NBC's 'Manifest': The passengers of Flight 828 might not have to die after all, but is Cal safe?
The finale episode of NBC's 'Manifest' left its fans wanting more when it was revealed the passengers of Flight 828 might die in a few years. The passengers of Montego Air Flight 828 went missing when the plane suddenly disappeared for almost five and a half years and when it returned none of them had aged a day.
Coming from creator Jeff Rake, the show began to revolve around the passengers' experiences with the strange voices in their heads, which they referred to as "Callings", that always seemed to lead them towards committing good acts. Michaela Stone (Melissa Roxburgh), Ben Stone (Josh Dallas), Cal Stone (Jack Messina), and Saanvi Bahl (Parveen Kaur) were among the passengers, and they were trying to figure out what the "Callings" could actually mean.
However, in Episode 16, the finale episode, it was revealed the passengers are actually living on borrowed time. Apparently, they were supposed to be dead for the five and a half years when they went missing, but since that didn't happen, they now have barely five and a half years more to live.
As the revelation left us wondering about how this could happen, and why they are receiving the "Callings", fans came up with their own theories about the mystery. It should be noted that these "Callings" have either acted as conscious warnings or indications of future events that would drive the passengers to react in a certain way, which could be either redeeming or damning.
Time may be more precious than they originally thought. pic.twitter.com/kJ33DP1y9W
— Manifest (@NBCManifest) February 20, 2019
While Michaela, Ben, and Saanvi have been trying to perceive the "Callings" as a way of rectifying their mistakes and make amends, other passengers have resorted to it as a way of attaining fame. Jared Grimes' character Adrian became the so-called priest of the Church of the Returned, a cult formed by those who believe the passengers of Flight 828 are messengers from God.
Adrian immediately began to tell people they do receive "Callings" from God which tell them to do what is right and avoid what is wrong. The purpose of the "Callings" is not clear to anyone, but it can perhaps be the only way for the passengers to escape death.
A fan on Reddit stated: "Do you think it's possible that Cal's calling isn't predicting when they are going to die and instead he just predicted Ben, Grace and Olive figuring it out and believing they are going to die?" Cal's "Callings" have been a little different from the rest. He is able to see the future, and even predict events which do not happen in his presence.
When Olive (Luna Blaise) and Ben told Grace (Athena Karkanis) about the apparent prophecy of their death, Cal stood behind holding a drawing which showed three gravestones with his, Ben's and Michaela's names written on them. When they had all reached the conclusion, he simply said that he always knew, but what did he know? Cal didn't make clear if he always knew about the death of all the passengers but he had predicted earlier, that Olive would have this conversation with Ben and Grace.
Another fan supported the statement by claiming, "taking into account it's not like [a] Cal, Ben, Mick just got to choose to sacrifice [themselves] for the others to live, type situation. Then, maybe you['re] right [and] it could be something like Cal just predicting the moment they all think they figure out what will happen. And, gives them a little wiggleroom to survive."
However, sadly, Cal might be the one to die. He was already suffering from leukemia when he boarded the plane, and had it arrived on time, Cal wouldn't have survived for even two years. He almost cheated death when he skipped time, and arrived in an era which had already discovered a cure for his disease. Hence, it seems Cal may not get a chance to save himself, but he is surely acting as the guiding light for the other passengers.
