Whether they like it or not, Michaela and Ben have been blessed (or cursed?) with hearing these mysterious voices — and it’s not ending. It’s not surprising that much of the new episode of Manifest is dedicated to Kelly’s horrific murder at the end of episode 2, when a shadowy figure showed up at her home and splattered her brains! Someone or something wanted Kelly dead after she went on TV to discuss conspiracy theories about what happened on flight 828. Will the rest of the passengers be next? That’s what Mic and Ben are trying to find out now.
Unsatisfied with just “being a bystander,” as he puts it, Ben is obsessed with finding out what actually happened to Kelly. Michaela, in another display of great judgement, brought her civilian brother along with her to the crime scene, where she pretended to be investigating the murder. You know, instead of just being nosy. They learn from Kelly’s husband and housekeeper that she’d been acting incredibly strange in the days before her death — saying that she wanted to get rid of their possessions, saying that she heard clicking noises on the phone, coming home covered in bruises, and ranting about the government. It was clear that the government was keeping her under surveillance, with black SUVs sitting outside the house all day. Oh, and she constantly talking about “owning her truth”. Is it a coincidence that Michaela’s been talking about that, too?
Michaela won’t let this go. The more she digs, the weirder things get. The reason Kelly was covered with bruises? Her husband owns a strip mall, and he was exploiting the workers. She went there to “own her truth” and got pushed in the process. Seriously; wtf. Ben has bigger problems at home to deal with, though. Olive has a boyfriend, whom she’s sneaking out at night to see! It happens to be Kevin, Cal’s former best friend. You know, before the whole “disappearing for five years and returning the same age” thing. Grace still hasn’t told him that she’s been in a serious relationship while he was gone, but he’s beginning to get the hint. Finding a condom under the bed will do that.
Michaela’s decided to own her truth, which is going to make penance with Evie’s parents. They blamed her for their daughter’s death, and wouldn’t even let her into Evie’s funeral after the tragic accident. But today, her mother has dementia and thinks that Evie’s at the farmer’s market. Yeah, her dad still hates Michaela, though. Michaela decides to go back one more time, and she’s finally forced to own that damn truth. Beverly has wandered off, and she needs to drive a car to find her, even if she’s still terrified to get behind the wheel.
Elsewhere, Cal continues to receive his groundbreaking cancer treatment from Saanvi. But there’s something amiss, that may change everything. There’s a marker in Cal’s blood that wasn’t there before he got on the plane. After doing some testing, Saanvi finds out that she has it too, and a subsequent MRI reveals something even stranger. Her brains show signs of stroke. Now, she’s a healthy, young woman with no stroke symptoms. Her theory? They were all taken to the brink of death, just this close, and then brought back to life. It would help if she could test brain tissue to figure this out. The problem? Kelly’s body isn’t registered at the morgue. In fact, if she even searches her name, she gets denied access. What is the government trying to cover up with flight 828?