Manifest – Season 4 Episode 11 “Final Descent” Recap & Review

Final Descent

Episode 11 of Manifest season 4 starts with a time jump forward of 8 months. More than 700 people died during what people are referring to as the “tristate fissure event”. The scientific community are looking into this but the majority of people now believe strongly that this is linked to the missing flight.

Cal is still suffering from his visions, and now his arm is glowing blue again, the first time in 8 months that this has started. Although he’s alive, these months have not been kind to him. He’s been having nightmares but he can’t remember them after waking up.

Michaela is still held up in the detention center with the rest of the passengers, who have got used to living like this now. They’re experimented on constantly, with Saanvi doing her best to help. However, it’s still heartbreaking to see the screens between the passengers and those left behind as they talk during visitor hours. Ben learns about “Gabriel’s” glowing and believes things are about to ramp up again.

Ben and Michaela get their chance to break out that night when one of the passengers, Bethany, gets a Calling. With everyone distracted, the pair slip through the backdoor and Vance is there to greet them. When he learns about Cal’s glowing, he lets them go and covers for them.

Director Zimmer is in no mood to discuss her “Project” but similarly, they don’t ask anything about two missing passengers so this is a win/win for Vance really!

Vance and Saanvi speak to Zimmer but she refuses the idea of day passes for passengers. Not only that, but there’s even worse news. She’s greenlit an operation to bring in the 13 rogue passengers that aren’t with them, with a reward of $50k on the table.

Vance is incredulous that this will bring a whole bunch of nutjobs after them. She’s not to be budged though. When she leaves, Vance speaks to Sanvi and reveals that Michaela and Ben have been allowed to go, but she scans their Registry seals to keep up pretenses and avoid suspicions. But there’s only so long she can do this.

Back home, Michaela and Ben learn that Olive and Cal have been working on the Callings all this time and have collected up a whole bunch of evidence. They’re also had to sell their car for money, and that prompts Michaela and Ben to seek help from Zeke’s mum to get new wheels. They know Bethany’s wife is the one in trouble and time is of the essence.

Cal gets another of his infamous Callings when he picks up an apple, and he finds himself on the plane. Looking around, he ends up seeing a bag of guns, a barn and Georgia calling out for Bethany. Well, Michaela and Ben shows up at Georgia’s place and find the place a mess. The Registry have been there first, looking for answers but finding nothing.

Thankfully, Cal relays his Calling (which is actually Bethany’s Calling) onto the team and they race out to an abandoned barn that could hold the key here. They’re after Anson, but given the earlier scene in the episode, he’s indisposed. However, Billy is there and he stalks them with a gun. Thankfully, Michaela gets the jump on him and incapacitates the guy.

Elsewhere, the Registry end up in hot pursuit, realizing that Michaela and Ben have gone. Cal and Olive manage to stand firm when they’re questioned, and quickly realize that Michaela and the others are not safe and they need to move.

Georgia reveals to the others that she’s part of a network of 828 sympathizers who helped the 13 fugitives with food, shelter and medicine. 9 of them are together but Georgia ended up catfished by Billy, who wanted to cash in on the bounty we heard about earlier. Before they part ways, Georgia hands over her photo to give to Bethany.

As Ben and Michaela scramble through the orchard, the pair find a massive imprint on the ground where a plane seems to have crash-landed. Given the plane itself is gone, Ben believes this is the NSA’s doing and the only way to try and resolve this is to head back to the Detention Center.

Ben believes he needs to be back there serving as a strategist. He’s going to say goodbye to everyone and turn himself in.

While Ben and Michaela are arrested and put into handcuffs, following his goodbyes with the family, Vance shows up and tells Ben he’s in trouble. Ben though, tells him about the apple orchard and the barn, retorting that something big has gone down there. As the episode closes out, Vance heads into the orchard alone and sees the imprint himself, retorting “what the hell?!”

If that wasn’t enough, a big cliffhanger reveals that Captain Daly has actually been detained too and Director Zimmer has him at the facility. She shows up with her subordinate and has him stabbed in the neck with a sedative.

The Episode Review

Manifest is back! And so too is the clunky writing and plot contrivances. The security of this facility must be pretty lapse if two people can just slip out and only really be spotted by Vance. We know there’s CCTV footage everywhere and surely they would do a roll call? Despite that, they are eventually hunted before ending up back where they started.

The time jump of 8 months is a bit disappointing too, especially as the finale teased that things were going to really kick off now. Instead, we’re almost back to square one, as we see more of the episodic Callings but little in the way of sustained drama and answering some of these big questions.

Either way, the ending does leave the door wide open for where this one may go next.