Manifest Season 1 Episode 10 Recap – Crosswinds

Manifest’s episode opened with a bang, literally.

This episode begins when Michaela is in the cemetery, telling her mom how she misses her and what happened after the plane landed. All the people around them are moving on and living their life, but it’s hard for them.

At the hospital, Autumn gets a text from Laurence, saying, “Need to hear from you, or our deal is OFF.” Suddenly, the passengers get shocked out of nowhere except her. She shouts for help.

Professor Fiona Clarke and Dr. Saanvi Bahl are with the passengers they rescued from Clarke’s beach house experiments. The passengers have gone catatonic. Saanvi believes they need to gather as many passengers from Flight 828 as possible to figure out what’s going on.

Ben examines his timeline of everything about Flight 828. He becomes dissatisfied because he sees no new leads. Just as he starts throwing things around, Michaela walks in and reminds him it’s her apartment and she should be the one throwing things. Michaela tells Ben they haven’t had a call in 10 days, and the Red Hook lab explosion may have reset things. Ben doesn’t believe it and decides to pay his respects at Vance’s memorial. Michaela is opposed to the idea, but Ben insists he knows why Cal is at the center of everything.

Cal asks Grace why Ben is unable to return home. She explains Ben will have to figure out some things independently.

Agent Powell (Tim Moriarty) approaches Ben at Vance’s memorial and tells him to get lost. As Ben walks away, Aaron Glover, a reporter/podcaster, comes to him. Aaron (Marquis Rodriguez) reveals a chopper dropped off the Major an hour before the explosion at Red Hook. Aaron would like to help, but he needs Ben’s statement.

Michaela and Saanvi are in the hospital monitoring the passengers. Michaela touches one of the passengers; she suddenly hears the calling “find her” while seeing a blizzard. Then the unconscious guy suddenly goes back to normal. They asked the guy named Paul Santino (Kerry Malloy) if he still remembers the plane. Saanvi suggests to Michaela to touch Marko, but Marko doesn’t respond.

Ben and Michaela meet with other Flight 828 passengers who arrived before the plane exploded. Clarke informs them that part of what is happening to them is her theory of shared consciousness. The pilot of Flight 828 becomes concerned and departs. Before leaving, he warns Ben not to trust Clarke; the meeting was a waste of time.

Ben asks Autumn about someone called Major. Since Autumn is Laurence’s spy, she gets shocked and makes up a story: she says Laurence is scared of someone way more powerful than him. Laurence asks for money from the so-called Major, and he replies money is not a problem, and she even mentions hearing “the Holy Grail is priceless.”

Autumn says the Major is a woman. Ben connects it to the calling of Michaela, saying, “find her.” Autumn gets a text again, but she throws her phone to the sea.

Michaela finds someone on their database at the precinct but gets shocked because Jared is already there even after what happened. Jared admits he needs to talk to her, but Michaela says she’ll have to wait because she’s working on a case. He asks her to fill him in on the details, telling him about the missing person.

Olive visits Danny, tells him about what happened with her mother and asks for help.

Ben visits Grace and explains Cal asked him to come. They shoot hoops. Cal wonders why Ben isn’t at home. Ben tells Cal he wishes he could, but he must deal with the situation. 

Following that, Ben listens to the reporter’s podcast and overhears him using the “Holy Grail.” He questions Aaron about it; he admits a source told him the Major is after what’s referred to as the Holy Grail.

Michaela feels the calling once more.

Ben informs Michaela and Sannvi about the Major and the Holy Grail lead.

Jared sends a lead to Michaela via text message. He locates Paul’s wife, Helen, hiding out in a motel. They get shocked after the door opens: Helen Santino (Frances Eve) points a gun at them. When confronted with the truth about her disappearance, she admits Paul was an abusive husband. She went into hiding when she heard the flight had returned; she didn’t want him to find her. Michaela says Paul lost his memory and assures her safety.

Ben catches Agent Powell off guard and tries to fill him in on what’s going on. Ben believes whoever this Major is is to blame for Vance’s death. Powell advises Ben to walk away from it. Ben asks Powell what he believes Vance would want him to do as he departs.

Michaela informs Jared she no longer wishes to work with him at the precinct. She is aware time has passed while she was absent, and she refuses to be a stumbling block in his life. She will tell the captain not to team them up again. Understandably, Jared is upset.

Olive brings Danny for dinner. Grace becomes agitated because she does not think Danny’s presence is a good idea. She requests Danny leave. When Olive tells her mother she wants Danny to stay, a heated argument ensues. Cal texts Ben, who drives over and joins in on the commotion.

Michaela returns to the beach house. Paul asks about his wife. She lashes out at Paul, accusing him of being an abusive husband, not deserving a second chance. Sannvi interrupts the argument, leaving Paul perplexed and upset.

Ben orders Danny out of the Stone home, but Danny objects, claiming he was invited. When Grace breaks it up and admits she’s tired of it all, the two men begin to get into it. She tells Ben they can’t go back to the way things were, and she apologizes to Danny for not providing him with the family he expected.

Ben realizes Grace is no longer in love with him and admits he didn’t know she had moved on. He tells Danny to stay and hugs Olive, who is now crying because she realizes she chose Danny over her father. Ben then hugs Cal and tells his children how much he loves them. Ben leaves the house, gets into his car, and starts crying when he receives a phone call. It’s Agent Powell, admitting Vance would have appreciated his assistance. Powell informs Ben the Major has scheduled a Black Hawk helicopter flight to New York and warns him to be cautious.

Jared visits Michaela at her apartment. He storms in and demands she stop telling him how he feels. Jared admits he didn’t go to the hangar when he heard the flight was returning because he knew he’d never return home. “Mick, you’re not a wrecking ball. You’re my soul mate. When I look at you, the rest of the world just goes away,” Jared says, finally admitting he never stopped loving her. Overcome with emotion, Michaela kisses Jared, reigniting the romance and passion.

Following that, Michaela receives a text message from Ben about the Major.

Ben agrees to be on Aaron’s podcast and tells him about the Major and how he’s only trying to protect his family. After the podcast, Ben tells Aaron he can’t go public with it — at least not yet. He can make the interview public if something happens to him, but if not, Aaron’s got a Deep Throat.

Michaela receives another calling and realizes she is receiving someone else’s calling.

Powell is abducted and placed in the back of a black RV on his way home.

While getting coffee at a coffee shop, a man in a suit approaches Autumn. He informs her that the Major would like to speak with her.

Cal awakens in the episode’s final scene with a calling. He sees the same blizzard Michaela sees and hears a man’s voice saying, “find her.” But in his vision, the man is walking through the blizzard with a photo of Michaela.

Our Thoughts

Manifest has done a great job fleshing out most of its main cast. While it’s true there isn’t a character I hate with a passion — other than the faceless villain whose experiment we’ve seen, who doesn’t even appear to be a person — Lourdes is no exception. And recent events on the show could also lead to heartbreak for her.

On the other hand, you have Michaela, who, with each episode, struggles more and more with feelings of guilt and regret. So who knows how that will go in time?

Then you have Ben, Grace, and Danny trying to figure out how to make life work. Grace’s point of view is particularly fascinating because it’s easy to forget that she had gone through a mourning process after the flight disappeared. Seeing her caught between her husband and the life she built without him is very compelling to watch; it would be easy to pass judgment on Grace and say she should do one thing or another, but she’s as much a force on this narrative as every other character.

Regardless of how any of the interpersonal storylines play out while we wait for the big reveal or what’s next, Manifest provides us with a slow burn, engrossing to watch. As they begin to investigate and delve deeper into the mystery, it appears we will become even more absorbed in it.