The fourth and final season of Manifest is shaping up to be the most emotional yet. While the show is known for its mystery box nature, introducing new wrinkles and twists on a regular basis, it’s also the story of a family dealing with loss, grief, and trauma together. Season 4 will explore that even further, especially with the character of Ben, played by Josh Dallas.
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At the end of Season 3, Ben’s wife is killed and his son suddenly ages several years. He loses a lot all at once. Season 4 will take place two years after those events, but Ben will still be deep in that grief.
“It’s just total devastation for Ben,” Dallas told Netflix’s Tudum publication. “He’s left with a profound anger, a void where he’s lost himself. And the thing about anger is that it begs to stick around. It robs you of your beauty, and you end up hurting the people that love you. He really checks out from the people that are still around him – and from the ‘callings.’ He’s done with them. In his mind, they’ve not given him anything.”
With Ben lost in his grief, Michaela is forced into a new role. Star Melissa Roxburgh said that Michaela has to essentially take over for her brother during this period of their lives.
“She steps in as the parent to everyone,” Roxburgh said. “Because Ben is so zoned in on his own stuff, she takes over that role; her whole thing is making sure that the passengers are safe now.”
Cal will also be going through quite a lot in the new season, having disappeared and aged five years in the span of just one day. Series creator Jeff Rake opened up about Cal’s journey in the upcoming episodes.
“He knows where he’s been – fundamentally, he understands. But the why of it, the details of it, he’s going to have to put that together piecemeal,” said Rake. “From a psychological place, he blames himself for so much of what happened at the end of last season – and problematically and painfully, his dad sort of blames him as well.”
Ben can’t help but have this complicated feeling of ‘you did it’ toward his son,” added Dallas. “And that’s really, really rough.”
Manifest returns for the first half of its final season on November 10th.
