'Manifest' Season 2 Episode 4 Review: A bank robbery, a lost 828 passenger and one step closer to death dates
The review contains spoilers for 'Manifest' Season 2 Episode 4 'Black Box'
There's a lot going on in the lives of all 'Manifest' characters. The episode begins with a flashback of Olive Stone (Luna Blaise) and TJ Morrison's (Garrett Wareing) chance meeting around the book, 'A Wrinkle in Time', before hopping on to the 828 flight. Back then, she was aged 10-and-a-half. As she recalls the moment, she is at the Church of the Believers.
The first half of the fourth episode may pass away like a light breeze but it is all a setting for the thrilling and unsettling second half that actually "turns tables." In the first half, Saanvi is driven towards her 828 research tries to misguide the Major with Robert Vance's help. Meanwhile, Ben stresses out to find a way to decode the death dates and Michaela confesses how she is drawn towards Zeke even though she knows little about him.
TJ drops in to meet Ben and asks him: "What do you know about a bug, bird, fish and a tiger?" While they are trying to figure out the message behind those animals, Olive comes to ask her dad for some pocket money and stumbles upon the four figures. Turns out, it is the symbol for The Grammarcy Club!
Michaela has a calling. "Bring him back," it says. Clueless about who to bring back, she runs into Zeke Landon while entering the Premier Borough Bank. There's a gunman who takes everyone hostage with a mission to break into one of the vaults. When Zeke tries to intervene, the man beats him black and blue. Michaela figures out he is an 828 passenger, Logan Strickland. She asks him if he hears visions or voices and tries to pacify him.
Revealing what he really wants, he says, "I am trying to save my life. I saw a vision of my future. My tombstone. If I don't get what I need from the vault I will die." With the box taking time to open, he gets utterly impatient and even shoots a cop. Zeke and Michaela team up to keep him calm and seek the NYPD's help.
Jared comes to their rescue and calls Ben to ask what he knows about Logan Strickland. Ben tells him he is an 828 passenger who he couldn't trace. Jared then tells him that Logan is holding a bait and Michaela is dealing with it. As soon as Ben tries to rush to the venue, TJ finds a connection with Logan Strickland and Frank Strickland at The Grammarcy Club.
Back at the bank, Logan reveals how his family wrote him off. His brother betrayed him and took all their father's possessions for himself. When the cop tells him they need Frank's key too, he is infuriated and tries to break the vault. Meanwhile, Ben brings Frank to the bank to hand over the 6224 key to Logan.
No sooner do the two estranged brothers meet, they reconcile. Logan asks Frank to give him the stopwatch with a peacock symbol on it as it saved his dad's life at Normandy. Later, Logan goes to jail but hands over the watch to Michaela and Zeke so they could save the other passengers.
After the grueling encounter with another 828 passenger who was desperate to save his life, Michaela thanks Jared. "You had my back." Meanwhile, Olive talks to TJ and tells him that she remembers meeting him. So is there a chance for love between the two teenagers? Well, for now, 'Manifest' is all about Michaela and Zeke's love story. The two have taken their relationship to the next step, but will Michaela be able to save Zeke as he has only eight months left.
And if you're wondering what happens to Jared, well let's see if he still has a shot with Michaela in the future. For now, he has a hot date! As soon as all seems to have come back into place, Saanvi realizes all her 828 research is gone and the Major is behind it. With the Major ahead of Saanvi and Vance, can they find a new way to fool her?
Directed by Sherwin Shilati and written by Simran Baidwan & Bobak Esfarjani, the episode may not be the best of the lot but it does pave way for more storylines to intertwine and unlock the mystery behind the "callings" and the "death dates."
Watch out for all the suspense to unravel in the next episode on February 3, 2020.