Manifest Season 3 Episode 1 Recap – Tailfin

Three months after Season 2’s finale events, Season 3‘s premiere occurs. Ben and Vance travel to Cuba, searching for the 828 tailfins. Ben visits the boat, Tesoro de San Antonio, used by the fishermen who recovered the debris of Montego Flight 828. He sees a ship and confirms it is the ship through Cal‘s drawing. He inspects it until he receives a calling where Michaela, Cal, himself, and a young lady are in anguish, shielding their ears.

Michaela, Cal, and Ben talk over the phone about their calling. Michaela tells Ben to be careful. They realize the mystery lady they saw requires assistance. Michaela and Cal agree to discover who she is.

The calling disrupts Michaela and Zeke’s vacation in Costa Rica. Zeke asks if both Ben and Cal also get the calling. He wants to help them, but he doesn‘t get calls anymore. Michaela says their callings are a blessing; it saves their lives. “I think the universe is telling us to pack it up,” she tells Zeke.

Meanwhile, a girl is crying scared in a dark room. A door leading to her slowly opens, giving light. The girl crosses her arms in defense.

At Stone’s residence, Olive is feeding his sister while talking to his mom. Cal comes in and talks about his calling with his father and Auntie Mick. They ask what the calling is about, and he tells them they are about to die.

Saanvi checks a kid in a clinic. She goes outside to get candy, but before she goes back to the room to give the candy to the child, she goes into an “Authorized Only” room where Alonzo (Alexis Suarez), an IT guy appointed by Vance stays. Saanvi asks about Cuba, but Alonzo still doesn‘t have updates.

Ben sees the fishermen approaching Tesoro de San Antonio. He asks them if they found something strange. One of them denies it, but the other says they‘ll use it to get out of their town. He persuades them with lots of money to show him what they discovered.

The guys bring him to the warehouse. He gets shocked to see the Air Montego Flight 828 tailfin. Ben touches the tailfin and suddenly gets a calling. Then, an invisible force throws him away. These are recorded on video by a curious kid who sneakingly went in through a smaller door.

Drea talks to a lady who wants to speak with Michaela at the precinct. She wants Michaela to investigate the disappearance of her mother. Unfortunately, Michaela is still on vacation, and a missing person is not under her jurisdiction. Jared hears it, so he asks Drea why the lady needs Michaela.

Cal tries to find the lady who‘s with them in his dad‘s 828 information wall. Olive helps him, asking about her age, hair color, and eyes. Michaela suddenly rings Cal, so he puts the camera on the board. Michaela identifies the girl: Angelina Meyer (Holly Taylor).

Olive and Cal find the information about Angelina, telling it to their aunt. Fortunately, she lives two hours from where Michaela and Zeke are staying. Michaela thinks Angelina needs help. “Where you lead, I will follow,” Zeke tells his wife.

Ben wakes up with a small head bleed but is generally well. Local police storm the warehouse just as Ben and the fishermen prepare to do business on the tailfin. A local officer has seen the footage of Ben being flung back, and he wants Ben to touch the tailfin again. 

Fortunately, Vance is keeping an eye on the situation. He storms in with reinforcements and orders the local officers to stand down. Ben and Vance then prepare to drive the tailfin to a cargo jet, transporting them home.

Michaela and Zeke are talking to the parents of Angelina. Angelina’s very religious parents tell Michaela and Zeke that after returning from Flight 828, Angelina appeared distant and closed off. They assume she went to New York. Michaela explains Angelina might be in danger to help them.

Michaela checks in with Drea and discovers Angelina never returned to the United States. Angelina’s friend, Elena (Vanessa Morales), has information to give, so Michaela and Zeke visit her. She admits the last time she saw Angelina, she‘s behaving paranoid.

Saanvi checks Cal at the hospital. Then she asks about the three shadows. Grace asks Saanvi if she knows how to contact Ben. Saanvi then checks in with Vance through Alonzo. Vance tells them about the tailfin.

Grace and Cal go home to tell Olive that her dad is completely fine. Cal excuses himself to clean his room. “Dad‘s bringing someone home to stay over,” Cal says.

Michaela and Zeke talk to Angelina’s parents once more, now with a mission. When Michaela gets a call and pretends to be dizzy, she asks to go to the bathroom. Zeke acts to feel dizzy, too, just in time to give Michaela the chance to prowl about the home. Finally, Michaela finds Angelina imprisoned in a small underground jail with steel doors. She is about to slit her wrist with the knife left on her plate, but Michaela rescues her.

Vance and Ben drive to the runway where their cargo jet is waiting. They‘re carrying the 828 tailfin with them. “Boss, we‘ve got company,” Vance‘s assistant warns. Vance knows they won’t have enough time to load the tailfin, so he urges Ben to go home and not try to help him. Ben objects, but Vance drives away in the truck with the tailfin, leading the local cops away. Ben reluctantly boards the plane with Vance‘s assistant.

Michaela and Zeke contact Saanvi and Alonzo. They‘re ready to return to New York with Angelina. Alonzo tries to find routes to get them home safe. Saanvi notices Ben is already active on their radar — he‘s on his way.

Ben, Zeke, and Michaela get home with Angelina. Cal approaches her and says, “I’ve been waiting for you.”

The woman asking for Michaela earlier returns to the precinct and speaks with Jared about her case. She claims her mother, who works for the government, used to send her roses to tell her how long she‘ll be on a trip. But she hasn’t received one in three months. She knows her mother’s job has something to do with Flight 828, so she hoped Michaela could look into it. Jared examines the woman’s paperwork and discovers her mother is Major Kathryn Fitz.

Michaela and Ben talk about how the tailfin ends up in the ocean when they are still alive. Ben thinks they died on the plane.

Jace, Pete, and Kory emerge from the lake where they drowned. Jace opens his eyes wide and inhales deeply, like surviving drowning.

Our Thoughts

Meanwhile, it’s an honor to welcome Holly Taylor of “The Americans” to Manifest as a series regular. Her narrative of abuse and parental persecution for her callings is sure to be an intriguing one, as are the plethora of other fascinating components skilfully established in this first episode. 

This time around, the jet-setting adventure is a pretty sensible decision that allows the group to shoot safely and securely but also adds a bit more reality to the film.

It’s also good to see a show that doesn’t revert to hand sanitizer, face masks, and real-world difficulties in an otherwise fictitious setting. There’s been a lot of that lately, and very few network TV series have managed to pull it off in a fascinating and significant way. Anyway, I’m digressing!

Manifest may not be the finest sci-fi program on the market, but it has an irresistible draw and appeal that keeps you going back for more. It remains to be seen if this series will begin to provide answers or simply prolong the mystery. The fact that 60 seconds efficiently covered all of the major narrative aspects from 29 episodes should tell you all you need to know about Manifest.

Apart from Cuba’s rather acute political challenges, the Season 3 premiere has many to celebrate. If the remainder of the season follows suit, we’re in for an exhilaratingly wild journey.