Manifest

Netflix (2018-2023)

Trailer available here

It has taken me a long time to get around to figuring out my thoughts and how to phrase them for Manifest. The rollercoaster it took me on of plot lines, character development and emotions was certainly not the smoothest or most enjoyable of rides.

That is not to say the premise itself was bad or that the show overall was not worth watching because it was but there is so much more that could have been done whilst simultaneously there needing to be a huge sense of fine tuning and whittling it down. Manifest is one of those shows where it got overextended and at times veered off into side plots that added very little to absolutely nothing of value.

In fact there were moments where them attempting to do character development or relationship and personal drama for a sense of relatability for the audience actually distracted from the plot line too much and made the whole thing seem ridiculous. The core scientific, spiritual, politics and religious reasoning and world of possibilities behind how certain things work or could work was a strong enough concept itself; Of course there would be emotional, mental and personal turmoil along the way but at times it felt more like a soap opera than anything else.

Perhaps it ended up feeling a bit like that because whilst the acting was not bad, a lot of the actors have been in a variety of ‘known’ shows before but it certainly did not feel like a stand out collection of performances or that they were really going out there to make the role their own. They stuck strongly to the mold of the script and the director instead of doing something that might seem to give a sparkle in their eye of enjoyment and with the drawn out length of the show it really became obvious.

It reached one point during the show where an event happened at the end of season one and was simply never mentioned or questioned again for several seasons. Not once did a truly huge moment get mentioned again; Every time something was raised around it all I could mutter to myself was “we will find that out here” or “did you all forget about this???”. It actually infuriated me at times because the whole reason it felt so cast aside was instead so all these needless branches of plots, many unclosed at the last episode of the final season, were opened and half hashed out for additional screen time.

The personal aspects brought in could have worked so much better and been a lot more palatable if they did not feel so cliché and stereotypical; A scientist seemingly scared of love, a police officer being too personally involved in cases, an academic professor trying to apply logic, a sense of educational logic to everything and housewives becoming lonely and concealing secrets. And I think that is why all the veering off from the main plot made me grumble the most because it just took away a sense of excitement and speed of everything. It made the show feel dragged out which given it was a whole concept of a fast-paced race against time to get answers just did not work by the end of it. The balance of good and bad tipped the scales into disappointing places.

It was also interesting to consider the way the writers approached official organizations and what their response and the general public might do in the situation of an entire plane disappearing for a number of years. The general public having fear and confusion and reacting with that makes complete sense but the presumed response and incompetence from the government and government aligned bodies just seems unrealistic; Not in a writer is mocking them sort of way but in a lack of research or wanting to put the effort in to make it realistic sort of way.

I really want to love it because there were some real gems in there, moments where I actually learnt things about existing mythologies and other concepts but everything else brought it down from that special place. Would I suggest sinking yourself into a show with so many seasons for the result you get at the end? Disappointingly, I would not.