Saanvi did not come to play on Manifest Season 2 Episode 3, but most importantly, she did not let us down either.
Admittedly, my confidence in Saanvi waned a bit after Ben told her the truth about the mole and Vance.
Saanvi’s mental health was in a fragile space because of possibly repressed feelings for Ben and her inability to cope with her failed relationship with Alex, so there was concern that she would blab all about Ben’s betrayal to her therapist (who we’re aware is the Major).
Instead, Saanvi was able to accomplish more in one episode than Ben and Mic have for the entire series.
I always knew there was a reason I liked her the best. This is an official call to give Saanvi more screentime.
After spending half of the episode lying to Saanvi and hoping she’d set the bait for the mole, Ben couldn’t betray her trust any longer and came clean. It was for the best — he’s a terrible liar.
Mic: I am not trying to hurt you, truly, but I’m gonna help Zeke. And I’m going to do whatever it takes to do that. If you don’t want to help me that is your choice, but be prepared.
Jared: Was that a threat?
Mic: It didn’t have to be.
There are moments when Ben impresses with his smarts but this wasn’t one of those moments.
If Ben was going to disclose *top secret* information to Saanvi, he should have at least gone somewhere secluded rather than telling her in the middle of her lab where there’s a huge chance the mole set up cameras, listening, devices, etc.
She even had her phone on her, which we know for a fact is easily tapped into by government agencies.
Oh, Ben.
The moment Saanvi found out that there was a mole in her presence, she became skeptical of everyone including Troy. (Same, girl, same!)
However, I think she always had a hunch that her psychologist was playing her. Otherwise, how would she have figured it out so quickly?
Saanvi brilliantly laid the breadcrumbs by telling the psychologist about her latest “breakthrough,” subtly mentioning that her findings were located in the fridge inside her office.
The Major took the bait, which was a tad bit surprising considering how high she ranks and how manipulative she’s been made out to be. Clearly, the audience wasn’t the only one who underestimated Saanvi’s abilities.
Saanvi was able to execute her plan perfectly because of the trust she’d built up throughout her sessions.
Her plan allowed Ben and Vance to confirm The Major’s identity and now, they’re going to “turn the tables.”
It’s unclear what they have in mind, but now that they’re on equal footing with The Major, they’re able to feed her fake information and watch what she does with it.
We’re now in the third episode of the season and sadly, the answers that we’ve all been patiently waiting for aren’t manifesting.
Figuring out The Major’s identity was a huge breakthrough for the characters, but it’s something we already knew, so the big reveal loses that heroic momentum.
It’s an issue Manifest continues to run into as they’re carefully planned “oh my god moments” fall flat because they’ve been established to audiences before being revealed to the characters.
There’s also the issue of the mystery being too convoluted with so many moving parts that it’s become hard to keep track of what’s really happening.
Along with The Major drama, Saanvi’s past was touched upon briefly, specifically, her ex Alex, the man who never made their trip to Jamaica. Lucky dude, right?
Initially, Saanvi was painted as a victim that was stood-up by her lover, but throughout her sessions, it has come to light that the man she was seeing had a family.
I am tired of being told to let this go. I’m not going to let this go. I am the one that took that bullet, I am the victim, and I am telling you that this man is innocent.
Mic
This revelation changes the way we perceive Saanvi as a character and simultaneously explains why she’s been so cautious about keeping her possible feelings for Ben at bay.
However, Saanvi never sent her “closure” email to Alex, and there wasn’t much follow-up after she mentioned him to The Major. We never even saw a photo of him, which means that he’s definitely going to be connected to this mystery in some way.
Does Alex work for The Major? Has he moved on? Who is he connected to other than Saanvi?
For a bit, I thought that maybe Alex was Erika’s husband, the woman that Grace befriended then scared off after her pregnancy yoga class.
While that wasn’t the case, Erika was hiding her interest in the mystery because her husband turned out to be the professor that hired Ben at the university. Shady, shady.
Grace got her second calling (still not on-board with this but fine, I guess we’re just accepting it) and it told her to open Erika’s eyes.
Erika turned out to be a Flight 828 hater, or, at least that’s what she wants Grace to believe.
Erika: Are you following me?
Grace: No, no, I’m sorry, this must seem very bizarre. I’m worried about you. Call it intuition, I don’t know, I just have a bad feeling that’s something’s wrong. And if you’re afraid or you have a problem…
Erika: My only problem is you and your freak 828 boy. I know who your son is, I watch the news.
Grace: I’m trying to help you.
Erika: Stay away. Stay away from my family. Your son is an abomination.
Grace: Oh, I get it. I get it now. I was supposed to open your eyes because you are a frightened, small-minded woman who is afraid of anything she doesn’t understand.
Erika: I hope you lose that baby.
During her Callings, Grace saw a rather hilarious looking gargoyle appear above her, which probably didn’t serve a bigger purpose aside from connecting Erika to the university (which also has gargoyles).
Honestly, it’s hard to take Manifest seriously sometimes when it adds in animated objects.
In Manifest Season 1, there was a mention of mythology playing into the mystery with a peacock representing June, the Gemini twins as the number 2, and Cal’s dragon the year 2024, aka the year of the dragon.
They were all signs linking to the death date, so maybe it’s slightly unfair of me to completely write off these gargoyles as nothing more than a silly manifestation of a Calling.
It’s far-fetched, but so is this series and so, maybe the university plays a bigger role in the Flight 828 disappearance.
There’s a huge possibility that the job that miraculously landed in Ben’s lap isn’t going to be what he expected.
Coincidences exist, sure, but there’s been a lot surrounding the school recently including TJ being a student that was on the flight, Ben meeting an old co-worker who is the Dean, and now Erika and her husband. Are they working for The Major?
On top of Saanvi’s personal life, The Major, Grace’s Calling, and Ben’s new job, we’re also layering on Mic and Zeke’s relationship very heavily.
Mic came through for Zeke by successfully releasing him from prison, though it involved throwing Jared under the bus.
I can’t say I feel sorry for him. He had it coming, and if he won’t up to his involvement in the shooting, someone needs to hold him accountable.
Mic followed her gut along with the joint Calling and freed Zeke by taking the stand and adamantly telling everyone for the umpteenth time that the shooting was an accident.
Her new Chief isn’t going to be pleased, so let’s hope that risking her career was worth it.
However, after Bowers gave that stern warning, she’s been noticeably absent.
Maybe now that Mic, Zeke, and Cal reunited, we’ll finally get answers regarding the Calling they shared about the plane nosediving.
Vance: I have a plan if you’d just shut up for a minute.
Ben: Vance, we need to find this mole.
Vance: No, we need the mole to lead us to the Major.
Cal believes it was just a message to help Zeke, but Mic seems to think there’s more, and I’d like to hope there is because it was a pretty intense bodily experience for all of them.
Is Zeke some kind of prophet? Is Mic supposed to have his baby? At this point, anything is possible, and I’m not ruling anything out.
Olive continues to feel like the ugly duckling, and it seems to be of her own making.
She feels like she’s getting left out of everything because nobody asks for her help with the Callings, but it’s as easy as their not wanting to burden her with it.
They’d rather she focus on her studies considering she’s the only one that might make it out of this Flight 828 craziness alive.
Sadly, the isolation has pushed Olive to seek comfort at the Church of Believers, and now that she’s feeling accepted, she even took the podium to declare herself a believer who found a community where she feels like she belongs.
Olive, it’s a trap.
If you watch Manifest online, you know Saanvi may have been dishing out too much info to The Major, but Olive is the mole in her family, essentially.
It’s only a matter of time before she lets the miracle baby news slip.
As I mentioned before, there are a lot of moving parts that don’t always add up and may be hard to follow at times, but the series is addicting, and I keep getting sucked further into the black hole of this mystery.
There’s been some turbulence this season, but knowing that we might make a smooth landing soon enough is keeping me hopeful.
Alright, enough airline puns.
Do you think Manifest is building up to an epic reveal?
What do you think the joint Callings mean?
How is the university involved?
Who is on your “do not trust” list? Share those thoughts in the comment section!
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Lizzy Buczak is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter and read her personal blog at CraveYouTV.