‘Manifest’ Season 2, Episode 7 Recap: “Emergency Exit”
We begin this episode with one huge question … why was Adrian in the last Calling? The hollowed plane of smoke and ash, champagne everywhere, and Adrian overlooking it all. We are reminded that Alex chose not to meet Saanvi on 828 … and she was experimenting on herself for cure to the DNA anomaly. Ben threatened Adrian at the church to stay away from Olive, Zeke always had a backup plan when he was getting clean or sober, TJ and Olive were looking for information on the Al-Zuras Deck or its creator, and Adrian himself reminding his assistant Isaiah there would be an even bigger miracle.
This week we open with TJ packing and talking to his mom before the initial flight to Jamaica, but we see it as his memory as he fiddles with his mothers old charm bracelet. Cut to he and Olive talking about going to the club because she cannot deal with her parents at the moment. TJ points out the Calling tells them there’s a lot to be afraid of, Olive counters there is a lot to appreciate, and how Adrian is one of the only people that make sense to her at the moment.
Next we see Ben in his room filled with passengers and a map of the plane, agonizing himself over his latest Calling. He tells Grace that he felt it, this hopelessness and its violence. Cal tells his parents he is going to Coney Island for the day but Grace and Ben say no. Olive jokes that they are holding their own son captive, but Cal remarks “what’s the point of five more years to live if I can’t have any fun.” Olive tries to leave as well however she was grounded for ditching school. She tells Ben and Grace that she is done with school and going for her GED instead, pointing out that she is old enough to be emancipated. The three of them fight about her helping at Adrian’s church and soup kitchen, and that he is the reason 828 passengers are targeted.
Saanvi is visited by her father bringing dinner to her, and we see she did not listen to Ben’s urgency. She is still experimenting on herself after such a close call. Over dinner conversation with her father, she is reminded that she was in the same predicament with her cancer research, that she could not find the answer and lives were dependent on her. We find out that she talked with her immunologist friend who helped her think about it in new ways then, however Saanvi has not talked to her since her return due to baggage. Hmmm …
Cut to Ben and Adrian arguing in the church with Isaiah closely watching every move they both make. Ben is not only threatening to sue Adrian, he is enraged that Olive is thinking about emancipation and assumes that Adrian is the one who gave her the idea. Adrian calmly tries to rationalize with Ben that Olive sees nothing more than truth in his words, he cannot be blamed for spreading fear. However Ben is all but convinced that Adrian is doing nothing except breeding zealots and preaching that passengers can’t die. Ben describes the last Calling, the plane covered in ash and Adrian’s expression changes, he was there. Adrian however chooses to believe that he is being guided by the miracle while Ben chooses fear. That fear may be a good thing, as that Calling, as Ben points out, could be an attack on his church, or something much worse. Ben leaves the church, but not before threatening and blaming Adrian if Olive is hurt.
Michaela tries to trick Zeke into admitting there is an extra stash of pills in his razor, but comes up empty, which makes him feel like she is trying to catch a criminal. He decides to walk out for a while. At the station, she and Jarred share coffee and discuss the Calling. They are interrupted with information on the church attack for Michaela, while Jarred gets a call from the brother of the bartender. Everything is coming together on their end and Jarred will get what they need today. What in the world is he up to? We change scenes to champagne crates scattered, bottles lined up, and a pair of hands injecting something into the cork.
We return to Olive and TJ discussing his next semester schedule to balance out their relationship and time. TJ then get an alert the journal for the creator of the tarot deck was found at Yale University, however it can only be sent out on faculty loan. He then decides to request it be sent to Ben as this could be a lead on the Death Date. Olive and TJ talk about Adrian vs Ben, believing in the miracle, and that him coming home to no family, friends, or a mom … how is that a miracle?
Michaela calls the number she was given for info on the church attack, turns out it was Isiah. They set up a time to meet and talk. Meanwhile, Jarred tries to break into her police computer, but none of the passwords he knows are working and he storms off.
At the hospital, Saanvi greets Dr. Bates, and through an obviously awkward exchange, we find out Dr. Bates is Alex! The door closes to Saanvi’s office and they talk. Alex tries to apologize but Saanvi is not hearing it. The time for apologies would have been when she got back, not now. Its too late for her, for Dr. Bates to be apologizing now. If Saanvi knew anyone else who could help her, she would have asked them. Alex backed out of going to Jamaica with Saanvi because she felt it would have destroyed her family. Saanvi coldly hands her a notebook and sits silently while they get to work.
