One of the world’s most popular Bible verses, “All things work together for good to them that love the Lord, who are the called according to His purpose” from Paul’s writing to the Romans (Romans 8:28), is a central part of an unraveling mystery in the highest-viewed new fall series, NBC’s Manifest. The show is centered on a flight that leaves Montego Bay, Jamaica for New York, hits some turbulence, and lands nearly three hours later, according to the passengers. To the outside world, however, the plane has been lost for more than five years and everyone on there has been presumed dead.
Although the show is not billed as a spiritual drama, such as God Friended Me, it is nevertheless an otherworldly mystery anchored in religious themes, most specifically this particular Scripture from the New Testament. The Flight? 828. A big crime is solved in the first episode using 828 as an address, but, most importantly, the phrase is the last spoken to the main character Michaela (Melissa Roxburgh) by her late mother. Michaela, a young policewoman who seems to have turned atheist from her Christian background, is on a similar divine trajectory as God Friended Me‘s main character, Miles. She rejects her mother’s last words before the event, and then clings to them after returning. The verse is highlighted as a constant reminder on a crocheted pillow sitting in her mother’s chair.
During the first episode Michaela visits a priest and asks him about the verse and who exactly does it speak to when referring to “the called”? Christians know that as believers who have been called of the Spirit and follow Him, but for the purposes of this show, those who time-traveled on Flight 828 will take ownership of that designation. As of episode two, these “called” hear voices that sometimes assist them in helping people. Michaela and her brother Ben (Josh Dallas) both hear unctions to help solve a longstanding crime in the first episode. In the second, Ben hears music that leads him to exonerate a jailed son of a fellow passenger. What if “the called” become more tuned in to hear His voice? Is that the direction this is going? Maybe, maybe not. But I’m intrigued.
So far, the mystery isn’t deeply compelling, but it features so much promise that the show could be taken in a variety of directions. Personally, I hope they keep the 828 thread going, because it is a verse that speaks hope and I’m curious to see where it goes. For many of us, although time travel is a science fiction fantasy, faith is nevertheless a grand adventure and mystery that continues to be revealed. And we continue to find out just what that verse means for each of us.
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