Manifest Character Review: Cal Stone

*For the foreseeable future, some Character Review posts may not be published every Thursday as they have in the past.

*Warning: This post contains spoilers about the characters from the television series Manifest. Read at your own risk if you have not watched the show.

There is something to be said about a well written, human character. They leap off the page and speak to us as if they were right in front of us, as flesh and blood human beings, instead of fictional creations.

If we are lucky, our childhood is carefree and easy. Unfortunately, not every child is fortunate enough to have such an experience. On Manifest, Cal Stone (Jack Messina) is one of the children whose young life is marked by misfortune. At the age of nine, he is diagnosed with leukemia. He is given every treatment that the doctors can provide. But none seem to work. Facing the possibility that Cal may not live much longer, his parents, Ben and Grace (Josh Dallas and Athena Karkanis) arrange a family vacation.

That vacation forever changes their lives. Cal, Ben, and Ben’s sister’s Michaela (Melissa Roxburgh) return home separately from the rest of the family due to an overbooked flight. That plane, according to the rest of the world, disappears for five and a half years. Those aboard, after a certain amount of time, are presumed to be dead.

When Cal, Ben, and Michaela finally land, they discover that the world they knew has is not the one they left. He and his twin sister Olive (Luna Blaise) look more like an older sister and a younger brother. His cancer is in remission thanks to the work of Saanvi Bahl (Parveen Kaur), a medical researcher who was also on the flight. He also starts to develop a psychic connection to a man who was on the plane but has since disappeared. These visions open the door to questions of what really happened and why they happened.

If that was not enough, there is an element of danger. When Cal is kidnapped just after his aunt’s wedding to Zeke London (Matt Long), he becomes a useful target to those with ill intentions. Cal is rescued by Michaela and Zeke, but not before Zeke dies and then comes back to life. This opens the door to even more questions about the mystery that is Flight 828.

To sum it up: Cal wants to be a regular kid and do everything that he should be doing at the age of eleven. But fate other plans in mind for this young man. He learns to adjust to his new circumstances, a lesson that is important to learn, regardless of age.

Which is why he is a memorable character.

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Manifest Character Review: Olive Stone

*For the foreseeable future, some Character Review posts may not be published every Thursday as they have in the past.

*Warning: This post contains spoilers about the characters from the television series Manifest. Read at your own risk if you have not watched the show.

There is something to be said about a well written, human character. They leap off the page and speak to us as if they were right in front of us, as flesh and blood human beings, instead of fictional creations.

Being a teenager is hard enough. Add in the mysterious disappearance and then reappearance of family members only creates more stress and tension. On Manifest, Olive Stone (Luna Blaise) was living a completely normal life up until the age of eleven. Then her family returned from vacation and everything changed. Her father Ben (Josh Dallas), twin brother Cal (Jack Messina), and aunt Michaela (Melissa Roxburgh) were apparently killed in a plane accident after the family took separate flights home. Five and a half years later, they have not only survived but have not aged a day.

During that five and a half years, Olive got used to being raised alone by her mother, Grace (Athena Karkanis). She also gets used to the idea that Grace has a new boyfriend, Danny (Daniel Sunjata). Then her father, brother, and aunt come back to the family fold, and everything changes.

Initially, Olive is happy to help her father and aunt figure out what happened to them. But then she becomes angry when her mother gets pregnant again and she is the only one who does not receive callings. Her anger soon subsides when she begins to accept her family for who they are. Olive also starts to date TJ Morrison (Garrett Wareing), another survivor of the flight.

To sum it up: In a sense, Olive Stone is your average teenage girl, with the ups and downs that come with that stage of life. But, in another sense, due to the uniqueness of her familial experience, she is not your average teenage girl. She may not have completely understood or accepted her circumstances, but in the end, Olive knows who loves and accepts her.

Which is why she is a memorable character.

Manifest Character Review: Grace Stone

*For the foreseeable future, some Character Review posts may not be published every Thursday as they have in the past.

*Warning: This post contains spoilers about the characters from the television series Manifest. Read at your own risk if you have not watched the show.

