Manifest - Course Deviation

Discussing Ep. 2.10

So I got some things right, and some things wrong. But the ending though.....WOW!!!

I almost lost faith in Jared. Almost. They did a good job building it up that he had betrayed Mick and the 828ers and aligned himself with the Xers. However, like Mick's intuition kept telling her....it didn't seem right. And sure enough, he was undercover. And he did an amazing job, kowtowing to Billy especially when someone like Jared would never kowtow to anyone like that! It was great. I was somewhat surprised they pulled the rug on the whole operation now, but I suppose with the abduction of Zeke, they really had no choice. However, it does come with some casualties.

I felt really bad for Tamara, and by extension, for Jared too. I said it before, whichever way that Jared was playing this, there was no way for him not to hurt somebody, whether it was Mick or Tamara. And for Tamara, it hurt doubly so. Even though she acknowledges that her brother is an idiot, she still loves him and was always looking out for him. Now Billy seems to be going away for a long time and Tamara is left with a broken and betrayed heart and no family thanks to what Jared had done. And for Jared, it sucked too. He didn't get the girl in the end. That flashback with Jared and Mick, when Jared proposed to her, showed just how much life had changed for Jared and what he lost. He lost Mick...twice! He lost Lourdes. He lost Tamara. The only thing that he got out of this whole thing was a pat on the back by Captain Bowers and a recommendation for getting a promotion. Other than that, Jared got nothing!

I give the Captain a lot of credit. When she yelled at Mick and Jared to get into her office, I bought it! I was glad to see that she wasn't a part of the Xers or a part of The Major's mole operation either. I am wondering now if they are going to pull the sheets on The Major's whole operation now since the Xers did have a number of different moles in the precinct, from Internal Affairs to the police union rep. I refuse to believe that the Xers were started and funded from Simon alone. He has to be a part of The Major's operation. But in what capacity? What I also want to know is the answer to a previous calling since we got to see Erica again.

Jared called in Simon to get advice on what to do, hoping to nab him in the process. But what surprised me was that Erica showed up too. The same Erica that Grace got a calling about, with that whole gargoyle business that made it seem like Grace had to "open her eyes" as to what was going on, to try and help Erica. Why? Erica didn't seem like a victim or a hostage to Simon at all. Her chilling recommendation to get rid of Zeke more than solidified her personality as being very much her own person and hating the 828ers as much as Simon does. I'm guessing since Erica did return, that we are going to get answers to that particular calling. I'm also wondering if we're going to get a reappearance by The Major as well since Simon, a potential major player in her organization, is now out of the game....potentially.

Speaking of callings, you could tell that the guy who Adrian saved in that river was going to be the same surgeon that they had been trying to reach that could save both Grace and Eden's lives. It was almost too perfect, and I like how Adrian questioned the entire thing. I liked how he was asking the same questions I was. Why did the callings send Grace and Ben there if they weren't supposed to save that doctor? The callings practically tortured Adrian to go there, and so he obeyed. But why send Grace and Ben? Why bring Eden into the world 28 weeks early? I liked how we got some insight into Adrian's past. It was so ironic that he was the son of a preacher, especially considering that he walked away from his faith, feeling like his father was never satisfied with what he had done. It explains how and why Adrian seemed like such a charismatic leader with the 828 Church. But I also like that, despite what happened, that he is still questioning everything. While Ben and Mick and all of them regard the callings as a blessing, he sees them as something else. And he may be onto something now with the shadow people!

I LOVED this new development. I was curious as to why they went back to this particular drawing that Cal did. I vaguely remember it and thought that it had to do with Cal and his being able to feel the pain of the 828ers being experimented on by The Major. But that all changed when all of a sudden, more shadows began to appear.

Three shadows to be specific. And only three. And considering what Adrian said, questioning the callings and wondering who was giving them and why and that perhaps they were all being manipulated to do evil acts rather than good was very interesting. I liked how Adrian referred to the Bible, to the idea that perhaps these callings aren't from God but from something else. And the three shadows appearing to Adrian at the end as though they were displeased with either his attitude or his discovery, while appearing to Cal at the end too, gave serious credibility to the idea that there is something dark out there that is watching all of them. This wasn't a vision or a calling. This was three beings seemingly visiting both Adrian and Cal and scaring the crap out of them!

Are the 828ers actually doing good? Are these shadows meant to be good or are they evil? And who or what are they? Angels? Demons? Why are there only three of them? Are they there to punish those who don't follow the callings? I couldn't help but recall the movie Ghost when those shadows came to take away all the "bad" people away to Hell. It sort of reminded me of that. Perhaps these shadows serve God, but serve the darker side of His purposes.

I hope the payoff to these shadows is worthwhile!