Yes! One mystery down, 9 million more to go before June 2, 2024. Manifest fans were nervous, wondering if NBC would leave them hanging on that mother of a cliffhanger with the Season 1 finale. Thankfully, NBC decided to bring the Melissa Roxburgh and Josh Dallas show back for Season 2. Here's how the show announced the renewal:
Lisa Katz and Tracey Pakosta, co-presidents of scripted programming at NBC, shared a statement on the good news (via TVLine):
In just its first season, Manifest has answered many questions about the mystery of Flight 828 and, smartly, asks many more. Congratulations to [series creator] Jeff Rake, our producers, cast and crew who have created an incredibly addictive series with compelling characters and complex relationships.
I am one of the millions of fans sighing with relief right now. Our time was not wasted!
Manifest Season 1 started by breaking ratings records for NBC, earning 10.4 million total viewers and a 2.2 rating in the advertiser-loving demographic, the best ratings for a series premiere in the 2018-2019 season. Manifest did particularly with time-shifted viewing, from people who watched the show later in the week, as opposed to Monday nights at 10 p.m.
As the season progressed, Manifest lost some viewers along the way -- that's what happens for most shows, with just a few exceptions like Killing Eve and Game of Thrones. But Manifest held on to its particularly strong DVR numbers, sometimes doubling viewers that way and adding a lot more in the 18-49 demo.
Manifest Season 1 introduced us to the passengers of Montego Air Flight 828, who landed their Jamaica-to-New York City flight only to discover 5.5 years had passed for everyone else -- but not for them. They had not aged at all.
We're still unraveling the mystery of what happened, and how the time jump happened to a different degree to other people -- like Zeke Landon (Matt Long), who time jumped a year ahead. Actor Matt Long told us he was looking forward to continuing Zeke's story, should NBC give them a second season.
The Season 1 finale ended with a fight between Zeke and Jared Vasquez (J.R. Ramirez), with Michaela Stone (Melissa Roxburgh) walking in just in time to hear a gunshot. We don't know who was shot.
We have a lot of questions for Manifest Season 2 -- and potentially future seasons if they keep this going until the Flight 828 passengers' supposed "expiration date" of June 2, 2024. Whatever happens from here, I hope the story saves time to show us if the pilot and Fiona ever did time jump into the future.
NBC didn't announce a premiere date with the Manifest Season 2 renewal. Season 1 had 16 episodes, airing from September 2018 to February 2019. Right now, many midseason shows are winding down toward their season finales, with the summer 2019 programs ready to entertain us through the steamy months. And then, this fall, we should get to see what happens next on Manifest.
