review: Betrayal

What in the world?! It just took less than 45 minutes for Manifest to blow up the way it did tonight. And wow, I’m still reeling. I definitely did not expect the plane crash calling to go this way. Hell, I didn’t even expect it’d come this early! Anyhow, we are halfway through the season so it only makes sense for something big like this to happen on Manifest. In all fairness, this week’s episode is one action-filled rollercoaster ride jampacked with surprises. And it’s not even just about that darned plane crash calling. There’s also a bit about Saanvi’s (Parveen Kaur) old beau and the book of the guy who made the Al-Zuras deck. All the same, I’d need to take a good break to wrap my head around this new development on Manifest. So you know what I’m talking about, here’s what went down in this week’s episode.

The Stones vs Adrian Continues

Because of their new calling, Ben (Josh Dallas) and Grace (Athena Karkanis) has taken to grounding both their children with or without fault. Among the two, Cal’s (Jack Messina) been more cooperative. But, he’s also getting cranky. Olive (Luna Blaise), on the other hand, has thrown all regards out her window and is continuing to fight for the Adrian front. In fact, she’s threatening emancipation so she could fully drop out of school and run the believer church’s outreach program. In good faith, I love how Olive strives to look for hope. But, this is just getting out of hand. And she’s acting more like a brat than anything else.

Peter Kramer/NBC

Of course, Ben’s not going to let any of Olive’s threats come through. So, he goes straight to Adrian (Jared Grimes) again. In an effort to make Adrian see his point about his preachings breeding more harm than good, Ben tells him about their recent calling. Remember, Adrian saw it too. But, the damn guy acts like he didn’t. He even accuses Ben of having PTSD. Anyhow, Ben threatens Adrian that if anything happens to Olive, it’s all on him.

Meanwhile, Olive heads straight to the comfort of TJ’s (Garrett Wareing) company. And she discovers that he found Al-Zuras’ journal. TJ sends it straight away to Ben’s office. Then, the two switch topics to Adrian’s church. As it turns out, TJ is team Ben as well (hell yeah!). He just couldn’t see their return as the miracle Adrian keeps preaching.

The Two Moles

Meanwhile, Michaela (Melissa Roxburgh) finally confronts Zeke (Matt Long) about the pills she found in his razor. She actually sets a trap for him. In disbelief, Zeke reminds Michaela that her source, Courtney, was an addict too. And as he told her before, addicts lie.

Peter Kramer/NBC

At the precinct, Jared (J.R. Ramirez) notices Michaela’s bleak mood. Acting all concerned, he tries to get her to open up. Thankfully, a deputy distracts her with about something related to the church attack before she can tell him about their most recent calling. It was Isaiah (Olli Haaskivi) calling. And apparently, he’s ready to talk about what happened. So, he gives her an address and Michaela rushes off to Ben. She wants to be ready so she asks for everything about Isaiah before meeting the guy. At the same time, she also gives Ben some sisterly advice.

One thing Manifest hasn’t gone to so much is Michaela and Ben’s childhoods. I know there’s no reason to. But, it’s such a shame because Michaela’s stories about that time are so damn fun. Apparently, young Michaela threatened to drop out once too over a boyfriend. But, she ended up not doing it because she found her dad drinking with her beau. So, she tells Ben to try having a drink with Adrian. After all, the worst it could do is to keep their enemies closer.

Meanwhile, Jared tries to snoop around Michaela’s computer. But, since he can’t get around the password, he takes it to their tech guy. Jared even manages to blackmail the guy into giving him access to all of Michaela’s case files. And this is all for his new exer buddies.

The Wrong Club

Later that night, Olive and TJ head out to this club Olive’s believer friend Maxine invited them to. Even though they have different stands on Adrian, the two are still very much in love. In a photo booth inside, TJ admits that he does believe in miracles, just not the kind Adrian’s preaching. Ever since he met Ben and Olive, he finally felt happy again after returning. As a sign of his love, he gives Olive his mother’s bracelet. And in turn, Olive also grants him one as well that she’s been meaning to give as a gift.

