Manifest’s Cal tease in the season 3 finale hints that the character already survived the Death Date. Supposedly, every Flight 818 passenger who’s still alive will meet a sudden end on June 2, 2024. Previous events on the show have provided evidence for the idea that the passengers will die after they’ve lived for the same length of time they were gone, which was five and a half years.
Ever since Manifest season 1, Ben and the others have been making efforts to ensure that they survive beyond June 2, 2024, which is the day their time allegedly runs out. Zeke using the Callings to get past his own Death Date gave them reasons to hope that they too could survive, but things have since become much more complicated. Now the main characters believe in the Lifeboat theory, which says that every passenger must stay on the right path, or else all of them will die together on their given Death Date. Due to this new interpretation of the rules, Ben has been working tirelessly at following the Callings and keeping everyone in line, but stopping 40 people from going astray just may not be feasible.
A way forward may have presented itself in the Manifest season 3 finale when Jack Messina’s Cal was aged up by five years. Now played by Ty Doran, the character said to his dying mother, “I know what we have to do now”. Not only do these words mean that Cal has a plan to save everyone, but they also imply that Cal somehow made it past the Death Date. If he did, that would explain his newfound confidence. He can’t know for sure what has to be done unless he’s already experienced the Death Date.
Given the circumstances of his return, this scenario is indeed plausible for his character. Of course, June 2024 is a long way off, but if Cal was living in another time for five years, it makes sense that he would have dealt with the Death Date regardless of where he was in the timestream. He had approximately three years before his time was set to expire. Whatever trials Cal had to face could have involved him finding a solution to the Death Date problem. If that’s the case, he may be planning on using his own experienced to get the Flight 828 passengers past the Death Date. But if the Lifeboat theory is correct, it may be difficult for Cal to apply the events of his individual journey to what’s going on with the passengers.
Regardless, Manifest going in this direction would promise all sorts of changes to Cal’s character (in addition to the new age and actor change). Since Zeke received empathic powers after beating the Death Date, Cal could receive either the same abilities or a totally new power in Manifest season 4. Instead of using this ability for himself, he could use it to assist the passengers. After all, getting past the Death Date would mean that June 2, 2024 is of no threat to him anymore. His new goal may be to help the others, who may or may not immediately get on board with whatever Cal’s plan is for their future.