The passengers of Flight 828 must look to the future to find answers about the death date Callings and the mystery of what happened to them on the flight.

On Manifest Season 2 Episode 5, pieces of the puzzle began falling into place in exciting and unexpected ways thanks to the peacock symbol, Jared (shocker), and the Church of the Believers. Who knew they would be so key to the storyline?

One major revelation came as Grace explained that she saw the peacock symbol before on a tarot card that a psychic gave Olive about two years after the plane's disappearance.

The card featured the same peacock with the star above it as seen on the compass Mic retrieved on Manifest Season 2 Episode 4, and came with the message: "look to the future, there's a possibility that everything will turn out well."

Technically, one could argue that it was referring to their return in the future, but I think this is our first clue into figuring out what happened to Capt. Bill Daly and Fiona when they tried to jump into the future. 

Mic: Today was baseball bats, tomorrow might be guns. Do you see where that’s going?
Adrian: I believe in Gandhi's path. The minute we move to the offensive, we become a force to be feared. Then, sympathy evaporates.
Mic: So this is a PR campaign?
Adrian: This is about instilling hope.
Mic: To what end? People are getting hurt.
Adrian: To a world that understands and embraces us as a miracle.
Mic: Embraces you. Donates to you. That’s what you’re all about, isn’t it?

• Permalink: Embraces you. Donates to you. That’s what you’re all about, isn’t it?

You may remember that Daly thought he had figured out what happened to 828 and tried to fly into the storm to jump into 2024, the year of the assumed death date. 

Ben assumed Daly failed in his mission and was shot down, but what if he succeeded and has the answers they're looking for?

What if Daly encouraged the future versions of the passengers to send themselves Callings to prevent the death date?

That kind of knowledge from future Ben and Mic could help them thwart the danger in the present-day and possibly change history. 

On my review of Manifest Season 2 Episode 4, I mentioned that I was surprised that the "it's all connected" Calling wasn't more prominent, but this episode capitalized on the idea that nothing is coincidental or circumstantial.

Everything that's happening is due to cause-and-effect that's directly connected to the reemergence of the plane.

Olive played a more significant role as she was forced to come clean about her involvement in the Church to identify the X'er responsible for terrorizing the Church.

As expected, Ben and Grace didn't take too kindly to the reveal that she's a believer.

They understood her desire to get answers and make sense of what happened, but they continue to believe that Adrian is exploiting them and putting a target on their backs.

And while that may be true, Ben is making Adrian seem worse than he really is simply because he has nothing else to latch onto and no one else to blame. 

Adrian is fueling the fire unnecessarily, but the X'ers would have hated the "returned" with or without the Church.

Ben's hatred against Adrian is blinding him to the bigger picture at play here: Adrian isn't the guy that he needs to save Olive from, Isaiah is.

The subtle reveal that the blindly devoted Isaiah is an X'er posing within the Church was brilliantly executed and kind of creepy.

Isaiah was made out to be a victim throughout the hour, but the glare he gave Adrian towards the end makes it evident he has malicious intent.

Zeke: I don’t know if the people I hurt will ever forgive me. I don’t know if they should.
Man in rehab: It’s not about them. It’s about you.

• Permalink: It’s not about them. It’s about you.

It even explains why he didn't out any of the attackers -- it wasn't his dedication to the Church but rather protecting his own.

Why did he want to get close to Olive, though?

The Callings are useful, but it would be great if they were less cryptic and gave the passengers more to work with. 

They waste so much time trying to figure out the meaning behind the Calling which could be used to prevent catastrophes instead. 

Isaiah may be dangerous, but so is Simon White. It's revealed in the final moments that Ben's new boss and Erika's husband  (the lady from Grace's Calling) is the leader of the X'ers, which also explains why he wanted to recruit Ben at the university. 

It's a keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer kind of deal. 

They have to be careful about who they trust these days. The X'ers are everywhere and they're people you'd least expect. 

We knew there was something off about Simon initially, but this twist was so juicy and was delivered in a jaw-dropping way because Jared was surprisingly the one that lead us to the discovery.

