‘Manifest’ Season 4 Episode 1 Recap: “Touch-and-Go”

By
Rebecca Murray
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Manifest Season 4 Episode 1 Recap
Matt Long, Melissa Roxburgh, Ty Doran, Luna Blaise, and Josh Dallas in ‘Manifest’ season 4 episode 1 (Photo Credit: Netflix © 2022)

Manifest series creator Jeff Rake will finally have the opportunity to answer all the lingering questions with the much-anticipated fourth – and final – season, premiering on Netflix on November 4, 2022. Viewership numbers for seasons one and two on the streaming service were so impressive that Netflix executives made Manifest fans’ dreams come true by granting the canceled series one final season.

Season four is divided into two parts, with the first 10 episodes arriving on Nov. 4th. The final 10 episodes will follow in 2023.

Manifest season four episode one picks up two years after Angelina (Holly Taylor) murdered Ben’s wife, Grace (Athena Karkanis), and kidnapped their baby, Eden. The story also picks up with Cal, who aged five years during the season three finale, now seven years older and still very confused about what’s happened to him. Plus, he’s shouldering the blame for allowing Angelina back in the house, a decision that got his mother killed and nearly destroyed his family.

Rake teased this season will be more event-filled, given that he’d originally planned to tell the story in six seasons. He has also promised our questions will be answered.

“It’s going to become increasingly clear to the passengers that the ‘callings’ are somehow divinely sourced and this is not just about them,” said Rake in an interview with Netflix’s Tudum. “This is either a gift or a burden — an opportunity to wake up the world and realize that it is all connected and that we all need to be better if we want to keep living in this world.”

And now the recap of season four episode one:

An elderly man escapes being experimented on in Shanghai Province, China, as “Touch-and-Go” begins.

Our first look at Ben Stone (Josh Dallas) shows he’s neglected to take care of himself since Grace died. He’s grown a straggly beard and looks disheveled as he distributes flyers asking for help finding his missing baby.

He posts a flyer of Eden over a flyer asking for help locating Cal.

A flashback shows the night of Grace’s murder and Olive (Luna Blaise) telling her dad that Angelina did it and took Eden. The Stones’ house is a crime scene, and the police are searching for Angelina. Cal, now played by Ty Doran, gets a look at his suddenly older face in a rearview mirror and is understandably shocked.

Back to current events… Ben pleads with Jared (J.R. Ramirez) to run more Amber Alerts on Eden. Ben’s still holding out hope, but Jared knows the chances of finding her are slim.

Meanwhile, Michaela (Melissa Roxburgh) and Zeke (Matt Long) are apparently still together because the first time we see them they’re in bed, smiling. Michaela’s been having dreams of cherry blossoms, but who cares about that when Zeke’s very kissable face is mere inches away.

Olive sits down for breakfast with Cal, who now goes by Gabriel to the outside world since it would be impossible to explain how he suddenly aged up. Michaela and Zeke briefly join them (everyone lives together) and Zeke fills us in on everyone’s work situations by explaining the “muggles” work while the 828ers have more important things on their plates.

After the muggles leave, Michaela tells her nephew he’s lucky. No one knows who “Gabriel” is, but the 828 Registry definitely knows all about her.

Cal’s bummed because his dad basically ignores him. He’s not even supposed to enter Ben’s room.

Michaela has a brief Calling of floating in water with cherry blossoms and it’s revealed Cal hasn’t had a Calling in two years. She saw blossoms, the ocean, and a freighter. She heads down to the port to try and figure out what it means while Cal stays home just in case Ben shows up.

Sporting an NYPD cap and an orange vest, Michaela snoops around the port and spots a freighter with two cherry blossoms on the side. She walks through cargo containers until she spots one with the flowers. Inside are a bunch of boxes and the elderly man from the beginning of the episode. He’s got “Stone 828” carved into his arm.

The man’s in bad shape and Michaela, with the reluctant help of two dockworkers, gets him into her car and drives off.

Over at the Bird’s Nest, a man works his way carefully and methodically through shots of the ocean looking for the missing plane, while Saanvi Bahl (Parveen Kaur) watches the Eureka footage for the umpteenth time. Robert Vance (Daryl Edwards) thinks she has better things to do, like analyzing Cal’s tests. She’s already done that, and he’s still just Cal…but bigger.

Saanvi’s been looking at this footage for 23 months and still isn’t any closer to figuring out why 828 disappeared from Eureka or where it went. Vance thinks she’s grasping at straws but Saanvi refuses to give up.

