Manifest S01E04 "Unclaimed Baggage" Recap

In a flashback to Flight 828, a flight attendant named Bethany is revealed to have smuggled her cousin Leo's boyfriend Thomas in the cargo hold. She is concerned when she learns that local law enforcement will be meeting the flight when it lands.

Saanvi has a passing vision of a grey-painted statue-like person and wet footprints it is tracking through the facility but the vision disappears when a colleague speaks to her. She continues to examine her own brain scans to try to understand the various visions she's been having. A homeless patient that was brought into the facility is shown to have similar brain activities but with a more pronounced activity in the area that has been lighting up in Saanvi's brain. She decides to look in on the patient and it's Thomas who frantically asks her to get Bethany, the flight attendant, before being sedated by orderlies.

Ben visits Saanvi who tells him about the visions she's been having along with the patient's demand to see Bethany. Grace calls him home and delivers bad news - the insurance company intends to recollect the $500K which they had paid her after Ben disappeared and was presumed dead. Ben reassures Grace that they will figure things out and that she doesn't have to handle things alone anymore.

Jared engineers a shift on a stakeout with Michaela so he can get a better sense of if she's okay. Things are good until he gets into an argument with her when she learns that he planned for them to be together so he can look in on her. Michaela then has a vision of the silver, winged statue-person insisting that she 'save him' which prompts her to insist that they go in to the building they're supposed to be staking out. Jared decides to go along with her instincts but it causes the mission to be botched and Jared assumes responsibility for the decision without Michaela being blamed. As a result, Jared is suspended.

Saanvi visits Bethany and tells her about the patient and Bethany explains that she didn't know where Thomas was after the flight and that the reason she smuggled him is because of how dangerous it was to be gay in Jamaica. Leo, Thomas' boyfriend, went missing two years after their flight disappeared so there wasn't anyone available to meet Thomas or help him in a strange new country. Meanwhile, the NSA had found Thomas' fingerprints and were able to match them after his fingerprints were added to the system.

Ben is able to solve the problem of how to pay back the money by doing some mathematical calculations over the course of just a few hours. Grace is overjoyed by this revelation but their potential lovemaking is interrupted by a phone call. Olive has been detained for trying to steal a lipstick. Ben offers to pick her up himself since he has been trying to figure out how to better communicate with and understand his now-teenage daughter. On the way there, Ben gets a call from Michaela who tells him about the vision she had. Ben says it's the same one Saanvi has been having and warns her not to tell Jared or anyone else what's been going on or else they'll risk the NSA finding out that they lied.

Saanvi finds out that Thomas is set to be transferred to another facility. She and Bethany need to act fast if they're going to save him.

Ben reaches the department store and meets Olive, who had called Grace's ex-boyfriend Danny and is with her waiting for Grace. The encounter is awkward, to say the least. On the drive home, Ben recalls playing with Olive at Central Park. The two got along great, but now there is a distance between them he is struggling to fix. Upon getting home he tells Olive a story about a boomerang he stole when he was fifteen. He doesn't quite know why he did it, but admits he wanted to try to get some control back when he felt lost. Ben is willing to offer Olive a free pass, just as his mother did for him. she feels guilt-ridden about her actions and promises not to do it again. She explains that she called Danny instead of him because she feels like a screw-up and that Ben still sees her as a perfect little ten-year-old girl. Ben promises that he still thinks that she's great, he still loves her, and that she can always call him if she needs him. Ben agrees to keep this incident secret from Grace but warns her that there will be consequences if she does it again.

Jared wants to know what Michaela saw or heard but she can't tell him. He still wants to protect her and won't let her come forward about her involvement in the call to go into the building early. Michaela promises that there is someone that she will be speaking to in order to get help.

Saanvi forges release papers for Thomas but he's just escaped. Saanvi and Bethany are forced to flee since the NSA is there to look for him. Michaela arrives just as the two go outside and drives them off. They know that Vance can and will likely use Thomas as a scapegoat for the strange happenings with Flight 828. They need to find him before Vance does. Saanvi explains her visions to Michaela. Their visions differ since Saanvi sees wet footprints and Michaela sees the woman with wings. Bethany helps them to peace the clues together to track down Thomas.

Grace confronts Ben about Olive shoplifting. They get into an argument over their differences in parenting approaches and for the fact that Grace spoke to Danny again which is how she learned about his shoplifting. Ben ponders as to whether it isn't fair for him to ask her to let him go. He decides to go out to clear his head.

Bethany, Michaela, and Saanvi help Thomas to understand that the five years lost are real and that he hasn't lost his mind. They also help him to pull himself together so he can hide before the NSA track them down. They decide to have him hide in the former mall owned by Kelly Taylor. Michaela goes out to gather some supplies and meet up with Ben. He is concerned that she's now helping to harbour a fugitive, furthering the risk of getting caught by the NSA. Ben thinks they can't follow the 'calls' blindly but Michaela doesn't think they have a choice.

Vance adds Thomas' image to his Persons of Interest board with the label "John Doe", replacing Kelly Taylor who had been removed following her death.

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