Photo: Netflix

Warning: Deep spoilers for Manifest season four, part two, lie ahead.

The wild ride that is the mystery drama Manifest ends with its final ten episodes on Netflix and, not surprising anyone who’s watched the series, things only get wilder as it draws to a close. The second half of season four sees the passengers of the ill-fated Flight 828 — which disappeared for five and a half years back in 2013 before returning with everyone intact, albeit now with the ability to receive “callings” about the future (which actually turn out to be memories, IT’S FINE) — facing down the apocalypse. The passengers, led by sibling-duo Ben and Michaela Stone, learned some time ago that on June 4, 2024, they would all be judged as a group by a divine being, and if the good didn’t outweigh the bad, not only would they all be sentenced to death, but all of humanity would be too.

When season four, part two, picks up, the passengers are just months away from that Death Date with still nary a plan for how to stop it, plus the added obstacles of a public turned against them — all 828 passengers are kept locked up in a detention center — and wannabe-archangel-of-death-but-really-just-a-psychopath Angelina on the loose and more dangerous than ever. Things get worse when Ben, in a futile attempt to stop Angelina from hurting passengers by way of the false callings she can create with the Omega Sapphire fused to her hand, winds up getting rid of the callings for every passenger except for Cal. Since the passengers were counting on the good they’ve been doing through the callings to help them tip the scales of judgment in their favor, well, that’s a lot of pressure put on Cal. But wait! Things get even worse when the government issues “isolation protocol” and basically just locks everyone inside the detention center and leaves them to die. Thankfully, the passengers get an assist from Drea — pregnant with Jared’s baby no less, which is awkward since Jared and Mick have decided the end of the world is the perfect time to try dating again — who drills them an escape route. The day before the Death Date, volcanoes are popping up all over the world and Cal’s calling leads the main crew out to a very familiar location, where he disappears into the Glow and the stage is set for the final showdown between the passengers and whatever divine being has been pulling the strings all along.

If you’re reading this and you’ve never watched one minute of Manifest, you must be like “WHAT,” and what I want to say to you, sincerely, is “exactly.” Even if you are a longtime fan of Manifest, you must read that quick summary back and wonder what the hell is happening on this show. I didn’t even get into sapphires or the Divine Consciousness or the Glow! The goddess Ma’at? I don’t know her! Manifest is a cuckoo show that only gets more cuckoo with each development — it is endearing that way. And because it is a show that can be, well, a lot, it might be best to experience its conclusion with a friend. Someone who, as the series offers up its final set of conflicts and answers and some of its most bonkers moments yet, understands the inclination to yell, Wait, what? at the TV screen. So, why not walk through some of the wildest moments of Manifest’s final episode together? After all, we’re all on the same lifeboat.