Manifest season 1's midseason finale finally resolved the storyline surrounding the missing passengers of Flight 828, but left plenty of loose ends to be tied up in the show's remaining seven episodes. In October, NBC extended Manifest season 1 to a full 16-episode season, and the rest of the season will continue to air in early 2019.

NBC's mystery drama series Manifest stars Melissa Roxburgh and Josh Dallas as Michaela and Ben Stone, two passengers who were on board Flight 828 when it returned from its flight five years after takeoff. After discovering that their loved ones have moved on with their lives, Michaela and Ben tried to start over also while struggling to understand what happened to them and the other passengers from Flight 828. To get to the bottom of the mystery, the two have allied with another passenger, Saanvi (Parveen Kaur), as well as Vance (Daryl Edwards), an NSA official.

Related: Manifest Review: NBC’s New Mystery Fails To Generate Much Intrigue

Over the course of Manifest season 1, the characters have discovered that a mysterious group abducted several passengers and have been experimenting on them. When Ben found out that one of them had a strange psychic connection to his son, Cal, he worried for his son's safety and has since worked tirelessly to save the missing passengers.

What Happened To The Missing Passengers

The search for the missing passengers has been the focus of the last several episodes of Manifest season 1. In the Manifest midseason finale, Ben, Michaela, and Vance are able to learn the missing passengers' location. With help from one of Cal's visions, they uncover an entrance to a secret hideout. They were strapped up to machines and experimented on with electroshock. It's unclear what the scientists were trying to accomplish with their experiments. When they were shocked by the scientists, their shared psychic connection caused their pain to be felt by all the other passengers, including Ben and Michaela.

When found, the passengers were barely conscious. The scientists attempted to "neutralize" them before they could be apprehended by Vance's tactical team, but they were too late. The passengers were freed and some of the scientists were captured before the facility was destroyed by an explosion. It's possible that their success will lead to more questions being answered when Manifest returns in 2019. Now that the passengers have been rescued, some of them can offer more details on what was done to them and why.

The cost for their search was high, though. Vance was "killed," Jared (J.R. Ramirez) was badly injured, and Grace (Athena Karkanis) was so angry about Cal's involvement in the rescue that she ended her relationship with Ben. Grace never completely believed that anything out of the ordinary was going on with the passengers, so she didn't accept Ben's explanation that Cal just showed up at the raid. Grace believes that Ben is a danger to Cal, while Ben believes that only he can keep Cal safe. In the coming episodes, Grace may come around when she realizes that Cal is special.

Who Are Manifest's Bad Guys?

Though Manifest's missing passengers were finally found, one mystery remains unsolved: who were the kidnappers? They're apparently associated with a company known Unified Dynamic Systems, but not much else is known about them at this time, nor are the purpose of their experiments, which are part of something called the Singularity Project. The mastermind behind the Singularity Project appears to be "The Major", the superior of the recently-introduced villain, Laurence Belson (Brian Wiles). Belson or "The Major" may end up serving as Manifest season 1's big bad.

The last scene in the episode revealed that Belson has a spy working for him. One of the missing passengers, Autumn, was allowed to escape so that she could find Ben and gain his trust. Ben and Michaela have no idea that Autumn is working with Belson, trying to find out how much they know and what their plans are. What this means is that Belson is just as curious about Ben and Michaela as they are about him and his people. Belson, Unified Dynamic Systems, and the Singularity Project all seem to have ties to the government, even though Vance and the NSA have no knowledge of them. When the passengers were taken, they were handed off to Unified Dynamics Systems, which means that at least one group/organization within the U.S. government is fully aware of their operations.

Page 2 of 2: Vance's Death & The Manifest Passengers' Abilities

Vance wearing a jacket and a bullet proof vest standing in front of stairs in Manifest.

Did Vance Fake His Death?

Though initially thought to be just another government official bent on keeping secrets from everyone, it turned out that Robert "Bobby" Vance is in the dark just as much as the audience and the other characters are. Vance slowly but surely became a trustworthy ally who risked his career to help Ben and Michaela in Manifest season 1. After the explosion at the Unified Dynamic Systems' secret facility in the Manifest season 1 midseason finale, Michaela learned that Jared survived but Vance was killed; this came after the police infiltrated the compound. Michaela recalled seeing him loaded onto an ambulance, but was later told that he died of his wounds.

While Manifest may have killed a key character off-screen, another possibility is that Vance isn't dead at all. That wouldn't be too far-fetched considering how important the character is to the overarching Manifest story arc, not to mention that a show about bringing characters back from the "dead" (five years later) can certainly fake-out an actual death off-screen. Vance's decision to help Ben and Michaela likely exposed him as an enemy of Unified Dynamic Systems, which would, of course, put him in their cross-hairs. With this in mind, it would make perfect sense for Vance to somehow fake his death. If thought to be dead, Vance can continue helping the passengers of Flight 828 without worrying about Belson and his lackeys trying to kill him. Or, it's possible that Unified Dynamic Systems managed to detain Vance sometime after he got into the ambulance.

What Other Abilities Do Passengers Have?

Ben, Michaela, and Saanvi talking in Manifest

Ever since Flight 828 landed in the Manifest series premiere, the passengers have displayed unusual abilities. Ben, Michaela, and Saanvi have all heard voices that help them figure out what to do next. They call these voices "the callings." Michaela believes the callings want her to help people. Unlike the others, Cal doesn't hear voices but does seem capable of predicting the future. Some characters believe that the problem with the callings is that when other people are told about them, they die.

The midseason finale showed that Ben too may possess a unique ability that the others don't share. Cal told Ben that only he would be able to help the missing passengers escape. The meaning behind this was made clear when Ben alone was able to see a lighted path that showed them the way out. Ben also saw a vision of a peacock, which may be explained in a later episode.

Toward the end of the midseason finale, Michaela decided to try a different approach to the callings. When Jared was in critical condition at the hospital, Michaela tried to speak directly to the callings and ask for Jared to live. Whether it worked or not, Jared survived, causing Michaela to believe that her plea was what saved him. Ben is skeptical of course, and tells Michaela that they can't control the callings. What happened in the Manifest midseason finale could have a major impact on the show going forward. If Michaela does learn to control the callings, they could act as a sort of super power that they can use to help even more people in need.

More: What To Expect From Manifest In 2019