It’s not ‘Lost,’ and that’s just fine
Sci-fi drama “Manifest” has a pull of its own.
“Manifest” is not the new “Lost.” But really, that’s OK.
When NBC’s high-concept drama landed Sept. 24, it seemed oh-so-familiar. A plane disappears? And there might be something supernatural going on? How original. Oh, and all those people who didn’t age but now might have powers? USA Network’s “The 4400” might have something to say about that.
How many times has TV tried to recapture the glory days of 2004, when “Lost” captured the hearts of critics and audiences alike? “Flash Forward.” “The Event.” “Revolution.” “Terra Nova.” “The Crossing.” Just to name a few.
The fact that we’re still looking for the new “Lost” and not the new “Event” only proves how hard it is to pull off a high-concept sci-fi or supernatural drama on network TV that actually maintains its audience and its quality. But NBC really, totally, sort of might have cracked it this time.
“Manifest” has plenty of problems, but so far it’s fall’s highest-rated new broadcast series. NBC on Thursday picked up a shortened full season of 16 episodes. The story of a plane that disappears, only to return five years later without its passengers having aged a day, is edging out many of those revivals and remakes populating the airwaves. Four episodes in (a fifth airs Monday, 10 EDT/PDT), the series seems to have staying power. Here’s why:
It’s easy to follow
The series’ biggest strength is its simplicity. Just because it’s a genre show doesn’t mean it has to be overly complicated. The supernatural riddle of what happened to the plane is driving a season-long arc, but each episode also has a “mystery of the week” that’s much more down to earth: Who was the stow- away? Who killed a passenger? The episodes provide easy answers that keep an audience satiated while bigger questions still linger.
It didn’t fall apart after the first episode
Heavily serialized shows, such as “Lost,” “Breaking Bad” or “Game of Thrones,” often start with a great concept and first episode. But many lesser shows collapse when the story expands. “Manifest” navigated through its first major roadblock by easily moving from the setup to meatier stories.
It has a real-world connection
It’s impossible to think of “Manifest” and its Montego Air Flight 828 without thinking of Malaysia Airlines’ Flight 370, which disappeared in 2014 and sparked a fruitless worldwide search mission. The entire show serves as a sort of wild hypothesis for what happened to that flight, and the memory of months of news reports about a missing plane gives “Manifest” a hook that’s better than “don’t you remember liking ‘Lost’ 14 years ago?”
It’s also a family drama, a police procedural and a medical drama
“Manifest” is a heightened drama, but the writers often turn the supernatural wonderment into something that feels like a mix of “This Is Us,” “Law & Order” and “House.” When it focuses on the passengers’ trouble returning to their loved ones, particularly the marital woes between Ben (Josh Dallas), who was on the plane, and his wife, Grace (Athena Karkanis), who wasn’t, it’s a family drama. When it follows Michaela’s (Melissa Roxburgh) life as an NYPD detective, it plays cops and robbers. And when oncologist Saanvi (Parveen Kaur) combs through medical data to find answers about the plane’s disappearance and the passengers’ new powers, she makes Gregory House proud.
That “Manifest” resembles a typical broadcast drama more than, say, a twisty mind-bender such as Netflix’s “Maniac” is a good reason why ratings have remained strong: Writers are not reaching beyond what they can deliver.
It’s hopeful
When the Flight 828 passengers return, there’s plenty of grief, anger and government surveillance but also an incredible amount of love. Although it has moments of darkness, “Manifest” is a hopeful and light show that sees the magic or science fiction or whatever happened on that plane as a good thing, not a bad one. And in a world that seems unendingly dark, that’s a welcome tone.