How Hopeful Should Zeke Be About Saanvi’s Potential Cure on ‘Manifest’? (RECAP)
Spoiler Alert
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Season 2, Episode 8 of Manifest, “Carry On.”]
Monday’s episode of Manifest is filled with good news, bad news, and one big question mark about one of the main characters.
Everyone’s dealing with the aftermath of the club fire, and bodies are still being pulled from the building as mourners gather around a memorial for the victims. Meanwhile, Zeke (Matt Long) finds hope — thanks to Saanvi’s (Parveen Kaur) discovery — amidst his frostbite, but there’s one problem.
Plus, Michaela (Melissa Roxburgh) launches an investigation into her former partner Jared (J.R. Ramirez) with help from her new one, Drea (Ellen Tamaki). And Ben (Josh Dallas) hopes that his latest Calling may bring peace to Olive (Luna Blaise) after TJ’s (Garrett Wareing) sacrifice.
Zeke, You May Not Die, But …
The clock is ticking for Zeke, with his death date only six months away. “It’s not getting better,” he tells Saanvi of his frostbite. “I think you might be right. I may be freezing to death.” So far, he’s not showing any bone or muscle damage, but is it only a matter of time?
(Peter Kramer/NBC)
Saanvi tells him about her experiments and the successful elimination of the DNA anomaly from her body (and the Callings). “It’s still preliminary,” she warns him. “I don’t know how long it’s going to last or if it’s even safe. There could be side effects, and it could backfire. It could make me worse.” But he doesn’t see what could be “worse than dying,” especially after he and Michaela found each other. That’s what gets her to agree to see if he clears pre-clinical testing.
“When you care for someone that deeply, I get wanting to hold onto it, no matter what,” Saanvi tells him. “I wish I was still there, but I lost it.” Is that why she then goes and finds Alex (Sydney Morton) and kisses her without saying a word?
Sadly, there really doesn’t seem to be a happily ever after for those two — or possibly even for Saanvi and the rest of the returned. Near the end of the episode, Alex visits Saanvi in her lab to tell her that what happened in the park was “lovely” but a “mistake” and she’s chosen her family. But Saanvi has no idea what she’s talking about. Not only does she not remember being at the park, “I don’t remember where I was this morning,” she confesses. “I don’t remember a thing.”
If only Zeke knew this before he offered up Michaela hope about Saanvi’s potential cure. “I’m not giving up without a fight,” he promises her. But will he risk the side effects, including memory loss, to stay with her?
What’s Going on With Jared?
That’s been the question all season long as he’s seemingly fallen down a dark, dark path. And after he insists that the Xers couldn’t be involved in the club fire, Drea raises her concerns with Michaela. Add that to Michaela’s gut telling her he’s involved in something and the fact that he copied her case files and Michaela’s on board with following him.
They track him to the Xers bar, and Drea goes in undercover to confirm he’s close with them and possibly even one of them. Still, “something’s not right here,” Michaela says. She gets a warrant from the judge who released Zeke to plant a bug at the bar — while under the pretense of warning Tamara (Leah Gibson) to get Jared out of the Xers’ mess — and brings the recordings to Captain Bowers (Andrene Ward-Hammond).
(Will Hart/NBC)
It’s all very incriminating and proof that Jared is the leak. Bowers tells Michaela and Drea she’ll take it from there — and then plays the audio for Jared. “You’ve got a problem,” she says.
Jared has to be undercover, right? The vibe between Jared and Bowers in that scene wasn’t “cop in trouble with the boss” but more “this could ruin our operation.” It would make sense. He made friends with Tamara and Billy (Carl Lundstedt) in order to meet someone higher up in the group: Simon. Yes, he’s leaked police intel to the Xers, but likely on Bowers’ orders, to gain their trust. And if that’s the case, it’s worked. Simon considers him a valuable asset.
After all, Jared can’t be a bad guy; Michaela was going to marry him.
The Stones Get a Bit of Much Deserved Happiness
Following the club fire, the Stones are grieving for TJ. Olive doesn’t leave the house, and Michaela considers her niece’s bracelet on a burned body enough to identify his remains.
Meanwhile, Ben has a nightmare in which he can’t get to TJ in the fire and later has a Calling of chanting that leads him from the memorial outside the club to the Bushwick Meditation Center nearby. Olive tells her parents that TJ’s mother was Buddhist and he did his own DIY Buddhist ceremony for her to say goodbye after he came back and learned she’d died. Ben thinks they’re supposed to get “spiritual closure” in the same way for TJ.
(Peter Kramer/NBC)
But after they do just that, by sharing memories of TJ at the Center, Ben still hears the chanting. They follow it down to and through an underground tunnel connected to the club — and to TJ, still alive. Isaiah had been holding the bracelet, so he’s confirmed dead. But how’d TJ get under the club? “I heard voices, chanting,” he reveals as he recovers in the hospital.
The Callings obviously saved his life, but is it because he’s going to be needed for something later on?
Manifest, Mondays, 10/9c, NBC
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