‘Manifest’: Meet the Key Characters of NBC’s New Mystery (PHOTOS)
Saanvi Bahl (Parveen Kaur)
An 828 survivor and, it turns out, the architect of a medical cure for flightmate Cal’s leukemia, “Saanvi is very much the hero of the pilot episode,” Rake says. “But was it coincidence she was on this airplane?” Like Cal’s dad, Ben, she looks to science for explanations.
Grace Stone (Athena Karkanis)
Flashbacks reveal how she handled the absence of husband Ben and one of her kids, Cal. “We will see her bottom out,” Rake notes. Grace is hiding a new love — who is not going to slink away after Ben’s return. Rake says picking a side will be “incredibly challenging.”
Michaela Stone (Melissa Roxburgh)
She comes back to find her guy, Jared, wed to her best friend! At least she’s grown closer to polar opposite brother Ben. Says Roxburgh: “The plane mystery bonds them in a way no one else can understand.” As does the fact that they’re now hearing voices.
Jared Vasquez (J.R. Ramirez)
When Michaela resumes her job as a cop, Detective Vasquez has to see heartache “right there in her face every single day,” Roxburgh says. But as those out-of-nowhere voices help her solve cases, Rake explains, “Jared realizes there’s more going on. He’s burdened with her secret.”
Ben Stone (Josh Dallas)
“Ben is a solid family guy,” Dallas says, “but he’s obsessive, which can border on neglectful.” After his miracle return, Ben hopes to make amends to wife Grace. Is it too late? As for the voices that plague him, says Rake, he’ll soon learn “they cannot necessarily be trusted.”
Cal Stone (Jack Messina)
The young leukemia patient is no longer terminal! “It was important that at least one story be wish fulfillment,” Rake says. Meanwhile, Cal’s twin, Olive (Luna Blaise) — 16 to his unchanged age of 10 — :never believed he was gone,” Rake adds. “That becomes pivotal in Episode 2.”
In NBC’s Manifest Flight 828 takes off from Jamaica in 2013 — and sets down in 2018 NYC, where the 191 passengers and crew learn they’ve been missing all those years and presumed dead. (That was some turbulence!)
“One of the great debates is whether the disappearance can be explained by science or by faith,” says executive producer Jeff Rake. Meet the people puzzling it out as they rebuild their interrupted lives.
Manifest, Series Premiere, Monday, September 24, 10/9c, NBC
