Manifest (2018–2023) User Reviews

Very good at first, then pretty good, then eh

[cherold · 7/10 · 9 March 2019]

I've just decided the 8th episode of Manifest will be the last one I watched.

The series started out very well. A bunch of people get on a plane, and when they land it's years later and everyone thought they were dead. Then they start experience very odd things. Meanwhile, the government is watching them all. It's all very intriguing.

Also, I love that graphic of the plane flying through the title and leaving a hole. Congrats to whoever thought of that.

Even the early, best episodes were a little problematic. There was a sort of case-of-the-week quality to episodes which didn't fit with the serial nature of the show. The characters were interesting at first but as the episodes progressed there was no attempt to delve deeper, so they seemed increasingly flat. The pacing was increasingly sluggish, the stories increasingly focused on the soap-opera aspects.

Also, the characters started acting dumber, as when one explains his odd experiences to his wife in a way seemingly designed to make her not believe him. The writers wanted the story to go a certain way and were willing to have their main characters act dumb if necessary.

It's a shame, because I really, really liked the first few episodes. But at this point I've lost all interest.

Interesting plot line, not such great acting, getting a bit boring

[jbrbsmom · 6/10 · 9 November 2018]

Started out with a new and interesting theme. Some of the acting is terrible and one of the main characters consistently looks puzzled, no matter what emotion he is supposed to be portraying. Getting past his annoyingly horrific on screen persona is very problematic as he is so unbelievable when he is mad or sad or happy....he just always looks dumbfounded, sort of like a deer in headlights and it is very distracting from the plot.

They need to pick up the pace of this because it is starting to DRAG with very boringly predictable plot lines of the government vs them.

It has a LOT of potential and I would hate to see it canceled before the big reveal.

Guilty pleasure

[lilianestevanato · 7/10 · 18 July 2023]

Started very well. Reminded me of good old days from the first season of Lost. During the way, the show looses itself. Bad actors, bad script, zero logic... but its just that thing that "well, i'm already here... so let's keep watching". I would say... if you have better things do to with your time, go for it. But if you stick to the end, besides it all, i found the final message pretty sweet. This is one of those series to watch without big commitments or expectations... for crochetters like myself, the best serie to be passing while you divide your focus with some knots. Oh, and take some deep breaths on some episores where you just wanna quit lol.

Mixed feelings... Good potential

[DreamyOneNumber1 · 8/10 · 25 September 2018]

I was very hopeful when I saw the previews for this program. I wasn't, however, hoping for such a focus on the sci-fi (or whatever you want to call it) aspects. Like others said, this is reminiscence of a Lost or similar program in reverse. I had hoped this program would focus mainly on stories of the passengers integrating back into their old lives, dealing with all the changes that had taken place in those five and half years. The focus seems split more than I'd like it to be, although, let's be honest - if this had happened in real life, we can be sure the authorities, the scientists, and everyone else would be following their every move until an answer was found.

That said, I disagree with some who claim the acting is lackluster. The acting is low key and subdued, just the way most real people live. If the actors were overly dramatic, it would change the thrust. This is low key real life behavior or people who are supposed to be genuinely confused. In that regard, I think the acting is fine.

All pilot episodes have to accomplish a lot - they have to capture the attention of scores of people, all with different interests. I suspect better is yet to come. Many shows are discarded by folks before the programs are ever given a chance to develop, one way or another.

I intend to watch this program for at least a few more times. If it goes downhill, that will be it. However, I think it has good potential to last for at least a few seasons and keep us interested.

Dump Grace

[trudjoh · 6/10 · 15 June 2021]

I started binge watching this show yesterday. Plot is interesting but most characters are not. Grace drives me nuts. She flip flops all the time. I cannot believe anyone in her sphere can tolerate her!!

