Manifest is getting a second chance with a fourth and final season, and Part 1 premieres November 4 on Netflix. The end of season 3 featured the tragic death of Grace and the mysterious return of Cal, who is now 5 years older than when he left. HollywoodLife spoke EXCLUSIVELY with Josh Dallas and Melissa Roxburgh about Ben and Michaela’s journeys in season 4.
Josh revealed that Ben is still grieving the loss of his beloved wife two years later, and it’s impacting everyone in his life. “He’s not handling it well, and that’s affecting everything,” Josh told HollywoodLife. “It’s affecting him. It’s affecting his family. It’s affecting his sister. He is still stuck in this profound grief and anger. He’s not willing to let it go. I think he’s afraid to let it go because I think he feels that he’ll lose Grace forever in some strange way if he doesn’t hold on to his grief.”
He continued, “His daughter is missing. He is now obsessed with the idea of finding her, even with everyone else around him saying, we think it’s time that you start to let her go. He’s dealing with his son who is not only older in age that he’s supposed to be, but there is some complicated feelings that I think Ben has that he blames Cal in some ways for Grace’s death. And then he’s dealing with the fact that he’s left his sister alone, and he’s left his family alone. That’s super complicated for him, and he can’t find a way out of it. He also can’t find a razor to shave his beard.”
The older version of Cal will be played by Ty Doran. Josh noted that Ty “fit into this group so seamlessly.” The actor added, “He is very much the essence of Jack [Messina], who played young Cal. He is the essence of him, but he brings in so much more depth as an older version of Cal.”
Since Ben is still consumed by his grief, Michaela is having to wear several hats. “She’s having a tough time, and we get a glimpse of what exactly that looks like for her,” Melissa said. “There’s some conversations with Ben. But she’s been left in charge of providing and, obviously, you see Cal and everyone in the family try to chip in as best they can. But there’s a lot and with the death date coming up it’s getting more and more intense for them. Without Ben by her side, she’s not struggling but she’s tired. She wants her partner there, and she wants him to be a part of it. Not only that, but the love life aspect also’s weighing on her, so we see her struggling with just emotions from all over.”
When it comes to the love triangle situation, Michaela’s got some decisions to make after Jared’s declaration of love at the end of last season. “She’s obviously very much in love with Zeke but also has a profound love for Jared. We get to see the result of her decision based on that comment from Jared going into season 4, and the triangle does not die,” Melissa teased. The first 10 episodes of Manifest season 4 will be available to stream on November 4.