At Ben’s house, Michaela tells him they may have a lead on the attack. Ben asks if she can have the church shut down since Olive is threatening to join it full time. Michaela reminds him that she herself was going to drop out once, however she came home one day and found the boyfriend she was going to quit school for drinking with her father. Michaela also notes that Zeke is okay, no thanks to Courtney, but she has a pattern of gravitating toward the wrong guys. Ben agrees that Michaela does have a pattern, but it may not be the guys, rather her instead. She pulls away after a certain point. Ben decides to text Adrian and ask for a drink. He receives a quick reply of “free tonight?” Awfully quick recovery for someone whom you hate. We then see Cal, Zeke, and Grace have the same Calling, and to save the passengers, whatever is happening, is happening now.
Olive and TJ are outside the club talking about the differences they have and that TJ didn’t want to actually go to the church, but he did because he didn’t want to blow it with her. Michaela is at the same club, as is Isiah, who is bar-tending … it happens to be free champagne night. Uh oh … Michaela urges him to come forward and talk. He has to go back to restock but will he come back? TJ tells Olive that he does indeed believe in miracles because coming back meant he was able to meet Ben and Olive herself. He does believe, but not how Adrian does. He gives Olive his mom’s Buddha (charm) bracelet, pointing out that the dharma wheel was her favorite. It symbolized that life had no beginning or end.
Ben runs into Adrian at the club but Adrian insists he did not text him, they argue and Adrian says he didn’t know he would be at the club until an hour ago.
Jarred goes to police records to access Michaela’s files, but he has to blackmail the desk agent to get what he needs. Guess you shouldn’t be gambling on the job then. He texts the brother that he has the info and he can meet now. At that moment, Grace called him to inform of a new Calling, and to ask if he knows where Michaela is. Even though he does not, Grace points out they are always texting and Cal can access them on the iPad Michaela lets him use for Minecraft. Jarred forgets his other plans and runs to Michaela instead.
Saanvi goes in for round four of self-human trials thanks to Alex’s help, though she is not very hopeful as the last three have failed. She is scrolling through photos of her and Alex when she has a reaction to the latest treatment. She tries to call Ben but it goes to voicemail as Saanvi collapses on the floor.
Ben and Michaela run into various passengers around the club. Ben recognizes many of them from the records he has kept himself. Ben, Michaela, and Adrian all come to the agreement that Isaiah must have taken Adrian’s phone to get everyone in the same building since the place had to be filled for a promotion. They see a champagne bottle go by and the Calling from the plane comes back. This has all been an elaborate trap. Adrian was in the Calling and he didn’t want to believe, but he will now.
Cell phone service is cut off, a fire starts, and the doors are locked. Adrian informs Ben that Olive is also in the club somewhere … a father’s worst nightmare. People begin to scramble toward exits and Michaela does find a way out for many, but not all. The music is shut off and that’s when they notice screaming and that the door is locked. The smoke is building and no one can get out. Michaela notices a fire extinguisher on the wall and uses it to break the chain on the door. Ben meets up with TJ and Olive, and together they get the door broken down for people to get out. But the flames are building. Olive falls and injures her ankle, needing help to walk out. There is no way out for the three of them. Isaiah grabs Olive as he believes they will all be miracles and transcend death. TJ attacks him as Ben scoops Olive up and carries her out of the club, but he has to pause because of a bright white light that he is almost caught by. Ben tries to go back in to save him but the building explodes.
Zeke arrives as people are escaping. He and Michaela notice Bethany under a beam and Zeke helps lift it while it’s on fire to free her. When the three of them exit, Zeke notes that his burnt hands “aren’t so bad.”
Adrian stands outside the club, frozen in disbelief that any of this was possible and that a Calling was right, before choosing to walk the other way, away from the entire scene.
Saanvi wakes up from her reaction, running one more test and finds out that her DNA no longer has the anomaly, did she solve the Death Date? She goes to leave the hospital and finds Ben and Michaela coming into the ER with victims from the club. Saanvi examines Zeke to discover the burns on his hands are not burns, but frostbite! Could he be dying from when he was frozen in the cave all that time ago? The other man drowned on dry land after all …
Ben and Grace try to console a grieving Olive since she lost TJ in the fire. She tells Ben about finding the journal and it being sent to his office for research on the Death Date.
Michaela is greeted in the station by the desk agent for her old case files. She finds out Jared, not Drea, asked to have those printed and the last six pages were missing. Whoops Jared, shouldn’t have resorted to blackmail … or at least made sure the printer was stocked.
In closing we see that Saanvi tells Alex the latest modification worked and they hug goodbye. Zeke tells Michaela he is in love with her and that he is all in, no matter how many crazy things get thrown their way. Michaela feels the same. Ben is at his office and has received the journal from Yale. There is a drawing of him carrying Olive out of flames in a book a few hundred years old? Once again, we get a few answers and many more questions.
Manifest airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.