Manifest's Final Chapter: A Mix of Closure and Lingering Questions

[natejohn17 · 8/10 · 7 June 2023]

The ending of Manifest left me with mixed emotions. While it provided closure to some storylines, it left many questions unanswered. The rushed pacing and compressed resolution felt unsatisfying. However, the heartfelt character moments and the final revelation had a poignant impact. Despite the flaws, the performances remained stellar. Overall, I appreciate the show's attempt to tie up loose ends, but I can't help but feel a sense of longing for a more comprehensive and fulfilling conclusion. Despite the shortcomings, Manifest will be remembered for its intriguing premise, engaging characters, and the way it kept viewers guessing until the very end. It's a bittersweet conclusion that will leave fans pondering the mysteries long after the final episode fades to black.

intriguing start

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 23 July 2021]

It's April 7, 2013. A plane with 191 people leaves Jamaica for New York City. They go through a sudden unexpected storm and recover. Upon landing on the ground, they are shocked to be told that it's November 4, 2018. They have come back changed with a mysterious new power. Secret government forces look to experiment and control them. The Stone family was coming home but split up to take different planes. Ben Stone, his sister Michaela Stone, and his son Cal Stone are onboard the missing plane. His wife Grace and Cal's twin sister Olive were forced to mourn their lost family until they are reunited five years later.

It's an intriguing premise. It starts like a police procedural but it quickly leans hard into the supernatural genre. It gets convoluted at times. Ben Stone gets more and more whiny over the years. It struggles to maintain a big bad as the seasons continue. It loses narrative direction from time to time. The show feels like a dog chasing its tail. The promising start fades but the show does last three seasons. It's probably one year too many. I do like the Noah's Ark idea but it needs to move faster. It needs to develop and it needs a villain. Without a target, the aim of the show drifts and meanders. It needs to figure out an ultimate goal. The show seems to be trying to figure out the question after telling the audience the answer.

ADD: Netflix picked up the show after it was canceled by NBC. They made a 20 episode fourth and final season. The ending is definitely one of the big possibilities and it has good poetry to it. They finally developed a big bad in Angelina Meyer and that's good. They also made the government and society in general as the other big bad. That one is less good and feels very derivative and simplistically written. I wish they put all that attention into Angelina instead. She should divide the group in half earlier as the cult leader that she is. In the end, it's not enough to push it to a seven, but I do like most of the fourth season... mostly.

Make your own mind up, it is what you make of it. It does NOT deserve the low score.

[crazy_cat_mackem · 10/10 · 4 August 2019]

I never usually do reviews, but on this occasion I felt I had too. I read some of the reviews before watching this like I usually do, but think I'm gonna stop doing it beforehand. Why? Because most of the negative reviews about this show are about how 'it got boring so gave up' well I am on episode 14 now and I am well and truly hooked! You don't need constant action to make a story, but each episode you get a different story about one of the passengers and another little piece of the mystery unravels, it really is what you make of it and how much you put your mind to it... PLEASE don't give up if you start watching it....yeah it's not the most amazing show I have ever watched, but hey, it really doesn't deserve the low score it has.

Getting too slow

[wendywells62 · 7/10 · 30 October 2018]

Started off good now it's dragging, needs more scify again like the trailer gave us in the beginning.

Began nicely, but writers have lost it!!

[unrivaledraj · 4/10 · 19 April 2021]

This is one of those shows where writers and creators had an idea and they started shooting it without any endgame. So now they're just dragging it and making things up as they go. They started well, I'm fan of both sci-fi and mystery and government conspiracy and this looked like it had all. But the writers have lost it completely. All the talk of first season was around Cal experiencing the calling more extremely and commonly than anyone and the "major" was the antagonist, like these government project was ready to hush and kill and kidnap and track everyone on the plane, they were so much after Cal.

Comes second season and I'm into 9th episode and they've hardly even mentioned major and government project experiment and all that. And Cal who was the centre of callings, hardly has 15 minutes of screen time. And all the things are now centered on xers against 828ers. They began an angle, trying to explain what happened to the flight, they find it was something black lighting, they end it with the meteorologist dead and the pilot and the researcher vanishing with the plane and after that episode they don't even mention about them, let alone explore or find about it. They find Zeke from a cave, where supposed black lightening happened, but they don't care enough about it to go there and explore the cave or the mountain stone wall where they found an image of two people holding hands. They don't try to find out who made it, how old it is.

That's what I'm talking about they'll show something and just forget about it completely.

This show has more plot holes than actual plot. They just keep doing things without any sense or explanation.

Oh and the acting is hardly even mediocre. I'm gonna finish this season and forget I ever saw it.

