Manifest Season 2 Episode 4 Recap: “Black Box”

By
Kevin Finnerty
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Manifest Season 2 Episode 4
Garrett Wareing as TJ Morrison, Luna Blaise as Olive Stone, and Josh Dallas as Ben Stone in ‘Manifest’ season 2 episode 4 (Photo by: Will Hart/NBC)

“The calling brought us here for this,” says Zeke (Matt Long) to Michaela (Melissa Roxburgh) as they find themselves in the middle of a bank robbery in season two episode four of the NBC mystery drama, Manifest.

The episode beings with a flashback of young Olive (Jenna Kurmema) meeting T.J. (Garrett Wareing) and crushing on him as he recommends a book. When T.J. decides to change his ticket to Flight 8282, Olive also changes her mind and decides to take that flight with her father. It turns out there’s only one seat left, and Olive lets Sam take it.

Fast-forward to present day and Olive (Luna Blaise) attending another Believers meeting. The leader, Adrian (Jared Grimes), preaches that the passengers of 828 (and their miracle return) will be with them for decades to come. Olive realizes Adrian is unaware of the “death date” so she tells him about it after the service. She explains her dad, Michaela, and Cal have all seen their own tombstones with the same date. Adrian understands her father is afraid, but she should believe in miracles.

Meanwhile, Saanvi (Parveen Kaur) is doing tests at her home trying to develop a serum to help the passengers of Flight 828 beat the death date.

Grace (Athena Karkanis) walks in on Ben making a video for Olive to watch on her wedding day, believing he won’t be there due to his death date. Grace tells him to erase it and that he has to fight the death date and find a way to beat it.

Michaela visits the parents of her dead best friend, Evie, and tells her mother (who’s suffering from Alzheimer’s) about a new guy in her life and her hesitancy to let herself get close to him since her last relationship ended badly.

T.J. goes to see Ben (Josh Dallas) in his campus office about a new calling he’s just had. Olive arrives at her dad’s office and helps them with the calling, breaking a code and sending them to the Gramercy Club. However, it’s still not clear what or who they’re looking for.

Michaela gets a new calling instructing her to “bring him back.” She heads to a bank and spots Zeke, who also had the same calling. Their uncomfortable reunion is broken up by a masked robber firing a gun in the air and yelling for everyone to get down.

Michaela can tell by the robber’s behavior this is his first time robbing a bank. She warns Zeke this makes him even more dangerous because he’s unpredictable. She tries to talk to the robber and Zeke tackles him pulling off his mask. Michaela sees his face and recognizes it from Ben’s 828 passenger list. “You were on 828,” says Michaela.

Meanwhile, Vance (Daryl Edwards) coaches Saanvi on how to behave while she’s talking to her therapist, the Major. Saanvi reveals she’s still upset with Ben for lying to her. Vance reminds her he made Ben do it and if she’s upset with Ben, she needs to talk to him about it.

Manifest Season 2 Episode 4
Matt Long as Zeke Landon and Melissa Roxburgh as Michaela Stone in ‘Manifest’ season 2 episode 4 (Photo by: Peter Kramer/NBC)

Back at the bank, Logan the robber and Michaela talk about having callings and visions. Logan says he needs to get something out of the vault or he’ll die. Zeke tells Logan to let Michaela help by talking to the police and that he should let the people in the bank go. Zeke volunteers to stay along with Michaela and agrees to help him get access to the vault. Logan agrees and releases the hostages with the exception of the bank manager.

Jared (J.R. Ramirez) shows up on the scene and learns that Michaela is inside.

Saanvi talks to her therapist and during the session she’s eating an apple. Saanvi confesses she’s hit a roadblock in her research but hopes to team up with another scientist who might have some insight.

Ben and T.J. visit the Gramercy club and Ben receives a call from Jared telling him about the bank robber and Michaela. Ben says he has to go but T.J. explains he found another clue to their calling. It turns out their calling has led them to Logan’s brother, Frank.

Inside the bank, the vault opens and Logan demands the manager open his brother’s safety deposit box using his key. The manager tells him he needs the brother’s key to open it. Logan gets upset, starts shouting, and shoots at the box. One of the bullets ricochets and hits the manager in the leg.

Zeke asks Logan to let him take the manager out to get medical attention, promising he’ll come back once he’s taken care of the injured man. Michaela whispers for him not to come back but Zeke refuses to leave her in the bank with just the robber.

Over at the Gramercy Club, Ben talks to Logan’s brother to try to convince him to help. It seems Frank doesn’t believe Logan is really his brother and thinks everyone from Flight 828 is lying. Ben’s finally able to convince Frank by telling him the death date that Logan tried to talk to him about is real and that he, Michaela, and his son Cal have had the calling seeing the date 6-2-2024. Frank says his safety deposit box number is 6224. Upon hearing about the death date for the first time, T.J. leaves, upset.

Ben shows up with Frank at the bank and Jared gets the cop in charge of the scene to let the brother go in and talk Logan down. The brothers are reunited in the vault and Frank apologizes to Logan for not believing he was real and alive. He opens the box and Logan asks him to give him their grandfather’s compass. He does.

Once outside, Logan’s placed under arrest but before he’s taken away he’s given the chance to talk to Michaela. Logan tells Michaela and Zeke that the compass saved his grandfather from being killed by a bullet on D-Day in WWII. He thanks them and asks Michaela to hold onto it for him until he’s out of jail. She takes it and as she holds it has a vision of the blue peacock.

Michaela tells Ben about her vision and he gives her a pep talk, excitedly saying he thinks that together they can solve and beat the “death date.” They hug and she thanks him for coming to help her. He lets her know the calling he had led him to find Frank, but Jared calling him got him to the bank. Michaela thanks Jared for having her back and leaves with Zeke.

Olive finds T.J. in Ben’s office and he asks if she knows about the death date and how to beat it. She explains her dad gets obsessed with problems to solve but that they should approach the death date from a place of hope. She reveals to T.J. they met years ago at the airport before he got on Flight 828. T.J. agrees to attend a Believers meeting.

Saanvi goes home and discovers her experiments have been stolen.

Ben arrives home and gets a big hug from Grace who’s happy he and Michaela are okay. He assures her he’s going to fight the death date and is determined to find a way to beat it.

Jared hooks up with the bartender at the bar he hangs out at in an attempt to move on from Michaela.

Michaela takes Zeke home and tells him he has a good heart. He warns her she doesn’t have to feel like she needs to save him because she already has. They kiss and spend the night together.

Saanvi lets Vance her apartment’s been broken into. He and a few agents investigate the office the Major was using while posing as a therapist. It’s been cleaned out except for an apple. The Major left it there as a sign to Saanvi that she knew Saanvi was onto her. Saanvi tells Vance the Major has stolen her real research and breakthrough which she’d hidden in a secret room.




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