Content Warning: The following article contains spoilers for the Netflix show Manifest.191 passengers and crew members boarded Montego Air Flight 828 from Jamaica to New York. Montego Air Flight 828 left the airport on April 7, 2013, only to land in New York on November 8, 2018. The passengers thought they were only gone for only a few hours, but when they landed they learned that their flight was declared missing for over five years.

This mystery unfolds throughout the television series, Manifest, as not only have the passengers not aged, but they began experiencing strange side effects from their flight. Just when viewers and the main characters might have revealed the truth behind the disappearance, the season 3 finale ended with an unresolved cliffhanger. Season 4 of Manifest will premiere in late 2022 after it was saved by Netflix until then Reddit users developed their theories (under r/ManifestNBC) as to what else could be revealed in the upcoming season.

Updated on May 30, 2023, by Hannah Saab:

With the second half of the fourth and final season of Manifest just around the corner (premiering on June 2), fans are eagerly anticipating answers to the burning questions and unresolved storylines so far. It's also the perfect time to delve back into some of the weirdest Manifest theories for season 4, with some of them being truly mind-boggling and maybe even wild enough to be right.

10 Cal Knew Grace Would Be Killed

Cal (Jack Messina), Olive's fraternal twin (Luna Blaise), was one of the passengers on Flight 828. He drew his callings in a sketchbook, but like the others, he didn't know what his visions meant. When he met Angelina, he didn't believe that there was anything strange about her, unlike the rest of the family who all had their suspicions about the girl.

Reddit user hh_sav_2, speculated that Cal "was obviously aware that his mom was going to be killed" and there was no way to avoid that event. Even if he knew that Grace's death can't be changed, he insisted and pressured his other family members to accept Angelina. When Cal aged five years, he returned to his home to find Grace on the floor, but he wasn't surprised to see her dying.

9 Angelina's Villain Origin Story

The passengers experienced "callings" or visions as to what they should do next in Manifest, there wasn't much of an explanation as to why should they complete the task beforehand. In season three, Michaela (Melissa Roxburgh) followed a "calling" to a home in Costa Rica where she found Angelina (Holly Taylor), a passenger on Flight 828, tied up in a room. Once Michaela freed Angelina, the girl traveled back home with Michaela and stayed with the Stones for a few days. Angelina tried to connect with the Stone family and assisted them with finding clues as to what linked the "callings" with the flight disappearance.

Angelina was raised in a religious family, and would often think that all the "callings" were tied to biblical references. She grew an attachment to Eden Stone (Grace and Ben's newborn daughter) and believed that she needed to be with her. This mindset led her to stab Grace and kidnap Eden. Reddit user Craft_Assassin believed Angelina will continue her "descent into villainy" in the next season, and so far, they've been right.

8 Cal Will Be Experimented On

The majority of mysteries of the Netflix show surround the passengers and the plane, but one particular person seemed to experience more puzzling side effects. When passengers refused to follow their "callings," or ignored them faced consequences, yet it was Cal that would usually be affected the most. When he refused one "calling," severe burn marks appeared on his body.

During season three, Cal touched the tail fin of the plane and disappeared. The next time that he reappeared, he was older (as if the five years he was missing finally caught up to him). Season 3 ended with older Cal, but the only person that he saw was Grace. Reddit user dfh3000 predicts that once Cal reveals to others what happened to him then there won't be any surprise that "Cal will start to get experimented on at Eureka" to see why he disappeared when he touched the fin and returned older. So far, though, authorities have been blissfully unaware of Cal's true identity, thanks to his masquerading as Gabriel.

7 Retelling of the Three Prisoners Problem

The "Three Prisoners Problem" refers to a mathematical puzzle where three prisoners all serve time for the same crime they committed, but one prisoner is guaranteed to be pardoned except none of the prisoners know who will be pardoned. When the prisoner finds out that one particular prisoner won't be pardoned, then they have calculated a 50/50 chance of being forgiven.

What if this puzzle was adapted to the events in Manifest? Reddit user Elegant_Injury_4619 theorized that the show is a "modern-day re-telling of the 3 prisoners," with the three prisoners being Ben, Michaela, and Cal, who all shared the same feeling of not wanting to return to New York to face their dilemmas. After the flight, they all grieved those who they lost, but they also began having a different outlook on life: Michaela fell in love with Zeke (Matt Long), Cal enjoyed his childhood without the fear of his illness, and Ben showed that he would go to extreme lengths to protect his family.