Great series don't listen to the negative reviews

[alexb-55137 · 9/10 · 28 June 2020]

Honestly the beginning of season 1 is kind of slow paced and this s what some people might have based their opinion on. Which is to bad for them because they lost an opportunity to appreciate an interesting and intriguing storyline. There are no limits to where the writers could go with this concept because anything is possible, but the most important is as long they keep us hooked with more action about the super natural and less about the characters personal lives which is what television series have a tendency to drag on and make the viewers lose interest. But with the way season 2 has begun, I'm already anticipating season 3 cross my fingers. Great storyline very interesting and intriguing, great acting, great directing, great job.

Grace issue

[pcurie-62311 · 6/10 · 12 June 2021]

Grace extremely annoys me... Come on, guys , create character more realistic without so intensive false caring about kids and others issues.

Enjoying reading these reviews more than watching the show

[djmammo · 2/10 · 7 May 2021]

People writing these reviews far more clever than the writers of this show. Its been 3 seasons, throw us a bone already !! Too much filler and not enough solid clues to figure out what is going on. And yes the main male actor is so over the top he's become really annoying. By this time one usually finds at least one of the characters likeable but no. Not this time.

There was no reveal at the end

[dino572 · 7 June 2023]

It started well with an interesting premise. Then, they kept treading water for three seasons as more questions were asked than answers were given. The reason I kept watching was that I was hoping for a big reveal, a payoff for watching. The show was cancelled in the middle of the story, which confirmed my suspicions: The writers had an interesting premise, but no long-term plan. They just wanted to milk it as far as possible. They never intended to give the audience closure. Then, Netflix picked up the show and made one final season. They did indeed finish many loose ends. However, there was no reveal, not even close to one. That means that ultimately, the whole premise of the show remained unanswered. We still have no idea who caused the event with the plane (and previous similar events) or why. That also means that this was never a science fiction series. Everything was just supernatural. Much of the story was driven by deus ex machina. All of a sudden, a character (typically Cal) "just knows" what to do, or a mystery in the spirit of the Da Vinci code unfolds in a random fashion out of nowhere. I will remember this series as intriguing, but ultimately meaningless because the reveal never came. It has taught me to always wait for a series to be fully completed before watching the first episode.

Interesting premise.

[kpinder920 · 9/10 · 25 September 2018]

Interesting storyline, but like the TV show Lost, I wonder where it will go and how it will explain five and a half years missing. Lost was good in the beginning, but I slowly lost interest as it just became ridiculous to believe in. I'll give it a few more weeks, I really hope it surprises me

interesting plot, generic writing

[dominiqueisanerd16 · 6/10 · 25 September 2018]

I'm not one to watch a network show like this, but my mom wanted to watch it so i figured why not. the personal storylines are cheesy and predictable, but the overall arc of this story is interesting. i am curious as to what happened on the plane. i'd watch the show to see what unravels, but this isn't some life changing television.

We love it

[macd-08532 · 10/10 · 5 October 2018]

Not sure what all the bad marks are for, but my girlfriend and I love the show so far. What's not to love? Had our attention, kept us interested, the cast is great, and has a good story line. Keep up the good work.

Airplane Passengers Punch Inadvertently Through the Time Barrier and Create Chaos

[snicewanger · 7/10 · 25 September 2018]

Much more of a CSI than a SciFi. I have seen most of the story lines before as far back as the Twilight Zone and One Step Beyond with XFiles and Lost thrown in. The cast is solid and the story possibilities are intriguing. For the passengers a 3 hour flight with a few frightening minutes of unexplained turbulence has left them displaced in time. For the friends and family they have rejoined, 5 and 1/2 years have elapsed and thinking their loved ones dead most have moved on with their lives. There is also a 5 and a 1/2 year age gap to contend with. The government sees the people as a possible threats. The scientific community sees them as lab specimens to be intricately studied and tested The story lines are almost endless. Lets hope the plot doesn't bog down on person or situation. As I said this series has possibilities. Lets hope it lives up to them!

I think it will be a great show

[nighty_night · 9/10 · 25 September 2018]

Before i start watching the show, i revied what people wear saying: it's not good or its just like (Lost) well i didnt like Lost and didn't watch more than 3 episodes of lost, so Manifest look promising and i like the idea behind it. Just give it a chance.