Ben makes it home and doesn’t even bother saying hi to Cal. He heads up to the attic which is filled with articles, photos, and maps relating to his search for answers. A wind blows through the attic, rustling all the papers and photos. Cal joins his dad but doesn’t feel any wind.

A photo of Anna Ross is the only one still moving and after Ben touches it, the wind stops. Anna is the interpreter who helped Cal when he got sick after making a connection with a passenger. Cal knows that means Ben should go to Anna, but Ben refuses. He’s not chasing any more Callings. Michaela can do it if she wants.

Ben’s concentrating on Eden and nothing else matters. Cal volunteers to go but Ben’s adamant he remains hidden. If someone figures out that he aged up, NSA will lock him away and make him into a human guinea pig.

Ben reluctantly gives in, reminding Cal to take his Gabriel ID.

Manifest Season 4 episode 1 recap
Matt Long as Zeke Landon in ‘Manifest’ season 4 episode 1 (Photo Credit: Netflix © 2022)

We’re given our first glimpse at what Zeke does for a living when he’s shown counseling a man with addiction problems. He holds the man’s hand (remember, Zeke can feel what others are feeling) and tells him to stop trying to hide from his pain. It’s okay to let it out.

The man begins crying and the session ends with a hug.

Michaela drives like a bat out of hell and brings the injured stranger to Vance’s team. Saanvi immediately gets to work determining what’s wrong. It appears he’ll pull through and Vance reveals the man’s an 828er they thought was executed in Singapore two years ago. His name’s Henry Kim and he wasn’t on their radar because he’s supposed to be dead.

Michaela notes he was supposedly executed the day she quit the force.

Henry wakes up and immediately asks for Cal.

Cal drops in on Anna and introduces himself as a cousin of the Stones. He thanks her for helping Michaela save Cal and then explains Ben’s having a vision of wind blowing. He wonders if she’s experienced a similar vision, and she steps outside her home to answer. (She thinks the 828 Registry bugged her house.) Cal’s forced to reveal Ben’s not in a good place mentally or else he’d have come himself.

Anna had Callings yesterday and today and had the urge to pick up a pen and draw a windmill. She also drew gravestones and when Cal pulls up a photo of a cemetery, she confirms it matches what she drew. A text from Michaela needing his help ends his conversation with Anna.

Michaela heads home and tells Ben they think Henry’s execution was faked so China could use him as a lab rat. Michaela thinks it might be the breakthrough they’re looking for but Ben’s too distracted to listen.

She has it out with her brother, asking him not to give up on the Callings because the death date is a year and a half away. He doesn’t care. Without Eden, life’s pointless.

Michaela’s had enough and reminds him he still has a family that needs him – she includes herself in that group – and she won’t let him give up on them. When she describes his search for Eden as a pipe dream, Ben warns her not to call it that. Michaela feels like he dumped everything on her, and now it’s up to just her to save all the passengers.

“At this point, I have zero faith in the Callings saving any of us,” says Ben. Michaela asks him to consider that he might be wrong.

Cal joins them and Michaela has Ben fetch Henry’s file. Cal shares what he learned from Anna and that she’s heading to a cemetery in Ramapo to figure out what it means. Anna could use his help, but Ben doesn’t care. He thinks Michaela should handle it.

After they leave, Ben starts sobbing.

Before they can head out, Jared arrives at the door with something for Ben. (He’s happy to see Cal and teases him about his stubble.) It’s awkward between Jared and Michaela, and they slip out without talking about anything personal.

Jared joins Ben in the attic and delivers the bad news that Eden’s been legally declared dead. NYPD closed her missing person’s file and that’s why the detectives no longer return Ben’s calls. Inside the folder is Eden’s death certificate. Still, Ben refuses to believe it’s possible.

Jared reminds him Eden and Angelina’s fingerprints were found on a bridge and her backpack was found floating in the Narrows. The currents would have pulled them into the Atlantic; that’s why they never found any bodies.

Ben won’t budge. He insists Eden’s still alive.

A flashback shows the Stone family and Zeke in the frantic days after Eden went missing. It also shows the day a much older Cal returned to home. It was an emotional homecoming until Olive accused him of letting Angelina back into the house. Cal confessed he told her about the spare key.

Olive reminded him he was told not to trust Angelina and that their mom wanted her gone. He didn’t listen and now their mom’s dead and Eden’s missing. She screamed at him that it was all his fault.

Cal was an emotional wreck and only Zeke helped him get cleaned up.

Back to current events and Zeke arrives at the Bird’s Nest offering to help. He holds Henry’s hand and Henry immediately calms down. His vitals also return to normal.