There is something to be said about a well written, human character. They leap off the page and speak to us as if they were right in front of us, as flesh and blood human beings, instead of fictional creations.

When tragedy strikes, we have two choices. We can either let it hold us back or find a way to move on. On Manifest, Grace Stone (Athena Karkanis) went through what no one should go through: the early loss of family. After returning home from vacation, Grace was told that her husband Ben (Josh Dallas), son Cal (Jack Messina), and sister-in-law Michaela (Melissa Roxburgh) were on a plane that went messing.

For five and a half years, Grace raised her daughter Olive (Luna Blaise) as a single mother. Doing the best she could to move on, she started seeing Danny (Daniel Sunjata). Then she heard the news that the plane had landed, everyone aboard was safe and alive. But the happy news of the reunification only complicated things.

Torn between the new life she had been building and the life she had before the flight, Grace has to make a choice. That choice leads her back to Ben, a new baby, and another chance for happiness.

To sum it up: No one goes through life without experiencing a few potholes The question is how we react to those potholes. After grieving, she responds with strength and grit, allowing her and the audience to find some sort of inner peace.

Which is why she is a memorable character.

Manifest Character Review: Ben Stone

*For the foreseeable future, some Character Review posts may not be published every Thursday as they have in the past.

*Warning: This post contains spoilers about the characters from the television series Manifest. Read at your own risk if you have not watched the show.

There is something to be said about a well written, human character. They leap off the page and speak to us as if they were right in front of us, as flesh and blood human beings, instead of fictional creations.

It is amazing how a single moment can forever change the course of our lives. At the point, who we are is divided in half: before that moment and after that moment.

On Manifest, Ben Stone’s (Josh Dallas) journey starts with an ordinary event. Coming home from vacation to his home in New York City with his family, they are greeted with the announcement that their flight is overbooked. Due to the financial concerns with his son Cal’s (Jack Messina) cancer treatment, Ben, Cal, and Ben sister’s Michaela (Melissa Roxburgh) agree to take a later flight.

While in the air, the plane hits turbulence. When it finally lands, the passengers are informed that they have been missing for over five years. But while the time has not passed for those on the plane, it has passed for everyone else.

Needless too say, getting back to their pre-flight normal is far from his easy. Ben’s wife, Grace (Athena Karkanis) is torn between her husband and a relationship that has developed in the years since they were separated. Their daughter, Olive (Luna Blaise) is still resentful that her father’s attention was on her brother and has gotten used to being father-less.

On top of that, Ben starts hearing voices (known as the callings), directing him to do things which he is not quite sure about. Pulled into the mystery of what happened on that plane and getting his son back to health, he is not the same man as he was before. He can also be very single minded at certain times, making it difficult to see the rest of the world around him.

To sum it up: Our lives are never static, as much as we would like them to be. Change is happening around us, whether we recognize it or not. It is how we react to that change that shapes us. Ben is one of those characters who is smart enough to recognize that his life is not the same. He knows that it would be foolish to deny what has happened to him, he can only play the cards that he has been dealt.

Which is why he is a memorable character.

Manifest Review

The hope is that when we go on vacation, getting to and from our destination will be painless. But like many things, hope often springs eternal

In the new television series, Manifest, the Stone family are an average American family on their way home from a Caribbean vacation. While waiting to board their flight, the airport staff announce that the flight is overbooked and asks if some passengers would be willing to change their flight.

Ben (Josh Dallas), his son Cal (Josh Messina) and his sister Michaela (Melissa Roxburgh) agree to go on the later flight. Ben’s wife, Grace (Athena (Karkanis), their daughter Olive (Luna Blaise) return home on the scheduled flight with his parents. On the rescheduled flight, that carries Ben, Cal and Michaela, there is some unexpected turbulence.  When the plane lands, the passengers discover that their flight has been missing for five and half years and they have been presumed to be dead. What starts out as a simple question as to what happened to the passengers and why opens the door to a mystery that no one can solve.

I really liked this show. It almost reminds me of Lost in terms of an ordinary even that leads to extraordinary questions. It was well written, well acted and I am looking forward to the next episode.

I recommend it.

Manifest airs at 10pm Monday night on NBC.