Manifest Season 1 Episode 15 Recap – Hard Landing

In this week’s episode of Manifest: “Hard Landing,” Ben and Michaela are forced to deal with a selfish and self-centered person who might be a murderer.

The episode begins where unknown three guys robbed a bank. Suddenly, the driver shoots the two guys and leaves once the stolen money‘s put in the van.

Present time — three days after the robbery, they found the driver’s body inside the vehicle that fell into the river. His name is Griffin, and he is still alive. Michaela takes a picture of Griffin (Marc Menchaca) and sends it to Ben.

Grace, Ben, and Zeke talk about the news at Ben‘s house, confused. The van reappearance is like what happened to Zeke. Michaela calls Ben. She tells him Griffin must be bloated and dead — he’s been underwater for over 80 hours. Ben says maybe he’s not underwater the whole time. Grace describes Griffin jumping at her; Ben remembers what Cal drew — the wolf. They decide to meet at Koch. Grace agrees. Zeke goes with him since what happened to them is the same.

At the hospital, Jared asks Michaela why Griffin is still alive. Michaela shares Cal knew what‘s going to happen. Jared interrupts her asking if it‘s the same with Ben and her coming back from the plane. Michaela shares Griffin‘s not the first person but Zeke. 

Ben and Zeke meet Jared at the emergency room. Before Jared leaves, he whispers to Zeke not to leave before they get a chance to talk. Zeke gets confused, so Ben shares that Jared and Michaela were a couple before the plane happened. After they came back, everything was complicated.

Michaela and Dr. Saanvi are at the ER door while watching the doctors checking Griffin. They analyze the time from when Griffin went missing to when he was found — it’s 82 hours and 8 minutes — 828. The steel plate in the ER fell, causing a noise. Dr. Saanvi suddenly cowers and remembers Alice when she slapped her.

Griffin wakes up and speaks of things, including people are dying. Dr. Saanvi and Michaela realize it is a calling, so they get inside to ask more, but the doctor says get out. Dr. Saanvi asks not to sedate Griffin, but it is too late.

Later, Michaela tells Ben and Zeke about Griffin’s calling. She feels she must assist him in understanding the visions and determining the explosion‘s location.

Michaela goes to Griffin and asks for details about his calling. She explains she’s from Flight 828 and experiences the calling. Griffin gets confused.

Ben talks to Olive. She asks if Griffin needs to be added to the board they created of the people in Flight 828. Cal is busy doing his project. Grace gets on the phone and asks Ben. He explains Griffin has the calling of a bombing. Before they cut the call, Grace tells him she’s glad they are a family again.

Jared meets Zeke; he‘s immediately wary of him. His suspicions are verified when he discovers Zeke is connected at the cabin where he knows Michaela stayed. Michaela tells Jared to put an end to his envy.

Griffin is moved to the police station, and as he is leaving the hospital, he admits to Michaela he felt he was insane. But because Michaela explained about the calling, he got his get-out-of-jail-free card,  knowing where a bomb will detonate,

At the precinct, the FBI and Michaela’s employer are looking into getting Griffin a deal. There has been talk of a terrorist strike, so they feel he has valuable information. Michaela requests to speak with Griffin from Captain Riojas as they work on the deal. She believes she can persuade him to reveal the location of the explosion. Jared agrees with her, asking the captain to follow Michaela’s instincts.

Griffin seeks to acquire immunity for what he knows about the bomb when Michaela calls Ben and acknowledges she made a mistake. She instructs him to conduct research on Griffin and text her the results as she interrogates him. Of course, Ben concurs.

Ben tells Grace of the situation. She advises they all pitch in. But Ben is apprehensive about enlisting Olive; Grace points out who better to assist them in their online search than a teenager? The research into James Griffin has become a Stone family effort.

While conducting research, Grace stumbles across Cody’s website, informing his followers that a criminal has become a passenger on the 828, so they must rise against them. Ben realizes Griffin has been in foster care since five years old.

Griffin is unfazed when Michaela brings up his upbringing as a foster child. She asks about not having parents or a family, and he responds there are several types of families. His is equally as powerful as hers.

Olive learns that Griffin has a brother called Devon Carrick, who died in 2004. Ben sends the information to Michaela through text message, hoping to provide her with additional ammo.

