Manifest has returned to Netflix and it’s already making major revelations and offering up prophetic clues about what’s really going on behind all these supernatural events. The story’s about passengers and crew who went missing on Flight 828 for five and a half years and mysteriously returned. They don’t know where they were all that time and the experience gave them “Callings,” visions that show them future events. The nature of them is still uncertain, but one thing is made abundantly clear: it’s all connected.
Netflix saved Manifest by releasing the final season on its streaming service, and in season three, the Stone family hits their lowest point. Grace Stone (Athena Karkanis) is killed by Angelina (Holly Taylor) and she steals her baby, Eden. Ben Stone (Josh Dallas) doesn’t cope with this very well. He’s ignoring his Calling and focusing all his attention on finding his baby Eden, even to the detriment of his living family. His sister Michaela Stone (Melissa Roxburgh), Olive Stone (Luna Blaise), and his now teenage son Cal Stone (Ty Doran), must remain hidden in case people learn of his sudden age jump. He’s calling himself Gabriel now to keep up the ruse.
The beginning
Season four begins with a man in Shanghai, China being experimented on in a laboratory facility. He’s in a tube with headphones on and suddenly a bright light emits from him, blinding the scientists in the room. He then appears outside in a gated area with cherry blossom trees all around and petals falling. Back in New York, Michaela wakes up next to Zeke (Matt Long) and sees falling cherry blossom petals, and later during breakfast, she has another Calling. She’s floating in the ocean, cherry blossoms fall once again, and she sees a freighter and goes to the port to investigate.
Michaela searches the port and finds the man who was experimented on. He’s unconscious in a freighter and on his wrist are written “828” and “Stone,” and the black box from Flight 828 is in his possession. The team learns that his name is Henry Kim (Garrett Richard Wang), a man that was supposedly executed by the Singaporean government. He’s looking for someone: Cal.
He’s taken back to their Birds’ Nest where NSA director Robert Vance (Darryl Edwards) and medical researcher Saanvi Bahl (Parveen Kaur) treat Henry. The patient awakens and tells them about how a lightning strike left a scar on his arm. His father said it was a dragon and that the dragon was inside of him, which he used as inspiration to remain strong while under captivity. He meditated, focused on his breathing, and slowed his heartbeat while he was being used as a lab rat and it allowed him to feel the vibrations of the black box. He heard voices, but he couldn’t make them out. Henry would later tell Cal that he too is a dragon, and the scar was transferred to him.
What happened to Flight 828?
The dragon scar manifests on Cal’s arm and he goes to the Birds’ Nest to run some experiments. When they play the black box audio which holds all the Callings recorded within it, his scar glows, signifying an important connection. A Calling leads Cal and Mikaela to the copilot of Flight 828 and Cal tells him that he needs to remember what happened when he touched the tailfin, went into the light, and disappeared for two years.
The copilot opens up and says that he and the pilot called it “the long, delirious, blinding blue.” This triggers Cal’s memory and he remembers his time inside the light. The pilot tells young Cal not to leave because he’ll forget everything, but he knows he has to go back and runs out. In the present, the older Cal comes to realize that this place of light is the Divine Consciousness. All the passengers are connected to this mystical place of power and it’s the source of their Callings.
Saving baby Eden
They find a woman who helped Michaela save Cal which led them to the whereabouts of baby Eden. Angelina has the baby at a compound and she’s holding the people there hostage. Ben goes in by himself, but he’s found out and beaten before he can get to his daughter. He’s imprisoned in the basement and Michaela, Cal, and policeman Jared Vasquez (J.R. Ramirez) have to come and rescue him.
Cal fights off Angelina and Ben escapes with Eden, and Michaela and Jared help the people inside escape. All is not over, however, as the house has been rigged with explosives which go off with Cal and Eden still inside. Ben’s terrified that he lost his son while saving his daughter, but he stumbles out of the house, burned and coughing, but mostly fine. Angelina has made it out of the house alive unbeknownst to everyone else.
The power of the Omega Sapphire
In season four, episode nine, “Rendezvous,” the Stones race to find the Omega Sapphire. Sapphire was found on the tail fin of Flight 828, on Ben’s hand, and it holds great power to those who wield it. Cal’s getting sicker, coughing up blood, and looking sickly. He has a vision of the flight and sees a man trying desperately to open up a hatch. Michaela and Saanvi use a special compass to lead the way to the man.
They find the man they’re looking for in a boiler room and the formerly incarcerated 828-er Eagan (Ali Sohali) crashes down. He’s been searching for the Sapphire too, and together they solve a puzzle on the wall, and brick by brick it falls apart, burning with red intensity. Behind it is a painting of the Egyptian goddess Ma’at, and within her is the Omega Sapphire. Eagan grabs it and the building begins to rumble and the roof crashes down. Instead of handing it over to the good guys, Eagan takes the stone for himself and escapes with it.
Angelina’s evil plan
Angelina calls the Stone family home and overhears them talking about Eagan being in possession of the sapphire. She finds him, takes it from him, and uses it to interfere with Ben’s Callings. Ben believes he’s getting a message from his late wife, telling him to come to her gravesite. He knows something’s up when his “wife” tells him to give Eden to Angelina. Angelina reveals herself and they have Eden decide who she wants to go to. She chooses her father over Angelina because of her connection to him.
Angelina isn’t done yet. Her using the Omega Sapphire is causing the 828-ers to experience severe head pains. Ben and Michaela find Angelina in a church that she’s turned into a lava pit and believes herself to be an archangel. She thinks she’s supposed to bring vengeance upon the evil and lead the righteous to salvation. Ben tells her she’s lost, and despite Angelina using her newfound abilities to manipulate Michaela, they save the people in the church, the Omega Sapphire is broken, and they exit the building before it’s overcome by flames.
The ultimate sacrifice
When Michaela leaves, she gets a call from Zeke. Cal’s condition has gotten worse and he, as an empath, has chosen to take on his illness. Instead of Cal dying, Zeke dies in his place, but he’s able to say goodbye to the love of his life and thanks her for saving him. He knows how important Cal is and he felt this is what he must do. Michaela holds Zeke as he dies, and Ben and Michaela comfort the revived Cal.
In the end, Michaela’s inside the still-burning church. She sees a fragment of the Omega Sapphire and grabs it as it falls into the lava. Her hand burns and it’s imbued with the energy from the Omega Sapphire. In part two, Angelina will be even stronger than before.
Netflix hasn’t yet announced the release date for Manifest season four, part two.