Manifest Season 2 Episode 6 Recap: “Return Trip”

Manifest Season 2 Episode 6
Parveen Kaur as Saanvi Bahl and Josh Dallas as Ben Stone in ‘Manifest’ season 2 episode 6 (Photo by: Peter Kramer/NBC)

“We have to save the passengers. I have to cure the death date,” says Dr. Saanvi Bahl (Parveen Kaur) into her recorder as she gets ready to use herself as a test subject in season two episode six of NBC’s mystery drama, Manifest.

Episode six begins with a flashback of Zeke (Matt Long) in bed with Courtney (Danielle Burgess) impulsively deciding to get married. Jump to present day and Courtney’s sharing their story in a support group with Zeke as her sponsor.

Over at the Stone home, Ben (Josh Dallas) is giving Michaela (Melissa Roxburgh) a few old items she can use at her apartment. Michaela tells Ben that Zeke and Courtney were never legally married and even though she’s sympathetic to Courtney’s story, she really wants to get her out of her apartment.

Jared (J.R. Ramirez) gets a hair cut from his new girlfriend, Tamara.

T.J. (Garrett Wareing) and Olive (Luna Blaise) are getting to know each other better when Adrian (Jared Grimes) warns Olive her father was adamant about her not being a member of The Believers. Since she’s a minor, he’s forced to respect her father’s wishes. Isaiah questions kicking out Olive saying other Believers might lose faith. But Adrian assures him a bigger miracle will make them believe.

Back at the Stone residence, Grace (Athena Karkanis) tells Ben a reporter called from a magazine wanting to do an interview about her pregnancy and the fact it will be the first birth from a passenger of Flight 828. Ben and Grace agree to blow off the interview and are even upset about the reporter knowing about the pregnancy. Ben then has a calling – a vision of Saanvi on the plane him calling to her and her disappearing. He texts Michaela and goes to check on Saanvi.

Ben and Michaela arrive at Saanvi’s office and when they enter they find her passed out on the floor. She’s taken to the hospital and they wait to find out if she’s going to be okay.

Michaela gets a text and tells Ben she has to go while Ben learns from the doctor that Saanvi’s going to be okay. However, she was lucky they found her when they did.

Once it’s clear Saanvi’s all right, Ben tells her he’s upset she tested on herself and reminds her she can’t save any of the passengers if she’s dead. He makes her promise not to try it again and she agrees. Saanvi then tells Ben about the calling they both had but in hers, she was trying to help a young boy who was afraid. She gives Ben the seat number the boy was in during the calling and he says that a man named Finn was sitting in that seat on 828 – not a boy. He decides the best option is to talk to the man and see what the connection is.

T.J and Olive attempt to figure out the Tarot card clue and decide to go see if they can track down the Tarot reader who gave her the card three years ago. While trying to track her down, Olive and T.J. flirt a little.

Ben finds the Wall Street guy named Finn but he says he doesn’t have a son. He tells Ben he ended up having a one-night-stand with a woman in Jamaica. While they talk, Ben notices a childhood photo of Finn. The kid in the photo looks exactly like the kid in the calling.

Michaela arrives home to find Courtney beaten up. She confesses to Michaela and Zeke that she owes a drug dealer named Lucas $20,000. He sent some thugs over to send a message that until she pays up, she works for him.

Ben heads back to the hospital and tells Saanvi about Finn and the photo. He thinks Finn’s one-night-stand resulted in the birth of a child who’s the kid in their calling. Saanvi agrees and goes with Ben to track down the mother.

Manifest Season 2 Episode 6
Garrett Wareing as TJ Morrison and Luna Blaise as Olive Stone in ‘Manifest’ season 2 episode 6 (Photo by: Peter Kramer/NBC)

Olive and T.J. find clues that lead them to the story of a 16th-century scholar who disappeared at sea and 10 years later returned saying he could hear the voice of God in his head. They can’t find any record of when he died, but Olive thinks it could have been 10 years after he returned. This could be proof the death date is real and that all of this – the callings – has all happened before.

Ben and Saanvi locate the woman Finn was with and she confesses she was married when she was in Jamaica and that her husband is the father of her son, Theo, who looks a lot like Finn.

Over at Michaela’s, Courtney tells Michaela that Zeke seems like he really wants to get clean this time and says it’s because of being with Michaela. Courtney explains Zeke used to always have a stash of pills somewhere hidden in his things. Zeke says he’s going to go talk to Lucas while Michaela has a calling of falling snow. She says she’s going with him. Michaela brings her partner, Drea (Ellen Tamaki), up to speed and has her back her up to try to bust Lucas.

Ben and Saanvi tell Finn about finding the woman and the fact she was married when he was with her. He asks if he can at least just meet the boy and they agree to try to set something up with the woman.

Zeke and Michaela meet with Lucas acting as though they want to do a deal with him and get him off Courtney’s back. Lucas says he doesn’t know Michaela and demands she shoot up some heroin to prove she’s not a cop. Michaela picks a fight with Zeke saying Lucas is a jerk and overcharging them. Lucas is about to do the deal just to get rid of them when one of his thugs recognizes Michaela as a cop. Lucas pulls out a gun but Zeke tackles him. Drea comes in with her firearm drawn and tells everyone to freeze.

Ben and Saanvi set up the meeting between Finn and his son, Theo. During the brief encounter, Saanvi has another calling and notices in it Theo has rings around his eyes. She realizes the boy’s liver is going to fail. Saanvi tells the mother to take him to the hospital right now and that it’s urgent. At the hospital, it turns out Finn is a perfect match for Theo and he agrees to give the boy part of his liver.

Meanwhile, Jared meets up with Tamara’s brother who tells him to get lost and stay away from his sister. Seems he did a little digging and knows Jared was once engaged to Michaela, a passenger on 828. Jared tells Tamara’s brother that Michaela came back different than the woman he loved and destroyed his life. Tamara’s brother relaxes and offers to buy Jared (who we’ve discovered is likely the mole inside the police department) a drink.

At the Stone home, Ben finds the research Olive and T.J. did and tells her he’s very impressed. She explains T.J. discovered something else and asks if she can go meet up with him. Ben says yes. A little later Grace suggests to Ben they do the magazine interview but lie and say it’s Danny’s baby to protect the child from those who fear and hate the 828 passengers. Ben’s shocked and upset Grace would suggest such a thing and tells her he will protect their child.

Zeke and Michaela come home to find Courtney has left. Zeke says his debt to her is paid and that she is on her own now.

T.J. makes a little picnic for Olive and himself and they flirt some more and kiss.

Saanvi is about to test on herself again when she, Ben, and Michaela have another calling. They see parts of Flight 828 with wreckage and ash strewn all around. “Oh my God, what is this?! Did we crash?” asks a stunned Michaela to Ben. Outside the wreckage stands Adrian.