After going through an intense bout of turbulence on their flight, a group of passengers return home five years after they’re flight was presumed missing. They begin experiencing strange voices that alert them to future events and search for an answer of what happened to Flight 828.
Oh, this show. This has been my least favorite that I’ve watched this year and only stuck with it for the other person watching it with me. Otherwise, I probably would’ve quit a few episodes in. The premise is very interesting and cool, but the result is just so corny. Most of the actors were pretty subpar and the effects were like something out of 2010, not 2018-2020. I understand that being on the television screen means a smaller budget, but they could do something better than what we got. Josh Dallas is the most familiar face of the cast, starring as Prince Charming in Once Upon a Time and even his acting is not great. I don’t know if it was the material they were working with, but this show has so much cringey acting, it was hard to take it seriously.
Season two was the strongest of the three seasons we currently have. The pacing is much better than it was in season one and I wasn’t yet overwhelmed by their silly phrases they came up with by season three. Some of the stronger actors got a chance to shine in season two, including Luna Blaise who places Olive Stone, and we’re introduced to my favorite character, Drea Mikami.
There were some interesting plotlines throughout that did keep me invested, but usually only for short times. Once they were resolved, I found it hard to stick around, especially when I finally got to season three. I was really invested up until about the halfway point when a major storyline ended in such a disappointing and frustrating way. It makes me really question how they plan to end the series in the final season.
This is your official spoiler warning before I continue with the review.
Season one was a weak opening to the series, and I likely wouldn’t have continued past it. I wasn’t really given a chance to connect with our main characters of Ben and Michaela Stone before they boarded the ill-fated Flight 828. We get only a tiny glimpse of Michaela’s conflict over whether or not to accept her boyfriend’s proposal and her strained relationship with her mother. And the rift in Ben’s family dynamic is barely there before they are separated for what becomes five years for Grace and Olive. I wish we had started a little further back in their story and let the episode end with their return, rather than rushing through it with Michaela’s voice over. They cram in what they call ‘the callings’ into the pilot which leaves us with such a rushed pace of an episode. Because of this, I was never given the chance to connect with our main characters and thus, never invest in their struggles.
When we discover Michaela and Ben’s mother passed away, I wasn’t affected because we didn’t know who she was. Jared moving on had no impact because I did not know their history. For me, this highlights the true problem of the show for me. It relied way too heavily on the ‘gimmick’, the plot of these characters disappearing for five years and getting these strange premonitions, rather than giving us characters we can connect with. And for me, characters are the most important thing, whether it be a show, a movie, or a book.
As I said, season two was much stronger. The plotline with Zeke trying to beat his ‘death date’ gave a real sense of stakes in the show and created much needed tension. Olive, one of the stronger characters, gets a compelling plotline, feeling isolated within her own family as they deal with ‘the callings’ (which I absolutely hate the term) and so she seeks out others who seem to actually care about her in the Church of the Returned. I think they did well with pacing and the building of tension in this season, finally allowing me to really invest emotionally. I still had issues with many of the characters, but I loved having Olive more in the spotlight, and Michaela’s relationship with Zeke.
Season three really let me down after I had finally gotten invested. The Eureka storyline made me feel like I was in an episode of Agents of Shield. The over-the-top technology works in that show because of the universe it’s set in. Here, it comes out of nowhere and feels silly and too over-the-top.
We also got some of the worst characters in this season. Angelina is so unnerving, which I think is the point, but I really hated every time she was on the screen. The ‘Meth Heads’ storyline is also terrible. At first, I thought it was so interesting and I was on the edge of my seat until the end. The fact that one person caused the ‘Lifeboat’ (another cringey phrase) to sink is so infuriating. I was so moved by Pete Baylor and Kory Jephers that when they had to die along with Jace, I was angry, not because they died but because of the ridiculous reasoning for it. I don’t like that now, the passengers of 828 have to be responsible for others’ choices. It plays into this continuous ‘savior’ role that Ben Stone is in and it gets old very fast.
I really struggled to keep up with the passage of time in the show. The characters are always telling us that time has passed but it’s not shown to the audience, so I found myself losing track of time constantly. Other than hairstyles and Grace’s pregnancy, there wasn’t a clear way to tell time. Angelina’s relationship with Pete Baylor seemed so sudden, but in actuality, three months had passed without any clear indication. This is one of the reasons why I felt so rushed in the series. There are better ways to show your audience that time has passed, and it doesn’t need to be spelled out in dialogue.
This is evidence of how weak the writing is. The episodes follow the same plot: Ben or Michaela get a ‘calling’, try to answer it, realize they misinterpreted it, and fix it at the last second.
The dialogue is repetitive to the point where I started to roll my eyes with every mention of a calling or lifeboat.
