Michael Scott
Partner / Reviewer
More
- Preamp, Processor or Receiver
- Yamaha TRS-7850 Atmos Receiver
- Other Amp
- Peavy IPR 3000 for subs
- Universal / Blu-ray / CD Player
- Panasonic UB820 4K UHD Player
- Front Speakers
- Cheap Thrills Mains
- Center Channel Speaker
- Cheap Thrills Center
- Surround Speakers
- Volt 10 Surrounds
- Surround Back Speakers
- Volt 10 Rear Surrounds
- Rear Height Speakers
- Volt 6 Overheads
- Subwoofers
- 2x Marty subs (full size with SI 18's)
- Video Display Device
- Sony 85 inch X950H FALD TV
Wow, has it really been going on 3 years? I did my review of the first season of Manifest back in 2019, and while I enjoyed the series first run, just didn’t expect it to be renewed past the 2nd year (which I didn’t end up reviewing). Again, it’s not that I thought the show was bad, it’s just that these sort of supernatural shows like The 4400 or Lost had sort of been played out with audiences and the cynical portion of me was really expecting NBC to pull the plug on the show unceremoniously. Ironically, that’s kind of what happened with season 3 though. NBC unceremoniously canceled the show, but in typical Netflix fashion, the mega streaming site has rescued the show for it’s fourth (and final) season to allow the show to finish it’s run (gotta admit, I really wish someone had done that for Dark Matter….sorry, I’m never letting that cancellation go)
As with RWBY I spent the majority of the last two weeks catching up on it, and binge watching Season 2 of the show to get caught up here. The basic premise of the show is that flight 828 literally vanished in the middle of it’s flight back in 2013, only for the plane to turn up 5 years later out of the blue. Ben Stone (Josh Dallas from Once Upon a Time) is one of the many passengers on that plane, and he and the rest of the rescued people have been having psychic visions or “callings” (as he calls them). These psychic visions usually come in the form of premonitions or visions of something about to go wrong, leading Ben to believe that they’re meant to help humanity.
Ben and his sister Michaela (Melissa Roxburgh) open up a new wrinkle in the show this season. It seems that the tail fin of flight 828 was found in the waters of Havana, Cuba. Meaning that the plane was most likely flying over Cuba when it’s mysteriously vanished. However, that only means more mystery, more intrigue, and more supernatural revelations as the show unfolds this season.
I’m more than amused by how the series has been able to apply the Lost formula of asking a TON of questions that lead into half answers, that open up MORE questions to drive the plot forward. It’s a tricky situation as this can lead to massive viewer disappointment as the series wraps up. Lost was a prime example of that. Asking questions to keep you intrigued with the promise of future answers is tricky, and many times ends in failure due to the powers that be not actually HAVING those answers until they’re forced to wrap things up in a final season. The show manages to infuse biblical mythology and a more religious theme into the shows ethos and I’m genuinely curious where season four will take us.
Rating:
Not Rated by the MPAA
Video:

Audio:

Extras:
[FLOAT_LEFT
•
Final Score:

The third season of Manifest is an interesting thing. It still works the puzzle box aspect of the show, but also pulled back from much of the typical love triangle nonsense that saturated the first two seasons. It’s a bit darker, a bit weirder, and generally a bit more “religious” than the previous seasons. With it going more and more supernatural I’m honestly curious where the show runners will go in the fourth Netflix season. With how Lucifer and other shows have went, I wonder if Netflix will keep the tame tone of the series, or whether it will get a bit more adult in nature. Either way, I’m honestly glad they saved the show from undue cancellation, as too many series just get axed without given time to wrap up properly. Solid show, never boring, even if the premise is a bit cliched.
Technical Specifications:
Starring: Melissa Roxburgh, Josh Dallas, Athena Karkanis, J.R. Ramirez, Luna Blaise, Jack Messina, Daryl Edwards
Created by: Jeff Rake
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 MPEG2
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH
Studio: Warner Brothers
Rated: NR
Runtime: 594 Minutes
DVD Release Date: December 14th, 2021
Recommendation: Solid Watch
Last edited: