Manifest ended its third season on a devastating death and mind-boggling cliffhanger, but the finale was followed by news of a cancellation from NBC. The cancellation left a lot of questions unanswered, especially in light of showrunner Jeff Rake's plans for a six-season saga. Rake and the stars hit social media to rally fans to try and push for a new home for Manifest, and Netflix showed some interest. Sadly for Manifest fans, however, the show is officially dead.
Netflix has decided not to order a fourth season of Manifest despite the series earning and holding a high place on the streamer's Top 10 list ever since making the first two seasons available recently, according to Deadline, and Manifest studio Warner Bros. Television won't be pursuing other outlets due to complicated digital rights and expired cast options.
The news comes just days after the news began to circulate that Netflix had the potential to rescue Manifest much like it had rescued fellow Warner Bros. TV show Lucifer after its Fox cancellation, to great success. Just hours before the news that the show is dead and not getting that renewal, showrunner Jeff Rake said on Twitter that "No news is good news" as far as he's concerned, and encouraged fans to keep watching, pushing, and to "Keep the faith."
As recently as two hours before the news, Jeff Rake was still using the hashtag of #SaveManifest on Twitter. At the time of writing, Manifest is #2 on Netflix's Top 10 list, behind only Kevin's Hart's new movie, so it stands as the streamer's top television show. Considering the showrunner's previous reveals that there was a six-season plan for Manifest, the show was halfway through the complicated plot that was still thickening as of the Season 3 finale.
The death of Athena Karkanis' Grace in the Season 3 finale had the potential to be one of Manifest's biggest game-changers, not to mention the developments with two of the other stone kids. Poor little Eden was kidnapped, and something happened that Cal somehow aged up several years, to the point that he was the same age as twin sister Olive despite the missing five years of the 828 passengers.
Coming on the heels of another emotional death, the mysterious Callings getting no less complicated, Saanvi and Ben's struggles, and the finale confirming that the triangle between Jared, Michaela, and Zeke was still alive (mostly due to Zeke still being alive despite seeming like he was destined for death in Season 2), fans have a lot of unanswered questions to ponder.
At this point, fans may want to hope that showrunner Jeff Wake finds another way to finish telling the Manifest story. Whether that means simply tweeting out what was supposed to happen, telling the story in the form of a book or books, adapting what was meant for television to become a comic, or anything else, it's time to start crossing fingers that the future holds some answers, even if it won't hold Season 4.
If you want to check out the show despite the cancellation and unanswered questions, you can find the first two seasons streaming on Netflix, and the third and finale season streaming on Peacock.
