Manifest Season 1 Episode 5: Connecting Flights Review

Dylan PhillipsOctober 23, 201875616 min

If you would like to read my review of last episode, click here.

Synopsis: Stories unfold for those left behind in the aftermath of Flight 828’s disappearance. Meanwhile in the present, Cal takes Ben on a mysterious adventure that awakens Ben to his son’s perplexing abilities. Michaela tries to protect Jared from consequences at work, while keeping her romantic feelings at bay. (TVGuide)

Writer: Amanda Green & Margaret Rose Lester

Director: Tawnia McKiernan

Rating: TV-14

Running Time: 43 mins

Airs: Mondays at 10pm on CityTV (Canada)/NBC (United States)

“Connecting Flights”starts off with a glimpse into the other flight. Olive sits with her grandfather voicing her concerns about being away from Cal while Grace confides in her mother-in-law about their marital problems. Olive begs them to wait for the other flight, but when looking at the board the on time status changes to see agent. Meanwhile at a bar, Jared is sitting with Lourdes, paranoid that Michaela plans to turn down his proposal when he receives a call from her parents. They hope that maybe his badge will get them a little more info about what’s going on with Flight 828, but they are left with more questions than answers.

In modern day, Ben questions what helping Thomas would mean to their safety. He doesn’t want to risk losing more time and Bethany suggests she take Thomas to a remote cabin up north because this isn’t everyone else’s problem. While Ben is onboard, Michaela feels obligated to help, but as he storms out he’s stopped by the voice eerily saying It’s all connected. Director Vance goes over what information they have regarding their “John Doe”as finding him is a matter of national security. They discover Bethany may have ties to him and decide finding her is their top priority.

At the precinct, the Captain gives Jared a stern talking to before Michaela arrives, but she’s quickly told to enjoy her day off. Ben decides to spend the entire day with Cal before he heads back to school, but hears the voice again. He asks Cal if he feels like someone is controlling his life, and he says yes, but starts naming all of the adults around him. They decide to play with some chaos theory and flip a coin for their day plans resulting in a trip to Coney Island.

Flashback to six months after the disappearance where Grace is a mess and bed ridden. Olive tries to make her mom food, injuring herself in the process which gives Grace the wake up call needed to get up and be there for her daughter. Jared and Lourdes are moving Michaela’s belongings back to her parents’ place as they reminisce over the good old days. Grace sits down with a support group, which includes Danny, and shares her story with them. He approaches her afterward and instantly manages to make her laugh for the first time in a long time.

At Coney Island, Ben and Cal enjoy everything the carnival has to offer. They decide to continue the coin flip decision making that results in them heading to the subway to get home. Michaela shows up at Lourdes house and asks for help with the Jared situation, but decides not to tell her the whole situation. She pleads for her to help, but he’s too good a guy to listen.

Flashback to two years after the disappearance when Jared has been promoted to Detective. Lourdes tells him to jump out of his comfort zone and live a little prompting him to kiss her. At the house, Olive is furious that Grace is bringing Danny, her “friend,”over for dinner. He offers to come back another time when they are comfortable, but Grace says she’s ready now and wants him to stay. With Grace in the other room, Danny opens up to Olive, but she gets defensive about Cal and storms off.

On the subway, Ben continues to hear the voice as people take photos of them. Cal decides to jump off the train and be a master of his own destiny goading Ben to chase after him. He manages to slip away before saying the voice’s words: It’s all connected. As Bethany plans to leave, she’s arrested by Director Vance. Meanwhile, Ben continues to chase him through an abandoned subway platform and grate that leads him to Thomas. Cal introduces himself and says Thomas’ name even though they’ve never met.

Ben questions how Cal could have known where this place was and starts to get a bit angry. Thomas diffuses the situation and lets Ben talk to him about his concerns. He asks why Bethany isn’t there and Thomas proclaims she never showed up. Michaela heads back to her dad’s house and opens up about missing her mom and seeing the life she could’ve had with Jared. Her dad tells her to go for it because he never got over her and these are special circumstances.

Flashback to three years after the disappearance, Jared receives an Afghan from Michaela’s parents while revealing his engagement to Lourdes. Her father disapproves, but her mom states she will be with their daughter soon and tell her that he is doing well. In modern day, Director Vance interrogates Bethany about who Thomas is, his current whereabouts and threatens her freedom. Ben leaves Thomas some stuff to help him escape, but Cal impatiently pleads to leave because someone has arrived on the other side of the door. Cal thinks it’s a friend and runs towards the door so Ben cautiously answers the door to find Georgia, Bethany’s wife. She offers to take Thomas to protect him and they escape to her car. Ben questions how Cal knew she was a friend and he says it was just a feeling.

Meanwhile, Jared sits down with a disciplinary committee that looks over his behaviour and decide to strip him of 10 days pay. He walks out to find Director Vance waiting, and knowing he helped save his ass, Jared is forced to help him. He meets up with Michaela at the bar to confide in her, but she doesn’t speak her mind. Jared arrives at home where Lourdes talks about Michaela and work to him. She is curious why he isn’t talking to her about the problems at work and about him taking the bullet for Michaela. She questions if there’s something going on, but he says everything is good.

Danny shows up at Grace’s house and while she thinks it’s about her, he states it’s about Olive. He reveals he can survive losing Grace, because he’s lost a partner before, but he doesn’t know if he could survive losing Olive. Grace confronts Olive about not looking out for her as Olive reveals she sees both Ben and Danny as her dads. Flashback to the day they return, when Jared is in disbelief that the plane has returned. Grace stands over a TV in shock at the news as Danny enters and proclaims that he’s going to go.

Cut to a montage of Michaela looking over photos of her and Jared and Grace and Olive looking at photos of Danny and them. Michaela finds Ben in his garage where he’s creating an information board about everything revolving around Flight 828 stating that they might have a voice in their head, but Cal has something different. The episode ends on the flight as a large light appears outside Cal’s window. He looks out as the beam intensifies and he states: It’s all connected.

Captain’s Log

  • Who or what is the mysterious shadow figure?
  • What is the mysterious voice and what does it want with the passengers?
  • What did the light do to Cal?
  • Who will Grace choose?
  • What will happen to Bethany?
  • Is Cal the only one to experience something different from Flight 828?
  • Who else will we meet from the manifest?

Overall, this was an interesting episode. The constant jump from present to past was surprisingly well-paced and added a lot of layers to this week’s character development. This is paired with the voice of the week story that centers around the theme of connection and how the flight, passengers, past and present are all interwoven in some way that helps add to the mysterious surrounding around what truly happened to these people. With this revelation, it seems it’s only a matter of time until things swing into high gear.

Score: 8/10

What did you think of “Connecting Flights”? Let me know in the comments below!

If you liked this, check out my other reviews here and my website! Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and like me on Facebook.

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