‘Manifest’ has just premiered on NBC and is earning praise for its ‘Lost’-like mystery– Montego Air Flight 828 takes off from Jamaica with 191 passengers, then after a bout of extreme turbulence, are able to land. But upon landing safely in New York, all aboard learn that 5 ½ years have passed. What has happened? What happened to that missing 5 ½ years? Were they taken somewhere? And if so, why doesn’t anyone remember it, and why didn’t they age?
‘Manifest’ stars Josh Dallas, fresh off of his six+ seasons playing Prince Charming/David Newman on ‘Once Upon A Time’. Following the premiere of his new series, Dallas spoke to Collider and discussed why this series drew him back to another ongoing TV program:
“I was reading a lot of different pilots for this season and I came across Manifest, and I knew that I was in, from the moment that they got on that plane. And then, when they landed 5 ½ years later, I knew that it was something that I wanted to be a part of, and I wanted to play Ben [Stone]. He was a character that jumped out at me because he’s so different, in many ways, from my character on Once Upon a Time. He’s a normal human. He’s very flawed and very complex, and he’s trying to work through that.
“We meet Ben at a very stressful, dark time in his life, where his son Cal has been diagnosed with this terminal illness. He really deep dives into these tunnels of trying to fix things, much to his detriment, and when he puts those blinders on, the rest of the world falls away around him, meaning his relationships with his wife and his daughter. When he comes back, he’s got a second chance at trying to get things right with them. Of course, life has moved on for these people. His daughter is now a teenager, and he’s missed out on 5 ½ years of her life. Another mystery that we’ll try to solve is about how all of these 191 passengers on this plane are all connected. They’re all connected in ways that will surprise you, and in ways that the characters weren’t even aware of. For some reason, these characters have been chosen to bear witness to this event that’s happened to them, and gonna be Ben’s mission to figure out what that is.”
‘Manifest’ has only gotten tepid reviews, but unlike ‘Lost’ it appears that the show’s creators, Jeff Rake (‘The Mysteries of Laura’) and Matthew Fernandez already has a resolution in place. So regardless of how long ‘Manifest’ runs, fans can rest assured that they won’t be left dangling. But it remains to be seen how audiences react. Regardless of critics, if ratings are strong, ‘Manifest’ may sly high for seasons to come.
Did you catch the premiere of ‘Manifest’? What did you think?
‘Manifest’ airs on NBC on Monday nights at 10pm EST.