Good Potential, Just Hasn't Quite Got There Yet

[dting2010 · 7/10 · 12 October 2018]

Lost was probably my favorite series of all-time. The mystery surrounding the storyline is certainly intriguing for sure. However, the characters are a little uninteresting so far. Also, the writing is pretty subpar too. I can only hope it starts picking up from here.

Looked promising but bad acting and bad scenario

[deloudelouvain · 4/10 · 17 August 2019]

What started interesting quickly became very boring. Mystery is one of my favorite genre of series and that's what made it appealing to me. The first episode started promising even though I already had my doubts after some bad acting and annoying characters. I gave it a shot anyway, until episode four, and then I couldn't take it anymore. It's just isn't quality and that is required nowadays when you see all the great shows there are. I'm not going to continue losing my time on this one. I'm normally not a quitter but in this case I surrender and move on to something better.

Has potential... let's see

[Aly1986 · 8/10 · 28 September 2018]

I think the premise is interesting, not sure how much sci-fi will come out of it, I think that will make or break the show. I'd like for it to be a little more realistic.

It reminds me of 'Under the Dome' before the twist came out and *under the dome spoiler* it was about aliens... and became dumb and then sadly canceled. Hopefully, Manifest doesn't follow suit.

How does someone so bad at acting get a big role

[vgtesay · 6/10 · 24 August 2023]

I was hoping to enjoy this series but the main character. Ben Stone or Josh Dallas really is the worst actor I think I've ever seen. I'm half way thru season 2 and don't think I can manage anymore of his wooden acting or terrible fake surprised looks. The rest of the cast must be embarrassed by him lead the way. Apart from that it's ok, I've a feeling it's going to drag on and could easily have wrapped up after 1 season. Anyway I only came here to tell you he Will really annoy you after a few episodes but i still have 77 characters to use up before i can publish this review so I will list things that can act better than Josh Dallas.

1 a brick. 2 my dog. Ok that's it.

Started out good, now it's a boring soap opera.

[intrepidami · 5/10 · 30 January 2019]

Grace needs to have a fatal accident. The actress is annoying as all hell. She's miscast. Has permanent scowl on her at rest face, and questions everything about her husband who is like the nicest, most loyal, best friend a person could ever want. Continuing right on from his older role as Prince Charming, as if he's playing the exact same person, but simply altered circumstances. It doesn't help that I re-watched Castaway and realized all this is, is Castaway with lot's of people instead of one. They're displaced, they come back and their love ones have moved on.

The evil government thing is overdone. A the government would have seized everybody right off the bat and kept them...period. None of this going home and then lurking in the shadows. I'd want the government to take a real hard look at a flight that landed 5.5 years later, you would too. It's like the only reason they let them go home is SO SOME OF THEM COULD GET INTO TROUBLE!

There's no way the government could do terrible things with every paparazzi on the planet chasing these people around if the circumstances actually happened. In a recent episode some hillbillies decided to paint red X's on doors and such. While this might have happened 15-20 years ago, nowadays? No. There's too much surveillance. House to house, street to street. Thy explained they disabled the house camera, but what about the neighbors 20 or so cameras? And this is a major, Earth Shattering story, where is the press? Lazy.

One of the more annoying things is in our current world the government has ways of tracking people with their Cells, their license plates and tracking devices. These guys do things like take somebody else vehicle, but still have their phones on them. Ahhhhh no! If you're trying to avoid detection you take care of all three, not one at a time.

And finally the small storylines are getting real daytime soapy.

Satisfying ending

[LindaPalladino · 8/10 · 19 June 2023]

Am I the only one that thought the ending was much more satisfying than the ending of Lost? I feel most questions were answered and those thst weren't i am not hung up on unlike the ending of lost when i had soooo many questions at the end.

I thought the casting was amazing. Great show and sad to see it not continuing.

*Spoiler* Felt a wee bit sorry for TJ that Olive was a young child and so he couldn't pick up where they had left off. Most of the other passengers had significant others but when everyone was reunited with their families I did shed a few happy tears. Would love to see a spin off with Vance in charge of a team to investigate the weird and wonderful.