Many are convinced that the Callings in Manifest are secretly evil. While Ben (Josh Dallas) has embraced them as messages designed with good intent, a significant number of fans believe otherwise. Their opinion of the Callings is also shared by Adrian (Jared Grimes), a Flight 828 passenger and a recurring antagonist to the main characters.
It didn’t take long for people like Ben, Michaela (Melissa Roxburgh), Cal (Jack Messina), and Saanvi (Parveen Kaur) to determine that the strange visions they receive – which they have dubbed “Callings” – must be followed by several reasons. Throughout the series, the characters have relied on the Callings to solve crimes and save people in danger. At this point, there’s no denying that the insight into the future provided by the Callings have saved a lot of lives in Manifest. As a result, quite a few have come to the conclusion that the Callings must be divine in nature. In other words, some suspect that the Callings are a higher power’s way of telling them what they have to do.
Though the passengers have yet to figure out the true source of the Callings and what their purpose is, most still adhere to their warnings. Certain setbacks have occasionally instilled them with doubts, but Ben and the others have remained committed to using the Callings to keep the Lifeboat afloat and get past their dreaded Death Date. But in spite of there being a sense that the Callings are their best hope of survival, Adrian’s theory about the Callings being evil hasn’t been debunked. Here’s why Adrian and Manifest fans think the Callings are evil and what their goal could really be (if its not to save the passengers).
Why Adrian Thinks The Callings Are Evil
Adrian, who used to think that the Callings and the Flight 828 passengers were divine miracles, is now concerned about the Callings bringing about “the end times” and using people like Ben to make that happen. He said in a season 2 episode that the Callings manipulate people, and also blamed them for the deadly fire at the club. According to him, Adrian’s Calling set up a chain of events that eventually culminated in the incident. He pointed out that Ben hasn’t even considered the possibility that the Callings “create more bad than good”. Adrian thinks that the problems that the passengers have been fixing with the Callings were started by them in the first place.
Adrian argued in season 2’s “Course Deviation” that the Callings have been doing good in order to earn the trust of the passengers. In doing so, the Callings have made blind followers out of Ben and so many others. Since the Callings have proven to be helpful, the passengers now go to great lengths to fulfill the Callings. Adrian used lines from the Bible to support his theory and compared the Callings to the “false prophets” mentioned by Matthew who will use “signs and wonders” to fool people. This way, the Callings can use the passengers to do their bidding. In Adrian’s mind, they were brought back from the dead to become “agents of the apocalypse”.
What The Origin Of The Callings Could Be (If They’re Evil)
Adrian’s theory about the Callings raises an important question: if he’s right, where do they actually come from, if not God? The idea that the Callings comes from something beyond the human world is built on the notion that it must take something extremely powerful for these messages to be relayed to such a wide variety of people across history, including Al-Zuras. The Callings are too strong and too old to come from any living person. But if the Callings are evil, that means they can’t be divine either. The obvious alternative to God would of course be some sort of demonic, supernatural force.
All of the Biblical references and other religious connections in Manifest does have quite a few believing that angels and demons are at the heart of Manifest’s central mystery, but this has never been confirmed. Events like time travel and people disappearing out of thin air have created the impression that the answer to Manifest’s biggest mysteries may stem from science fiction – not religion. For the time being, a demonic explanation doesn’t feel likely but has yet to be taken off the table.
Is Adrian Right About The Callings?
Adrian’s belief that Manifest's Flight 828 passengers were resurrected for the purpose of beginning the apocalypse admittedly sounds far-fetched, but one of the core aspects of his theory may not be far from the truth. After all, there is evidence in the show that indicates that the Callings aren’t inherently good. It’s important to point out that the Callings essentially killed two people who followed them and did what they were supposed to do. In Manifest season 3, a test posed by the Callings was passed by Kory (DazMann Still) and Pete (Devin Harjes), but failed by Jace (James McMenamin). Since this was a test intended for all three characters to take as a group, Kory and Pete shared in Jace’s punishment. A dark, shadowy force murdered all three in front of the passengers. This doesn’t confirm Adrian’s theory, but it has had an impact on how people see the supposedly benevolent Callings.
What happened to the three of them made the passengers realize that they all have to act together. If any of them fails to follow the Callings, all of them will die. The Callings forcing a flock mentality on the passengers further reinforces Adrian’s viewpoints, which no longer seem as baseless as they once did. Manifest has also proven Adrian right about his claim regarding the passengers’ loyalty to the Callings. He’s not wrong when he says that the passengers now follow them blindly. Because of a Calling, Cal supported Angelina (Holly Taylor) no matter what, but the character seemingly murdering Grace (Athena Karkanis) proved that his trust in her was misplaced.
Adrian has made some sound points, so even though the show sometimes depicts him as a deluded zealot, there’s at least a chance he’s right about the Callings manipulating the passengers. Alternatively, it could be that Adrian and Ben are both wrong. Instead of the Callings being truly good or evil, they may be designed to create a balance in the universe and can’t be placed on their side of the moral spectrum. Regardless, all will be revealed about the real purpose of the Callings in Manifest season 4.