Manifest S01E01 "Pilot" Recap

On April 7, 2013 the passengers aboard Montego Air Flight 828 from Jamaica to New York City experience a patch of rough turbulence before landing. When they exit the plane the crew and passengers are met by various NSA and other law enforcement that inform them that their plane had disappeared and it has been five-and-a-half years since their plane departed. It is now now, November 4, 2018. They were all presumed dead after being missing for so long.

Passenger Ben is reunited with his wife Grace who is shocked that both he another son Cal who had also been on board haven't aged a day since they boarded the plane. Ben's sister Michaela breaks down when reuniting with her father when he informs her that her mother died.

When Michaela returns to the police station where she once worked as a police officer she finds that her fiancé Jared who also works there has gotten married to her best friend. She still has her job, technically, but needs to go through a series of tests to ensure she can still perform what the job requires. While on the bus, she hears a voice telling her to 'slow down' and she yells at the bus driver to do so which saves a child from being hit by it.

Another passenger from the flight, Saanvi, returns to the company where she worked as a medical researcher. She is welcome back with open arms for the research she had sent on the plane and that it not only works but has been successful in saving the lives of hundreds of people sick with terminal cancer.

Michaela is out for a run when she passes by some dogs barking from behind a chained fence. The voice tells her to "set them free" but she attempts to ignore it. Later that night she is woken by the voice telling her again to set them free so she returns to the fence area and sees the dogs. She is shocked when her brother Ben also arrives and admits that he too has been hearing the voice. Ben had previously claimed to not be hearing anything because he just want things to go back to normal so he can resume his life with his family. Michaela and Ben decide to cut the lock and free the dogs, hoping that this will simply stop whatever is manifesting in their minds.

Ben tries to reconnect with his daughter Olive who is now a teenager. He apologises for not being around and promises to be more present in her life than he was even before the plane disappeared. The two have an emotional breakthrough before Ben sends her back to her sports practice.

Saanvi notices Cal, Ben's son, come up as a possible candidate for the medical trial her research has helped to create. The other researchers are reluctant to 'break protocol' by including someone that was missing for five years despite not having aged during that time. Saanvi is insistent and continues to push to get Cal into the study.

Michaela is still emotionally conflicted when interacting with her ex Jared, who tries his best to help her in her readjustment. She is reprimanded by her superior officer for getting caught on camera with Ben letting the dogs out. When Jared and her go to return the dogs, she continues to hear the voice telling her to 'set them free' so she follows it to a strange storage unit. She breaks the locks on the door and discovers two young girls that the dog-owner had kidnapped. Jared arrests the man while Michaela comforts the girls and promises that they will be okay.

Grace tells Ben that she had resented him when he disappeared for the fact that Cal favored him (and that was why he insisted on going with Ben on the flight) and for taking away the last six months of his life that he was supposed to have. But now she is grateful to Ben, since their being on the flight together is what may have saved Cal and given him a new chance at finding a cure for his ailment. Cal observes Saanvi while getting a treatment session, and it appears that she was successful in getting him into the trial.

The NSA finish their initial examination of the plane and order that tomorrow the plane will be taken apart piece by piece for a closer inspection.

Secretly, Grace texts with someone with whom she had been in a relationship with. Olive asks Grace what she's going to do.

Michael and Ben continue to suffer from headaches and hearing voices and find themselves drawn back to the airstrip where the plane is. They are joined by all the other passengers and crew from the flight and are shocked to observe the plane explode.

Manifest airs on Mondays on NBC at 10/9c.