6 Zeke Has No Soul

Zeke first appeared in season 1, episode 12, and experienced "callings," despite not being a passenger at all on Flight 828. The closer he was getting to his death date, he started to exhibit signs of frostbite. On the day of his death date, he saved Cal from a freezing lake. He died for a brief moment and was "resurrected."

Reddit user colderbrother theorized that after Zeke was resurrected, he no longer acted like his previous self and he became this "perfect partner" for Michaela. In the show, Zeke gained the ability to feel other people's emotions. Yet Reddit user colderbrother further explained their theory that the reason Zeke feels people's emotions is that he no longer has a soul. His body is just a vessel that absorbs others emotions. This could explain why he's been having such a tough time controlling them lately.

5 The Callings are Bad

Nobody really knows exactly what the callings are or who could be responsible for them. That said, they're generally believed to be good because they sometimes lead to miraculous rescues. The Redditor realitylegends thinks the callings "are actually not good at all" and actually manipulate characters like Cal into "blind submission" before getting the characters to do questionable things.

They argue that Cal's strong connection to Angelina has caused his family so much trouble, and negates any idea that the callings could have brought them together for anything but evil. It's a fascinating theory that puts forward a daring claim: not everything fantastical is good. With the recent revelation about the callings actually being memories of the "divine consciousness," only the ending of Manifest will reveal the true nature of the visions.

4 Alien Abduction

Passengers from Flight 828 felt that they lost five years of their life. Their loved ones grieved their deaths and moved on with their lives. One of the questions that the passengers and the viewers have is what exactly happened during those five years that they were gone. The characters researched the possibility of their disappearance being tied to religious manifestations, but what if there was another theory?

Reddit user charbar7 compared Manifest to the series 4400, saying it's "connected to show" somehow. In 4400, a bright light captured 4,400 people, and they reappeared years later. The show revealed that these people were abducted by aliens for experiments, and then returned to the present day. Perhaps the passengers in Manifest were taken by aliens, infected with special abilities, and returned to Earth in the current timeline? Or perhaps it was the series' version of a god in the "divine consciousness"?

3 "It's All Connected" in the Multiverse

Fans might recall that during the first season of Manifest, the plane experienced turbulence when they flew through a dark cloud of lightning. Bill Daly (Frank Deal) tested this black lightning phenomenon with the help of a meteorologist through a simulator used to recreate the incident. Reddit user Aviationfan424 examined the incident through the lens of three different timelines to determine "the meaning of 'It’s all connected.'" Timeline A follows the planned out events for the characters such as Cal being admitted to a hospital, Michaela agreeing to marry, and Zeke never going out on the hike. Timeline B followed the events of a plane crashing in Cuba, and no one surviving. When the black lightning strike the plane, this established a third timeline, Timeline C, the one that viewers see in the show.

The new events might have formed a new timeline, but there were still pieces of the remaining timelines that leaked into Timeline C. The multiverse trope is a recurring theme that appeared in popular films such as Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and animated films such as Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Therefore, it wouldn't be a surprise if Manifest's writers decided to include that theme in the upcoming finale.

2 Cal Murdered Grace

Grace's heartbreaking and tragic death in the finale of season three has inspired a lot of Manifest fan theories for season 4. While most viewers accept that Angelina is responsible for the murder, DrLamario has a different opinion. They "don't think Angelina is the one who stabbed Grace," but rather "it was Cal."

The Redditor fights for his case well, pointing out that it wouldn't be the first time the show has subverted expectations. He compares the possibility of Cal being responsible with the way the series shocked fans with Jared's storyline joining the Xers or Isaiad being the murderer and not Adrian. It's a thought-provoking idea that can only be answered by future episodes.

1 It's a Simulation

Perhaps the wildest theory of them all is from kwakuga, who thinks "it's all a simulation" and encourages fans to "think Life on Mars." It's a reference to a TV series with a wacky twist, which could be what's happening in Manifest. Could the callings be cryptic messages sent by tired programmers? They could even be intentionally vague because someone is playing god out there, but can't quite nail sending the specifics (like Interstellar).

Whichever the case, one thing's for sure, it would be unbelievably disappointing to have such a cliché twist in the final season. There's too much going on and the series' complex and exciting details would be wasted by a cop-out like that. That said, it wouldn't be the first time a show has disappointed with a major twist.

NEXT: Shows Like 'Manifest' to Watch for More Bingeworthy Mysteries