Ben meets Angela Graham, who operates a food bank and is Griffin’s foster mother before. He’s all set to leave and talk to her, but Grace changes his mind and suggests she accompany him. Mother to mother, Angela (Jade Wu) could be more receptive to her.

Griffin is concerned when Michaela brings up Devon. He inquires as to how she came up with the name.

Meanwhile, Zeke has gone for a walk and comes to a halt outside a house. He starts looking for the key to the front door. Two officers see him and arrest him as he attempts to crack the lock.

Saanvi gathers her thoughts as she continues to cope with being abducted just a day before when a coworker enters her office and comments she doesn’t look herself. He worries whether she needs to chat, but she tells him she is well and expresses gratitude for his attention.

Back at the precinct, Jared wants to charge Zeke with attempted burglary, but Michaela stops him. Michaela replies violently when Jared wonders whether she’s just going to trust everyone who has a calling, such as Griffin and Zeke. She tells him Zeke is nothing resembling Griffin. Jared does not trust Zeke, but Michaela requests he confine Zeke in a cage until she can speak with him. She does not want him arrested.

Michaela goes to the interrogation room with Griffin and asks more about Devon. He’s uncomfortable with her bringing up Devon, so Michaela gives him the paperwork — he was imprisoned for killing a guy during a heist. Michaela tries to convince Griffin, realizing that Griffin made a deal and lied about Devon shooting the man. Griffin refuses to discuss anything and is rescued when her employer stops Michaela.

Michaela goes outside the room. The captain informs her that Griffin’s bargain has been accepted: no jail time in return for the bomb’s location. The captain advises Michaela that if she is going to break him, she must do so quickly — they’re running out of time.

Grace meets Angela, who reveals Devon is like Griffin’s brother. Griffin is the one guy Devon could ever rely on. They were detained as juveniles, and she never saw them again. Graham admits to Grace that Griffin was always a jerk. She doesn’t think he deserves another opportunity.

Ben visits Saanvi, who is shaken by the abducting. She acknowledges she understands what’s wrong with her, yet she can’t stop herself from experiencing it. Ben informs she has post-traumatic stress disorder and should give herself a break; it has only been a day since her horrific occurrence. He sits close to her and assures her she is not alone — he and Michaela are there for her.

Saanvi expresses concern all they’ve been working on to understand the calling and what happened to them on Flight 828 will be futile. She informs him she checked Griffin’s blood to determine if he has the same marker as the passengers on Flight 828 and Zeke — they all have.

In the interrogation room, Michaela gives Griffin a photograph of Devon and urges him to do the right thing to help her save lives. Michaela’s supervisor walks in with the FBI agent and informs her that the higher-ups have arrived to offer Griffin his deal. “Nice chatting with you, detective,” Griffin adds as Michaela walks away.

Michaela approaches Zeke in his cell and offers him a cup of coffee. He admits he went to check on his mother. She asks why he didn’t just knock; he says he’s already caused her too much sorrow.

Michaela lets Zeke go and sends him on his way to meet his mother the proper way this time.

Jared is irritated that Michaela let Zeke leave, but she advises dropping it. Jared retrieves Zeke’s coffee cup from the trash bin and sends it off to be tested for prints and DNA when Michaela walks away.

At home, he asks Grace whether it’s conceivable what they’re doing is incorrect. He legitimately wants to know what they are a part of. Grace believes it is a matter of how a person decides to use their calling.

Griffin is given a contract. Michaela tells him on his way out not to misuse his callings. Griffin says he will take them to a whole new level.

Later in Times Square, the bomb squad finds the explosive in a hotdog vendor. They deactivate it as Michaela and Jared observe from a safe distance. They should be secure, but Michaela hears snarling and turns to find a wolf in the crowd. The wolf retreats. Seeing Michaela’s response, Jared assures the bomb has been neutralized, and everything is OK. “No, we’re not,” Michaela responds.

Our Thoughts

The penultimate episode, “Hard Landing,” was adequate. The growing number of persons experiencing the callings elevates this above a single incidence account. It remains a significant enigma with little to no knowledge of the cause. But the lack of advancement and huge disclosures have made this idea monotonous. The character drama contributing to this show’s successful combination of sci-fi drama has taken a back seat. As a result, the characters feel they’re merely going through the motions. Hopefully, Manifest will be able to focus more on character-driven storytelling in the future and stop feeling like it’s stuck in a rut.