After three seasons, Manifest has been cancelled by NBC, but many are hoping that the show still has a chance of surviving. The series aired its season 3 finale in June 2021, which ended on two game-changing cliffhangers that would have changed the lives of the main characters. However, just a few days later the show was scrapped.
When Manifest first premiered on NBC back in 2018, it was perceived as a new take on the formula of Lost, which proved to be a massive hit during the 2000s. The series centered on the passengers of a commercial airline that abruptly returned after being gone for five years, with everyone aboard oblivious to what happened and unaffected by the passing of time. Similar to ABC’s Lost, at the core of Manifest was its many mysteries and the diverse group of characters from different backgrounds drawn together by this incident. It started with an airplane disappearance, but the investigations of Ben (Josh Dallas), Michaela (Melissa Roxburgh), and Saanvi (Parveen Khaur) have since led to all sorts of new dilemmas.
Manifest showrunner Jeff Rake has said that he had a six-season plan for the series [via Collider], but it looks like the show may never get that far, as NBC has decided to pull the plug following its season 3 finale. The show performed extremely well in the ratings during season 1, but has been going downhill since season 2. It was on the bubble for a season 3 renewal, but its viewership numbers were fortunately consistent enough for another 13-episode order. It dropped a bit more in season 3, with its ratings averaging around 3 million. While it was admittedly doing better than most of its other on-the-bubble shows, it’s not all that surprising that NBC axed the show. But that doesn’t make Manifest coming to a sudden end any less disappointing for the fans.
NBC may have moved on from Manifest, but it could be that the show will find new life somewhere else – specifically, Netflix. Days after having its first two seasons released on the streaming platform on June 10, 2021, Manifest rocketed all the way up to #1 in the Netflix charts, and remained there several days. Given this fact, it’s possible that Netflix will be impressed enough by the numbers to take a chance on it and pick up the show for season 4. If its release on Netflix is generating new levels of interest in the show, that may just be what happens. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time that Netflix saved a cancelled series. Rake has expressed interest in finding the series a new home, but whether or not it works out remains to be seen.
Netflix may be fans’ only hope of seeing what comes next for Ben, Michaela, Saanvi, Vance (Daryl Edwards), Zeke (Matt Long), and all the others. The death of Grace (Athena Karnanis) in the Manifest season 3 finale is sure to have a major impact on Ben and the other members of the family, so it would be a shame if the repercussions of both this and Cal (Jack Messina) being mysteriously aged up five years in the episode’s last scene are never explored.