When it comes to characters, there were few I could really connect with. Olive Stone is one and Drea Mikami is the other. I think it may be in part because I never had to see them make such cheesy, silly faces during some of the more intense ‘callings.’
Olive is Cal’s twin who has aged the five years her brother was gone and it’s such an interesting dynamic. Unfortunately, it’s not explored as much as I would like in the first season, only delving into it for a couple of episodes. She also has a really interesting storyline in season two as she struggles with her role in the family but is unfortunately given less screen time in the third season. She’s just there to fill in pieces of the puzzle when it’s convenient.
The one thing I really hated about her character was her dating older guys. By the end of the third season, she’s barely 19, but has had a serious relationship with a guy in college and pursuing an even older college assistant. She’s far too young for them and the fact that her parents do nothing to stop this is incredibly problematic. It’s far past time that we no longer see relationships like this portrayed in media.
Drea is a fun character and adds comedy without being too much. She’s endearing and even if we only get small moments of her, I really love when she’s on screen. She’s a great counter to Michaela as a ‘normal’ person not dealing with the ‘callings’. I think the two of them had great moments together and we definitely needed more of that to help develop Michaela’s character.
Ben Stone suffers the ‘savior’ trope and is constantly running around trying to help everyone. It’s something we’ve seen time and time again and Manifest brings nothing new to its leading characters. Michaela suffers with the tired love triangle that I thought was over when she married Zeke but with the ending we got in season three, it seems like Michaela might be going back to Jared. Having your female lead’s plotlines wrapped up in constant romantic interests is so overdone. I can’t recall any key plots about Michaela that didn’t involve either Jared or Zeke, other than the Evie plot that lasted only a couple of episodes.
Speaking of Jared, I found him to be the most annoying. He had no chemistry with Michaela, so I never had that need to root for them. I understand the situation. For one of our characters, it’s been five years since he lost the love of his life. For the other, she was gone only days. It’s a difficult situation for both of them but Jared lacked charisma, so I didn’t even want them to get together. When he was infiltrating the Xers, the people attacking the 828 passengers, I truly thought he was turning against Michaela because I never believed he was a good person. Even when it was revealed he was a good guy all along, I was over him.
Zeke was a much better fit for Michaela. I liked their moments, and they were far more endearing than any other couple in the entire show. Unfortunately, after he survives the death date, he becomes some sort of strange empath and doesn’t really add anything to the show. He’s just there and has lost everything that made him interesting. Once his storyline ended, it was like they didn’t know what to do with him.
Captain Daly is another character I really liked. The toll that the disappearance had on him was the most interesting character development we got. The guilt he felt over their predicament, the blame thrown on him, and the suspicions against him all became too much, and he had to prove what happened. This leads to him taking another passenger hostage and flying back into a storm of ‘dark lightning’ to recreate the event. With the plane’s disappearance, we’re led to believe that he possibly succeeded, which is pretty much confirmed when he reappears in the plane at the end of season three. I felt for Daly as he experienced desperation and insanity over everything but unfortunately, he disappeared, and we never got another passenger with such a compelling storyline.
Another charismatic character is Dr. Gupta from Eureka. At first, I hated her for how she treated the passengers like lab rats rather than people, but eventually, she grew one me. She has a personality that is somehow endearing, and I ended up wanting more of her. As long as she steers clear of the immoral deeds that made the General a villain, she can continue to be a strong addition to the cast.
I will forgive Cal because Jack Messina is a young actor and will instead blame the writing for his cringy moments. Athena Karkanis is gorgeous, and she plays Grace Stone who is unfortunately another character I struggled to tolerate in the show.
And I’m sorry but every time I saw Robert Vance, all I could think of was
Other characters were constantly dropped, only to reappear when needed. The flight attendant, Bethany, only shows up sporadically as the plot calls for, passengers the Stones pretty much rescued are never heard from again, etc. With the idea that they’re all together in a ‘lifeboat’, why does every episode have to focus only on the Stones? Why can’t we have episodes dedicated solely to other passengers, with no involvement of Ben or Michaela? This would allow the show to break up the monotony of the episodes and allow us to be invested in more characters. I probably would have appreciated Ben and Michaela more if I didn’t have to see them deal with the same issues over and over again. Without strong writing and character development, we need a break from them, so we don’t get tired of them.
I’m wary of the fourth season with all the ridiculousness season three gave us. As it’s going to be the final season, I know they plan to cram in the conclusion the creator had intended, leading up the ‘death date’ for the passengers. I wonder how they’ll achieve this and not feel as rushed as the first season and be able to create a compelling season. It will be difficult however they choose to do it and I hope that they are careful with their writing. I’ll give the first episode a shot to see what the truth of Flight 828 is.
Be Bold 