Michaela and Zeke find themselves drawn to trouble again by a calling which makes little sense on its own. TJ has a calling of his own which Ben helps him to investigate. Saanvi and Vance prep to take on The Major. Olive finds herself more and more attracted to the faith of the Believers.

Per usual, there’s a lot going on in this episode of Manifest, and every time you think you see just where it’s headed, it does a little to blindside you, in a good way.

Michaela and Zeke end up together in the middle of a bank robbery, but oddly it doesn’t seem to be one where the robber has much interest in money. As his identity becomes clear, his motives don’t, but everything seems linked to something, and it’s a great way to explore another facet of the issues surrounding the passengers.

Meanwhile, TJ has a calling of his own, and enlists Ben’s help to try to figure it out. A bunch of obscure symbols lead them (with the help of Olive) to an odd destination which seems on the face of it to be completely unconnected to anything at all. But as they probe deeper, answers flow thick and fast as connections are made.

Saanvi and Vance prepare themselves to try to play The Major at her own game, as Vance coaches Saanvi in how to best deceive the woman and possibly create a false trail for her to follow and maybe reveal more of her sources and network. But is Saanvi really up to the task, and is it really the best idea that she’s been carrying on her research in secret at home?

Olive gets a bit more to do this time out as well, starting with a flashback that reveals she had a bit of a crush on TJ when she met him at the airport the fateful day he stepped on 828 and she didn’t. This means that when she is re-acquainted with him there’s an obvious spark there, and when he is floored by an emotional reveal he wasn’t ready for, he turns to her for a bit of comfort and ends up following her to where she’s getting her own strength from.

What’s really clever here is how the show not only keeps finding unique takes on the central premise, but on how intricately everything is laid out and plotted. Links appear when you least expect, and can turn everything on its head each time they do. I keep waiting for the show to run out of that energy, but so far, no danger I can see.

Verdict: Clever, twisty and compelling. 8/10

Greg D. Smith