He hasn't made the connection to the Stone family yet, so again, the audience knows more than characters, but it's only a matter of time before the pieces connect.

There's so much that needs to be addressed about Jared now, but let's start with commending him on being a clever cop.

Despite his fractured relationship with Mic, Jared realized that she was onto something with her Callings and the X'ers and took matters into his own hands.

At first, it seemed like he was turning against Mic when he sabotaged her mission to get the X'ers, but he only did it so he could prove he was trustworthy.

Jared gave the X'ers a tip that the cops were moving in on them because he wanted to get close to the man on top of the food chain. It's brilliant. 

Mic's determined to bring the X'ers down to save the passengers and her family, but she's got tunnel vision; she's grabbing whatever she can get her hands on instead of looking at the bigger picture, which is where Jared seems to excel.

He knew that if he tipped them off, their leader would come to thank him and thus, he'd be able to see what their end-goal is. 

It also means that Jared isn't moving on with the bartender but rather using her to get close to her X'er brother. 

She's just an innocent victim in his plan to help the love of his life. Sorry, girl.

Hopefully, Jared continues to play his cards right and smart so that this doesn't come back to bite him. 

The audience assumed Jared lost his way there for a little, but this comeback, if executed well, is impressive and seemingly redeems his character.

Mic: Don’t you want to see the people who did this to your church punished?
Isaiah: It is not my place to judge

• Permalink: It is not my place to judge

It would be great if he would team up with Mic because maybe this would allow them to work side-by-side towards a common goal and without all the bickering and drama. 

While Jared earns some brownie points, Zeke loses a few.

Zeke tried to make amends with his past so he could move on with Mic, which was awesome and a sign that he's ready to become a better person. 

He's finally arrived at a point where he realizes he doesn't need to punish himself for the mistakes of his past.

He deserves happiness instead of the guilt he's been carrying.

Chief Bowers: What are the chances stone’s right about this?
Jared: You know her to be wrong yet?

• Permalink: You know her to be wrong yet?

But opening the door to your past comes with consequences that Zeke wasn't prepared for. Consequences such as Courtney, his wife, showing up at Mic's doorstep because "she has nowhere else to go."

Let's back it up a hot minute ... wife?!

Did Zeke not know that? Did he not remember getting married?

And why does Courtney have nowhere else to go now all of a sudden? Is she using the fact that Zeke's in a better place to her advantage?

Poor Mic, she can't catch a break. She was blindsided by this reveal after she began opening herself up to the idea of love again. 

This is why women have trust issues. 

Could this be the situation that breaks up Zeke and Mic and pushes her back to Jared?

Other Manifest Musings

• The X'ers took it too far when they ran Grace off the road. Do they know about the 'miracle baby?' Oh, and it's a girl! 

• TJ was helping Ben and agreeing that Adrian's Church was fueling anti-828 sentiment but failed to mention he's an attendee of the church. Cool. 

• Where were Saanvi and Vance? Understandably, it's difficult to fit everything into a 45-minute episode, but there was no mention of what their game plan is now that The Major has stolen all their research. Is The Major working with the X'ers too?

• Ben attacking Adrian made me chuckle. He tried to act so hard and dangerous. 

• Why is Mic the only capable cop on the force aside from Jared?

• Ben sounds like all of us analyzing each episode and spitballing theories.

While the episode left fans with plenty of questions, it's fine because it also introduced new and unexpected twists that made this one of the most exciting offerings on Manifest Season 2.

We tend to be frustrated with the lack of movement when it comes getting any answers, but it's part of the fun since we have no idea where this wild ride takes us; it's equivalent to how the passengers must feel never fully knowing what's about to happen or why. 

What was your favorite part of the episode, TV Fanatics?

Do you think Jared should loop Mic into what he's doing?

What does Zeke's wife want?

And what's the deal with Isaiah?

Share your thoughts in the comment section below! 

Don't forget to watch Manifest online to catch up on episodes. 

Lizzy Buczak was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She retired in June 2021..