Peter Kramer/NBC

While the two lovebirds were in their own world, other passengers start arriving in the club. And by passengers, I mean almost everyone we’ve met in the previous episodes of Manifest. First, there’s Michaela. Apparently, Isaiah worked at the bar of the club. Then, there’s Ben. After taking his sister’s advice Adrian told him to meet at this club. But, when Ben spots Adrian, the latter claims he never texted Ben. He, himself was called down to the club only an hour earlier. As the siblings start looking around, they start seeing familiar faces. There’s Finn, Bethany, and a slew of other faces from Ben’s pegboard.

Meanwhile, back at home, Grace, Zeke, and Cal have a collective calling. They all see the exact same club everyone’s in and fire. Then, suddenly, Cal starts screaming “Save the passengers! It’s now!” Grace immediately tries to call her family. But, not a single one of them is receiving her calls. So, she calls Jared. Realizing the gravity of the calling, Jared drops his exer mission and heads straight to the club.

A Belief Gone Wrong

Back in the club, Michaela notices the endless bottles of champaign going around. Then, she remembers the broken bottles of champaign in the plane calling. At that moment, she and Ben are taken back to the calling. But, this time, Adrian is with them. As it fades away, Ben turns to Adrian in pure fury. And Adrian tries to defend his disbelief. But, to Ben, he’s just one hypocritical ass.

More than Adrian, there’s a more pressing issue. People are starting to drop dead to the ground all around them all because of the champagne. As it turns out, someone has been injecting all those bottles with poison. And they’ve been serving it to everyone who’s there passenger or not. The culprit? Isaiah.

Peter Kramer/NBC

Unfortunately, the champagne isn’t the end of it. Isaiah sets the club’s storeroom on fire and locks all the exits. And that’s when people start panicking. Michaela takes the lead in finding a way out. And after breaking down a couple of doors, she goes back to look for other people. She spots Bethany stuck under a fallen beam. And fortunately, Zeke arrives just at that moment and lifts the burning beam with his bare hands. They try to find their way out, but the smoke’s too thick. That’s when Jared swoops in and guides them out.

Meanwhile, as Adrian tells Ben that he saw Olive in there as well, Ben sets out to find her. Luckily, he did because Isaiah locked the very room she was in. Together, Ben and TJ knock the door down. But, just as they’re rushing out, Olive falls and breaks her ankle. They’re almost out when a beam falls in their path. And just as Ben and TJ start clearing it out, Isaiah grabs Olive from behind and professes all this crazy nonsense about the passengers having to die for the miracle to happen.

Without hesitation, TJ tackles Isaiah and screams at Ben to take Olive and go. Left with no choice, Ben takes his daughter leaving the two men wrestling behind him. After leaving Olive outside, Ben rushes to go back in. But, before he could, the club explodes killing TJ and Isaiah.

The Cure

Elsewhere on Manifest, Saanvi continues testing on herself with no success so far. Stuck, she’s forced to call on an old colleague. And surprisingly, this old colleague is none other than her Alex. And surprise surprise again, Alex is a girl. When the two meet though, Saanvi does everything to avoid having the conversation about what happened between them. And she dives straight to work.

With Alex’s help, Saanvi creates a new formula. After a few minutes, the drug takes effect and Saanvi suddenly finds it hard to breathe. She falls to the ground grasping and dialing for Ben. And she faints with no one answering. When she comes to, she immediately tests her swab and finds that the gene anomaly is gone. She’s done it. She has found the cure in Manifest!

Peter Kramer/NBC

Just as she exits her office though, she’s met with an avalanche of patients from the club. She immediately sets out to help and lands with Zeke. Surprisingly though, instead of burns, the man has frostbite on his fingers. This could only mean that Zeke’s nearing his death date.

Later on, once everything’s settled, Saanvi thanks Alex for her help. And though it’s obvious that the two still have feelings for each other, they hug and part ways without saying anything. Meanwhile, Ben consoles his daughter. And despite her grief, Olive remembers the journal that TJ found. She pleads for her dad to get it. When Ben does, he’s surprised to find the exact same peacock he saw sketched on one of the pages. More than that, he sees an image of himself carrying Olive out of the fire. Then, the journal starts glowing.

Manifest continues on Monday, March 2nd, with “Carry On” at 10/9c on NBC.