How can that be? How can Flight 828 have landed and exploded in New York City and then have the tail fin be discovered in the waters of the Caribbean Sea? That will be explored, but it’s a question that might not be answered in its entirety this season. “That comes into play and what it means for the death date, and what it means for the callings,” Roxburgh tells Parade.com cryptically, sworn to secrecy on the season. The discovery of the tail fin will also cause problems for the 828ers from those that fear and hate them (Xers). They’ll use it as evidence that the people who returned on the plane aren’t necessarily who they say they are. “In every season, we’ve seen a little bit of an opposition,” Roxburgh continues. “In Season 1, it was a lot of government, and then Season 2, we met the [meth] trio, and they went after Cal (Jack Messina) and were causing a lot of issues. So, going into Season 3, we do meet more opposition as far as that new discovery and what a lot of people in the world think about us from that point on.” The discovery of the tail fin directly affects Michaela, because she returned to her job on the police force in Season 1, which hasn’t been easy as she’s faced roadblocks with her position there and pushback from other officers. “It actually brings her to a pivotal moment in her arc where she has to make a really tough, hard decision and it changes her story completely,” Roxburgh says. Then there’s the whole issue of Michaela’s husband Zeke (Matt Long) surviving his death date after diving into an icy lake to rescue Cal, who had been kidnapped by three meth dealers. And what was supposed to be a short-term marriage will go on at least until Michaela’s death date. What does that mean for Jared (J.R. Ramirez), Michaela’s former partner and almost fiancé? He was counting on Zeke not lasting long. “That triangle doesn’t die,” Roxburgh says. “There’s still definitely an immense friendship between Michaela and Jared. But Michaela and Zeke have a connection that is a bit supernatural and was founded in their ability to experience things that were abnormal, like the callings. But now that Zeke has survived the death date, things do change a little bit in the sense that having almost died, Season 3 moves into the what happens now for Zeke and what happens to Zeke and Michaela?” As Season 3 begins, Michaela and Zeke are on their honeymoon, which gets interrupted by a calling that leads the newlyweds on an adventure of their own. Read more of the chat with Roxburgh for her Manifest Season 3 spoilers.
The new season picks up about three months after the finale with Michaela and Zeke on their honeymoon. Where does it go from there?
In the first episode, we do pick up with Michaela and Zeke on their honeymoon–which as with good TV, nothing is without its dramatic moments. So, that honeymoon is a bit short-lived in the sense that Michaela gets a pretty heavy calling, which leads her to discover someone that’s pivotal to the rest of the season. Even within meeting that person, there’s a whole story of what that person has been through regarding the world of Manifest, the disappearance of the plane and its relation to all that. It’s pretty terrifying and it kicks off the season with a big bang.
Zeke’s survival is an indication that the death dates are not necessarily the end. But he wasn’t on the plane, so for the 828ers, is the key to surviving maybe following the callings like he did, like jumping into the water to rescue Cal?
Season 3 definitely tackles what stops people with these death dates from dying. And the big question mark that Ben and Michaela try and tackle is they think they have the answer in some moments, and then they find out they’re really wrong. There are other things that surprise them that make them realize that it needs to happen a little bit differently. So, it’s a big mystery or equation that they’re trying to solve: What is it specifically that stops someone from dying? And they do make some headway with that question in Season 3 in good and really, really, bad ways. And it costs them to discover the things they discover about that question. So, the audience will get some of those answers in Season 3. But it’s a journey. It’s not just like, “Oh, we figured it out. Off we go.” It definitely comes with its roadblocks and bumps and all of that fun stuff.
Are we also going to learn more about what the callings are?
It’s not necessarily that we find out where the callings are coming from. There’s more of what is expected of all of the passengers or anyone experiencing these callings and how to follow them and/or not follow them in order to survive the death date.
If I recall correctly, the bodies of the meth guys weren’t found at the end of the season. Is there more to that story?
Absolutely. There’s been a lot of things disappearing underwater. With the tape of them being rediscovered, in a similar way, there are answers to the–I call them the bad trio. With the bad trio’s bodies not being discovered, there are definitely some answers that come from that. Whether we meet those guys again or not, Ben, Michaela and everyone else trying to figure this out, discovers something from that moment. And it’s not just Zeke who changes some opinions by surviving the death date. With them not being discovered, we do come to some new conclusions.
What’s Ben (Josh Dallas) up to this season?
I guess the best way to answer that one is he’s always been a bit wily, and he likes to crunch the numbers, and that just amps up a notch. That’s the best I can explain it without giving anything away.
With the Major (Elizabeth Marvel) dead, because that was a big part of the story, is someone else going to take over her job because she was trying to weaponize the passengers?
I think it morphs. It’s not necessarily going to be one big, bad guy; it’s almost like a bit of a mystery as far as where the opposition’s coming from. And that’s what I feel makes this season fun is because there’s no real one target for us. There’s a lot of moving pieces that we constantly have to navigate.
Saanvi (Parveen Kaur) never meant to kill the Major, she just wanted to threaten her enough to get information. What price will she pay this season? How is she going to deal with that?
This is a big season for Parveen’s character. There are a lot of repercussions that come from killing the Major–personal, emotional, and with the rules of a law-abiding country. So, we see her go through a lot. And then on top of that, the callings have really touched on each passenger’s emotional blocks, I guess is the best way to put it. Like in Season 1 with Michaela having accidentally killed her best friend, there was a lot of that. So, this is a big one for Saanvi and we see her dealing with it within the callings.
You mentioned a major new character that you obviously didn’t want to identify. But, will we also meet more 828ers? Especially because there’s this new information that the death date is survivable.
Season 1 and Season 2 brought about some of those characters as well. So, I don’t know if in relation to Season 1 and 2 it’s going to be more or less, but we definitely do meet new characters.
How involved will Vance (Daryl Edwards) be? He seems to be the one ally in the government. Is he going to have a storyline this season as well?
I’m not spoiling anything, but at the end of Season 2 we did see Vance and Saanvi form a bit of an alliance. So, we do see quite a bit more of that. That leads to a lot of interesting story points as well. Season 3 of Manifest premieres tonight at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. Next, find out if Jack will ever meet adult Kate on This Is Us.
