Manifest Season 1 Episode 6: Off Radar Review

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

Synopsis: Cal wakes with a life-threatening fever, and Grace fears it’s from his cancer treatment. Michaela and Ben, however, suspect Cal’s condition may be related to a mysterious passenger from Flight 828. As Cal’s situation worsens, Ben and Michaela attempt to track down the now missing passenger. (TVGuide)

Writers: Matthew Lau and M.W. Cartozian Wilson

Director: Félix Enríquez Alcalá

Rating: TV-14

Running Time: 43 mins

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

“Off Radar”starts off with a flashback to the plane where Cal exits the bathroom and is touched on the head by a passenger roaming the cabin speaking a foreign language. In the present day, he awakes from a nightmare with a high fever, screaming and shouting, causing the Stone family to rush him to the hospital. Director Vance watches a group of scientists debate what happened to Flight 828 with no real consensus between them. They decide to keep their new asset Jared a secret from the other agencies.

At the hospital, Grace pulls another doctor aside to question Saanvi’s experimental treatment of Cal, but the doctor reassures her that this is the best option. Ben opens up to Saanvi about when he first found out about Cal and she reassures him that the odds are much better now. They bond a bit when it’s interrupted by Cal randomly mumbling a phrase, the same phrase that Saanvi overheard the passenger saying on Flight 828. They realize that this must be another calling from the mysterious voice. They find out the man was a Bulgarian national with Saanvi realizing a woman helped him on the plane named Anna Ross.

Michaela meets up with the woman who discusses that she saw Marko get onto a bus to one of the government shelters set up for passengers with no place to go. She learns that the phrase Cal has been saying is “help me”in Bulgarian. Michaela looks up the logs for passenger buses, but any record of the fifth bus has been removed adding to the mystery of where Marko is.

Back at the hospital, Ben reveals to Grace that passengers are getting voices and visions after the flight and he thinks it may be associated with Cal’s fever. She thinks he’s going down another rabbit hole like the last time Cal get sick and ignores what he’s saying. She demands he let this go. Ben and Saanvi question why the bus went missing and suspect it was full of passengers that no one would miss when they are interrupted by Cal. He’s repeating a new word in Bulgarian: Hurry. And it looks like he’s connected to Marko, who’s connected to wires in some lab and chanting the same phrase.

Ben and Michaela figure out the route of the buses allowing her to try to track down the mysterious bus, but she decides to bring Jared as backup. He’s hesitant until she reveals information about the missing passengers which convinces him to tag along. They reach a large barn upstate that’s surrounded by drones and a guardhouse. They are escorted off the premises, but not before she’s able to snap a few photos. At the government facility, Marko is being zapped and his doctors decide to up the voltage which starts to affect Cal on the other side.

Doctors recommend that they take Cal off his cancer treatment to give him antibiotics that will fight the infection and Ben blatantly disagrees. Grace thinks they should do what the doctors say and again Ben tries to explain the situation to her, but she won’t listen. Ben decides to confront Director Vance about the missing passengers and everything he knows, but Vance continues to deny it. Ben doesn’t care either way because he will go to the press with what he knows. Vance decides to follow up on this lead, because it’s all they have got.

After escaping the facility, Jared wants more information from Michaela and she comes clean about everything: the visions, the riddles, the government and the facility. Lucky for her, Jared believes her and says she isn’t alone. Michaela debates going back to the facility to investigate what is going on because other law enforcement isn’t to be trusted. Grace questions Saanvi’s decision for her son when he starts to have a seizure. She demands antibiotics for her son, but Saanvi reveals that they won’t work because the seizure was caused by a viral infection. Grace breaks down, but thankfully Cal is saved after Marko’s experiments are finished for the time being. When Ben returns, Grace chastises him for leaving her alone when she needed him.

Director Vance is told that all the passengers are accounted for, but he is suspicious. He heads upstate to the facility. Michaela, Ben and Saanvi discuss the events of the day and Ben decides the best course of action is to find Marko. Vance arrives to find the place has been cleared out except for a fresh bloodied bandage. The episode ends as Unified Dynamic Systems sets up their new base of operations with Marko and the other passengers as the lead scientist tells his superiors that they will be back up and running in no time.

Captain’s Log

• Who or what is the mysterious shadow figure?
• What is the mysterious voice and what does it want with the passengers?
• Are Cal and Marko connected through the light?
• Will Director Vance and Jared team up with the Stones to go after United Dynamic Systems?
• 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 a good episode. It raised the stakes and intensity of the whole situation with the Stone’s love interests learning about their situation with some taking it better than others. With Cal’s sickness, the characters are forced to work as fast as they can to solve their current problems pushing them to their limits. The show still has its character moments, but it focuses in on the action of the mysteries surrounding Flight 828 and that makes for the most action-packed episode yet!

Score: 8.5/10

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