Michael Henry

I’m not usually into doctor shows and could never get into Grey's Anatomy, but I absolutely LOVE this show, and adore Ryan Eggold as Max. He brings so much depth, heart, conflict, comedy, passion, charm, and charisma to the role and is hard not to fall in love with immediately. The whole cast is phenomenal and I love how Max and his staff truly care about each other and doing everything and anything to save their patients, even if it means circumventing or all-together changing the rules. The writing is strong, albeit a bit corny at times, and the show is truly socially conscious, doing a great job highlighting hot button social issues and the flaws in our healthcare system which prevent so many from accessing affordable and life-saving healthcare. Loved this week’s blizzard episode and can’t wait to see what happens next! So glad this show got picked up for a second season!

******UPDATE****** I’m thrilled to say the second half of the season from episode 10/11 on really picked up and totally has me hooked! Mild spoilers - They thankfully did damage control with Grace and her relationship with Ben and their family unit is back on track (for now), they introduced 2 new characters that drastically changed and further developed the whole scope and direction of the narrative (for the better), and they introduced a mind-blowing fact about everyone’s ultimate fate that will be the underlying force driving each season going forward. I’m totally intrigued by what they’re doing and can’t wait to see how it unfolds in Season 2 (which I hope and assume there will be based on the overall ratings and momentum). Just wish it weren’t 7 months away!!! (On a side note, its mid-season replacement “The Enemy Within”, looks really good and like it could be a big hit itself. Excited for that one to start up and help the months go by while awaiting S2 of Manifest!) ********************* Great premise, and kudos to the writers/creators for the undertaking, but I find myself more and more frustrated with the lazy writing, character development, and lack of attention to detail. Case in point - the plane landed November 4th, 2018. It’s New York City. New York in November would have fall falliage and vibrant colors. Yet everything is plush and green. Clearly they filmed over the summer, which is fine, but then have the story take place in the September, not November. Another example - they presented Cal’s first day of school as everyone’s first day back - but again, it’s mid-November at that point - school starts in September... Character development wise - *SPOILER ALERT* the relationship between Grace and Ben is pretty cringe-worthy. Why would Grace so easily shut out and shut down Ben for what he’s been through, and why would she so easily discount the supernatural element of what they’re going through, when she saw for herself that they came back unaged and unchanged after 5.5 years? Shouldn’t be hard for her to take a leap of faith and believe her husband when he tells her what’s going on and that he’s the best one to protect Cal. Also, *ANOTHER SPOILER* as someone else noted, that “twist” of the passenger working for the bad guys was beyond laughable. Why wouldn’t she have simply warned her “boss” via that hidden cell phone that they were onto them well before they all got there?? Instead, she led them right to the bunker site of their experiments causing the explosion and everything to get ruined. Makes no sense... The actors are pretty good but the writing needs some improvement, and the show just hasn’t found a comfortable balance and direction yet. To compare it to Lost, as the benchmark for a relatively well-balanced and superbly presented Supernatural drama, by the time I was 9 episodes into Lost, I was hooked and so invested in the story and the characters - the writers really got it right with tone, balance, incredible character development, and plausibility in an otherwise unexplainable, implausible circumstance. Manifest has yet to come close and I fear it never will, though to be fair, LOST really was a unique gem and can’t really be replicated, no matter how many times people may try. I want to love this show, and am giving it a fair shot, but I’m pretty frustrated with it and not sure how much longer I’ll keep watching. It’s still got my attention a bit for now, but at this rate, not sure for how much longer, and I wouldn’t be shocked if it doesn’t make it past season 2 (if it even gets that far... we’ll see...)

What's not to love?! It's light, fun, adorable, enjoyable, funny, hokey, nostalgia-filled fluff in all the very best ways, and as with the original, they do a really great job of lightly weaving in some more serious topics such as coping with the loss of a parent/spouse, surrogacy, infertility, financial instability, divorce, bullying, underage drinking, etc. Great cast with incredible chemistry and you can tell they really love what they're doing. Love them all, but Fernando, Kimmy, and Max truly steal every scene, and each episode puts a huge smile on my face. Dare I say I'm enjoying it more than I did the original as a kid?! Just finished up Season 4 and truly hope they bring it back for Season 5 and beyond!!!!!