Zeke leaves, claiming he has to get back to work. Once out of sight, his body is wracked with pain from touching Henry.

Henry’s able to tell Saanvi and Vance that he had a box with him that needs to get to Cal.

Back at the Stone place, the wind blows Eden’s death certificate to Ben. He finally really looks at it and sees the background is a windmill and the arms are turning. Ben’s pretty sure the cemetery Anna is visiting has something to do with Eden.

Ben races over to the cemetery and meets up with Anna. She’s not sure what the calling means or what they’re looking for. He shows her the death certificate and says he’s never been more certain that she’s alive.

The wind kicks up as they look around, and the weathervane moves to point a different direction. He’s sure this calling will lead them to Eden. They head off and Ben hears a small child calling out for “Daddy.” He races to the child and picks it up, but it’s not Eden.

The boy’s father is nearby in the river, unconscious and near death. Anna screams at Ben to save him and Ben carries him from the river.

Manifest Season 4 Episode 1 Recap
Ty Doran as Cal Stone and Melissa Roxburgh as Michaela Ston in ‘Manifest Season’ season 4 episode 1 (Photo Credit: Peter Kramer © 2022 Netflix)

Unfortunately, by the time Michaela and Cal get to the port Homeland Security’s already there. Cal insists that doesn’t matter; they need to find Henry’s box now.

Cal convinces Michaela he can do this by himself since Homeland Security doesn’t know who he is. Cal puts in air pods and walks way too fast toward the container. Michaela invited Vance to the operation via phone and he watches Cal through video cameras at the port. He tells Cal to stop walking because the Feds are near the container.

Jared shows up by Michaela’s car and warns her there are lots of cops on the way. A call about 828 activity went out over the scanner and the port will soon be crawling with officers. Jared can’t help her and is shocked that after six months he’s now seen her twice in one day.

He’s happy she’s happy now but wonders where Cal is.

Meanwhile, Cal’s made it into the container while Vance advises him the Feds are getting closer. Cal realizes he’s having his first Calling in years when he hears ticking that Vance doesn’t. Cal finds what’s ticking and it’s not just any box – it’s Montego Airways Flight 828’s black box!

Cal has a flashback and recalls Saanvi comforting him when his own family didn’t. He told her all the answers are on the plane and asked to be taken back to Eureka. Saanvi had to break the news the plane’s gone.

Cal returns to real-time and is smiling while holding the black box. Michaela notices he’s in a good mood for once, and he explains that for two years he’s been trying to figure out where it all went wrong. Today he had a Calling and maybe, just maybe, he has a chance to fix everything.

“It feels like the plane’s sort of come back to me now,” says Cal.

Manifest Season 4 Episode 1 Recap
Ty Doran, Parveen Kaur, Melissa Roxburgh, and Daryl Edwards in ‘Manifest’ season 4 episode 1 (Photo Credit: Peter Kramer © 2022 Netflix)

Vance and Saanvi verify it’s the exact same black box they spent years examining. They have no idea how Henry ended up with it after the plane vanished from Eureka.

Cal wonders where the plane is since the box came back. Henry calls out for him (he’s been calling Cal “boy”) and although the elderly man doesn’t open his eyes, he knows Cal’s the right boy when he holds his hand.

Ben texts Michaela that it wasn’t Eden, and Michaela and Cal head out to be with him since he’s had a really rough day.

Ben watches the injured father hold his young son tightly in the ambulance. Anna assures Ben she’ll pray for Eden.

Saanvi and Vance listen to the black box and hear a man say, “Help me!” They sync the voice recording from the black box with surveillance footage from Eureka. “The black box recording is from the original flight, so how the hell do we hear them in Eureka?”

Saanvi doesn’t know but is sure the box is back for a reason. She thinks maybe Daly the pilot is still out there somewhere.

Ben returns home and gets a big hug from Olive. Cal thought that since he had a Calling something good would happen, and Michaela points out that Ben just saved a dad from drowning. The family sits down for a talk, and Olive thinks maybe it’s time to say goodbye.

Ben confesses he still struggles to breathe since Grace is gone. He owes finding Eden to Grace. He insists he must hang onto that hope. Ben tosses Eden’s death certificate in the fire.

Anna has a Calling involving ashes. A child’s drawing of a windmill on the refrigerator flaps in the breeze. She enters a bedroom where Angelina’s watching Eden draw pictures of windmills and asks to speak with Angelina. Anna tells Angelina that Ben had the same Calling as Eden and she helped him save a drowning man. Anna’s sure something terrifying is coming.

Eden ignores all this, calls Angelina “mommy,” and asks for a cookie.




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