‘Manifest’ Season 2 Finale ‘Icing Conditions’ Recap: The Death Date’s Price

Manifest needs a season 3 renewal stat! That finale was just plain crazy! It had more ups and downs than Flight 828 in turbulence. Although we got the answers we were looking for this whole season, this finale titled ‘Icing Conditions’ just opened up a whole other can of mysteries. And there’s no way to even start guessing where all these mysteries lead. With this show, you just have to wait for the surprises. There’s no use trying to guess what they are. Judging by this finale though, the 828ers are facing higher stakes than ever before once NBC comes around to renewing Manifest. Now, let’s take a look at what in the hell happened tonight.

If you haven’t watched the season two finale of Manifest though, better stop reading now. You have been warned.

Chaos

Last week, Jace (James McMenamin), Kory (DazMann Still), and Pete (Devin Harjes) have kidnapped Cal (Jack Messina) to take revenge on Michaela (Melissa Roxburgh). Now, they’re offering to trade the kid’s life in exchange for their meth stash. Desperate, Michaela bypasses protocol and heads straight to evidence to retrieve the stash. She wouldn’t have been able to get her hands on it though if not for Jared’s (J.R. Ramirez) help. So, she’s forced to bring him into the loop against the kidnapper’s orders. Jared, in turn, brings in Drea (Ellen Tamaki) for added help.

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Unfortunately, a good samaritan foils the meet-up. The lady even gets a cop involved. Busted, Michaela gets her ass whooped by Captain Bowers (Andrene Ward-Hammond). Meanwhile, the trio of meth dealers retreats back to a hidden cabin up in the woods.

Back at home, everyone’s panicking. And what can you expect in a state like that but harsh words and blaming each other? Thankfully, they still have the callings and some luck on their side. Zeke (Matt Long), who’s quickly succumbing to his impending death, has a vision of where to find Cal. Then, by some luck, Cal manages to convince kind Pete to let him send a message to Olive (Luna Blaise) to let him know he’s ok. In the message is a code only Olive understands. Piecing those two clues together, the family finds the location. Ben (Josh Dallas), Michaela, and Zeke immediately head out to it.

The Second Return

Given Zeke’s condition, Michaela says her final goodbyes to him in the car. She asks him to hold on until she gets back. But, it’s clear they both know that’s not possible. Left with no choice, Michaela leaves with Ben to find the trio’s hideout.

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By dark, they find the cabin. But, Jace spots their flashlights from afar. Panicking, he tells the other two to kill Cal. But, Pete shows a soft spot for the kid and sets him free. Once Michaela and Ben reach the cabin, the meth dealers were already out chasing Cal. Meanwhile, Zeke has another calling which gets him out of the car and into the chase as well.

The chase ends in a huge frozen lake. And there, the trio of meth dealers with Cal come face to face with Michaela, Ben, and Zeke. Suddenly, before negotiations can even begin, a lighting bolt comes hurtling out of the sky and into the lake creating a huge gaping hole right where the three were standing with Cal. Despite Michaela’s pleas, Zeke, who’s 90% frozen at that point, jumps into the frigid water after Cal.

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Zeke finds Cal on time and gets him to the surface. But, Jace also finds Zeke and grabs on to his ankle pulling him down. An underwater struggle ensues and Zeke manages to shake off Jace. He resurfaces only to take his last breaths in Mick’s arms.

A few moments later though, Zeke starts glowing. And when the glow fades, Zeke is back alive and healthier than ever like he didn’t even just dive into a freezing pool of water.

Desperation

Elsewhere in the episode, Saanvi’s (Parveen Kaur) desperation to find a cure has reached its peak. And despite Vance’s (Daryl Edwards) warnings, Saanvi goes rogue and confronts The Major. On that first instance though, The Major absolutely crushes Saanvi. She and the government already have everything they need from Saanvi’s research and even more. And it leaves with nothing to bargain for.

But, of course, Saanvi’s not giving up. Using clues from her conversation with the Major plus help from Vance, she manages to get a lab. She starts uploading the date only to discover that it’ll take 6 days to perform a total analysis of it all – 6 days too late to save Zeke.

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With her desperation cranked up way over its limit, Saanvi once again ambushes The Major. And this time, she didn’t come unprepared. Injecting The Major with anaphylaxis, Saanvi uses a vial of the antidote to trade information on how to make the cure. But, in the struggle, the vial is swatted away and it shatters on the ground. Her desperation melting with fear, Saanvi watches as The Major dies. The only thing she got was that the government wasn’t even looking for a cure. They were actually looking to weaponize the passengers. Later, Vance finds Saanvi and she tells him everything.

As the finale draws to a close, Jared is told that there were no bodies in the lake – none. Meanwhile, Ben has another calling. This time, it’s a full view of the plane flying up in the sky and suddenly exploding. This calling takes a whole new spin when a fishing boat off Cuba drags something strange from the sea – the tail fin of Montego Airlines’ Flight 828.

‘Manifest’ Season 2 Overall Verdict

Just when you think Manifest is all out of surprises, here it goes and signs out another season with an even bigger explosion of mysteries. And now we’re left with more questions than the answers we’ve gotten from this finale. What does the exploding plane mean? Who are the passengers? What are the passengers? What happens to Saanvi? Is really following the callings the way to survive the death date? Will the trio of meth dealers suffer the same fate as Griffin since they weren’t found dead? How about the Al-Zuras tale? There’s a freaking lot of things we need to know! And it’s torture not even being sure if we are going to get these answers or not.

Back to the finale though, it’s easily one of the best of both seasons of Manifest. This whole second season, in fact, is quite an upgrade from the first. From just solving the simple mystery of how they came back, this whole thing spiraled into another thing altogether. And just when you’d think that the show has fizzled out, each episode would come back more and more interesting.

Manifest is one of those shows that successfully leaves you absolutely craving for more after each episode. It’s also one of those shows that’s packed tightly well. So, even if there are seemingly some loose ends right now, I have no doubt the show will pick up on those in the near future. This season proved just as much. Now, while season two was just bonkers, I hope the show keeps it up or even makes it a whole lot better. With all these questions though, I already have a good feeling about it. Now, all we have to do is wait for that renewal and third season while we stew in this pleasurable discomfort Manifest has left us with.