The passengers of Montego Air Flight 828 are shocked when their plane lands and they find out they've been missing for five years in the new fall drama Manifest, as seen in the first act NBC released Tuesday.
In the first nine minutes of the premiere, siblings Michaela (Melissa Roxburgh) and Ben (Josh Dallas) and his son, Cal (Jack Messina), accept travel vouchers and monetary compensation for taking a later flight when theirs is overbooked. Cal has leukemia and isn't responding to treatment, and Ben thinks the monetary compensation they receive will help. Ben's wife, Grace (Athena Karkanis), daughter and parents take the first flight. "Funny how one little decision can ruin your life but also save it," Michaela says.
Nothing seems out of the ordinary about the later flight until the plane starts to shake and the lights go out. "That was extreme turbulence resulting from a sudden weather surge that was not on the radar," the pilot informs the passengers when everything appears to return to normal. However, their plane is diverted to another airport, where the director of a federal agency informs them of a problem. "Your plane departed Montego Bay, Jamaica, on April 7, 2013. Today is November 4, 2018," he says. "You've all been missing, presumed dead, for five and a half years."
The crew and passengers are questioned, but they insist they never landed anywhere else. Furthermore, there isn't a single substance dating from anytime between the day the plane took off and when it landed, and no one had aged a day. "It's as if the plane never left the sky," an agent says.
Nothing changed for those on the flight, but life continued for their families, and Michaela and Ben learn their mother got sick and died. Cal and Olive are twins, but Olive (Luna Blaise) is now five years older.
Michaela's ready to marry her fiancé, Jared (J.R. Ramirez), though she'd been holding back. Before they parted ways at the airport, her mother told her "even people who have made mistakes deserve happiness," and Michaela mentioned a car accident. Jared isn't there for the reunion because of a "work emergency," according to Michaela's father. What she doesn't know is he's moved on from her with her best friend.
The first act also offers a look at Flight 828 passenger Saanvi (Parveen Kaur), a medical student specializing in cancer research who may be able to help Cal. During the turbulence, her computer falls to the floor, and she appears to lose her research. In the trailer (above), however, she's informed her cell regeneration model works and has been used to treat pediatric patients.
Manifest premieres Monday, September 24, at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.
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