Flight 828 Sticks The Landing On Manifest

Flight 828’s passengers finally know their fate in the Manifest series finale. As the long and drawn-out journey ends, the back half of season four sprints toward the finish the best way the series knows how.

With the death date approaching, Ben and Michaela Stone are leading the charge of trying to ensure the passengers and the rest of the world survive the impending apocalypse. Manifest has a history of stretching out its mysteries so audiences may feel they never get an answer. But, knowing these were the last group of episodes, Manifest does not bother to stretch things out further. Instead, everyone is well aware that the end is coming, and if they fail, the world they know will end.

Ultimately, it may not have been the biggest surprise that the journey ends precisely where it begins, on Flight 828. Cal’s sacrifice gives hope to the rest of the passengers, and it means a return to the plane that changed their lives forever.

The Passengers finally have judgment day upon them, and the final test of who will survive is answered. But, there are a few final tests that everyone must undergo, including who can forgive.

Ben has had one of the biggest struggles with forgiveness since Angelina kidnapped Eden and killed Grace. Ben has more than enough reasons never to forgive her. No one probably would have blamed him for letting her die when he had the chance.

Instead, Ben knows allowing Angelina to die before the final judgment is the wrong action, and his decision to save Angelina may be one of the actions that solidify his safety. In the end, while Ben saved Angelina, it may have saved him, but nothing was enough to save her.

Angelina kidnapped Eden, killed Grace, and murdered others purposefully under the impression that she was supposed to. Angelina has been a clear villain for a while, obsessed with what she believed her role to be and never clearly seeing how her actions impacted others. Angelina’s death and others who could never prove themselves are permanent.

Instead of returning to where they started and carrying on with their lives, Flight 828’s passengers have one last surprise. Flying through the glow brings them somewhere they never thought they’d be again: the past.

Manifest takes its main characters full circle, returning them to the airport on the day and time they were initially supposed to arrive. They are back before Olive aged five years. Grace is still alive. Cal’s childhood is still intact.

Everyone has their memories of the future, and it allows them to be able to make different choices. Ben’s appreciation for his marriage to Grace is far more significant now that he knows what it was like to experience being without her. Michaela learns what it would have been like to nearly marry Jared, and while their relationship was good, she could never truly move on from Zeke.

Luckily, Michaela has a chance to reunite with Zeke. Remembering that he was at the airport too, Michaela races to find him in a taxi. Zeke never has to freeze in the cave he ended up in, and they have a chance for a relationship without the drama that follows needing to understand the Callings.

Ben and Saanvi may have had a long-awaited moment between them, but as much mutual love and respect for each other as they have, neither had plans to move forward with that relationship, as they each cared too much for Grace and Alex, respectively.

Since most of the main characters remember their journey in the future, jumping back in time never feels like it contradicts the show’s events. Instead, it gives a greater sense of calm, relief, and happiness.

They went through pain and suffering, coming out the other side with a much better understanding and appreciation for their lives and relationships than they had previously. They gained friendships they likely never would have had and finally gave in to forgive themselves for their past actions.

While Manifest does not deliver an epilogue to see how Flight 828’s passengers and those closest to them were handling life a few years later, it is understood that they have all learned and gained something significant from this experience.