It’s been a long time coming but Season 4 of missing plane drama Manifest has officially begun production. The series, as well as the cast and fans, went on quite the turbulent flight over the summer as it was cancelled by NBC shortly after the Season 3 finale, then picked up by Netflix two months later. As the cast returns to begin Season 4, J.R. Ramirez has shared a sweet message with fans.
J.R. Ramirez portrays NYPD Lieutenant Jared Vasquez on the NBC-turned-Netflix drama, and has been part of the series since the pilot episode. As Season 4 began production, he took to Instagram to share a message with fans, reflecting on his career and thanking the “Manifesters” for a fourth season:
Ramirez’s message can make anyone emotional. Manifest joins the list of shows including the likes of Lucifer, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Timeless (to name just a few) that were saved thanks to the fans. Its sudden popularity on Netflix definitely jumpstarted the campaign; once the third season was made available streaming later in the summer, it was all falling into place.
Netflix announced the renewal news on August 28, also known as "828 Day" in the Manifest fandom, that it had indeed picked up the series for a fourth and final super-sized season. The season will contain 20 episodes that will wrap up the story of Flight 828 and its many, many mysteries.
Although it was then unknown just who all would be returning, the majority of the cast will return, sans Athena Karkanis and Jack Messina. In the Season 3 finale, Karkanis’ Grace Stone was killed trying to protect her baby, and Messina’s Cal Stone had disappeared after touching the plane’s Tailfin. Cal came back just before his mother died in his arms, older and the age he would have been had he not been on Flight 828, and therefore not played by Messina.
While there is no official premiere date for Season 4 of Manifest, fans can hope for new episodes to drop on Netflix in 2022. It will be interesting to see how different, if at all, the series will be as it transitions from network television to streaming. It’s not the first show to move platforms and it likely won’t be the last. Netflix has handled that kind of transition before, notably with Lucifer, so there hopefully won't be any problems.
Hopefully we’ll get more Manifest content soon, even if that is behind-the-scenes. But just the fact that it is actually coming back is more than I need. Fingers crossed we’ll get an estimated premiere date soon and get one step closer to solving the mystery of what happened to Flight 828. In the meantime, all three seasons of Manifest are available to stream on Netflix.
