# Manifest (new NBC paranormal series)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manifest-new-nbc-paranormal-series/821913
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** tv-shows-scripted
**Created:** [September 25, 2018, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manifest-new-nbc-paranormal-series/821913 "2018-09-25T22:10:04Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 5
### Author:  [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicest_of_the_Damned)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2018, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manifest-new-nbc-paranormal-series/821913/81 "2018-10-12T01:06:45Z")
You can watch in online:
> **[Manifest - NBC.com](https://www.nbc.com/manifest?nbc=1)**
>
> Manifest - Watch episodes on NBC.com and the NBC App. Robert Zemeckis' drama about the missing Flight 828 returns with more heart-pounding mysteries.
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2018, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manifest-new-nbc-paranormal-series/821913/82 "2018-10-12T01:26:34Z")
> [@Misnomer](#):
>
> I have a pretty clear memory of them showing the body with the bullet hole under the chin \*and \*mentioning that the shot was from under the chin…
>
> Yep, that’s my understanding, too. I don’t think Michaela was _drunk_, but she’d definitely had some drinks.
>
> Right?! I forgot about that until just now, but it bothered me, too! She gets reminded that she’d been cleared by the department of any wrongdoing, but how on earth is that possible in the face of a DUI??
>
> Ugh. ❤
My guess is that she wasnt .08 and the accident wasnt her fault. So yeah, an investigation, and a black mark, but she would have been cleared.
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### Author:  [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2018, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manifest-new-nbc-paranormal-series/821913/83 "2018-10-12T14:26:54Z")
> [@EllisDee](#):
>
> I’m confused. If (for example) she blew a .04, there’s nothing illegal about her driving, and in fact it would be an example of a properly executed designated driver situation. (The fact that they switched roles notwithstanding.) Wouldn’t it?
>
> What does the “legal limit” mean if not “below this limit, you’re legal, it’s all good.”
I would think, as an NYPD officer, she’s held to a higher standard. She may be legally unimpaired, but it may not be enough for her job status. Same thing with airline pilots.
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### Author:  [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2018, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manifest-new-nbc-paranormal-series/821913/84 "2018-10-12T18:08:57Z")
> [@ivylass](#):
>
> I would think, as an NYPD officer, she’s held to a higher standard. She may be legally unimpaired, but it may not be enough for her job status. Same thing with airline pilots.
Not to sound too cynical, but my general assumption would be that police officers are held to lower standard, not higher. Something about the “blue wall of silence”, blah blah blah… For example, right now in real life, are you saying that there isn’t a single active NYPD officer who has as DUI on his or her record? (And of course, our intrepid hero does not even have a DUI.)
Even ignoring my cynicism, I’m just not seeing how driving under the legal limit is considered wrong or bad in any context outside of maybe alcoholism. If .04 were impaired, the legal limit wouldn’t be .08.
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### Author:  [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2018, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manifest-new-nbc-paranormal-series/821913/85 "2018-10-12T18:33:54Z")
> [@EllisDee](#):
>
> Television and movies are visual media, and as such, character appearance is relevant _by definition_. I don’t know why you think nobody can ever comment on a woman’s appearance ever again, but you are just flat-out wrong. The whole thing you’re missing is if it’s “relevant” or “germane” to the topic, and appearance is clearly and obviously relevant for discussion of visual media.
>
> Also, that “natural result” of yours is made-up bullshit. Unless you can find a single example of something similar to that posted on the boards in any thread, at any time, about any show, I call bullshit.
Great! So you would have no issues with a thread that debates the relative appearance of say, Ginger and Mary Ann?
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### Author:  [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2018, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manifest-new-nbc-paranormal-series/821913/86 "2018-10-12T19:58:17Z")
> [@EllisDee](#):
>
> Not to sound too cynical, but my general assumption would be that police officers are held to lower standard, not higher. Something about the “blue wall of silence”, blah blah blah… For example, right now in real life, are you saying that there isn’t a single active NYPD officer who has as DUI on his or her record? (And of course, our intrepid hero does not even have a DUI.)
>
> Even ignoring my cynicism, I’m just not seeing how driving under the legal limit is considered wrong or bad in any context outside of maybe alcoholism. If .04 were impaired, the legal limit wouldn’t be .08.
Considering someone died in this situation, I would say Michaela was under some intense scrutiny. Assuming there was some publicity about this incident, “even the appearance” may be enough to get her fired if she were even a little under the influence. I don’t know about off duty police officers who were weaving down the road and pulled over before they hurt anyone.
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### Author:  [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2018, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manifest-new-nbc-paranormal-series/821913/87 "2018-10-12T23:08:11Z")
> [@Slash1972](#):
>
> Great! So you would have no issues with a thread that debates the relative appearance of say, Ginger and Mary Ann?
Man, you’re really caught up in the righteous fervor, aren’t you?
No, of course I wouldn’t have any issue with a Maryann vs Ginger thread. There have been many such threads on the dope, with the most recent in [May of this year](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=854747). I don’t have a strong opinion either way so I wouldn’t have participated even if I were posting then, but I see moderators chimed in as posters with their thoughts on the topic, with no moderation or tut-tutting of any kind. As it should be.
If you want to continue this side discussion, I suggest making a thread in ATMB to avoid further derailing this show-specific thread.
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2018, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manifest-new-nbc-paranormal-series/821913/88 "2018-10-12T23:29:52Z")
[https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=863829](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=863829)
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### Author:  [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2018, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manifest-new-nbc-paranormal-series/821913/89 "2018-10-13T01:18:29Z")
Nice to see the twins playing cat’s cradle - I used to do that with my brother when we were kids,and it looked like all the same patterns we got so good at.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2018, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manifest-new-nbc-paranormal-series/821913/90 "2018-10-13T01:23:16Z")
**[Moderating]**
**manson1972** , if you have anything further to say on this topic, take it to ATMB. This is not the place, as you should have known after my first moderator note in this thread. This is now an official Warning, for jerkishly hijacking this thread.
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### Author:  [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2018, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manifest-new-nbc-paranormal-series/821913/91 "2018-10-15T20:42:04Z")
OK, warning noted.
I’d like to participate in this thread in the future regarding the actual show, so further posts will be regarding the plot and such, not the tangent on appearance.
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### Author:  [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2018, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manifest-new-nbc-paranormal-series/821913/92 "2018-10-16T03:04:03Z")
I really want to like this show but tonight’s episode was not great. I want to see less chopped up storyline.
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### Author:  [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2018, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manifest-new-nbc-paranormal-series/821913/93 "2018-10-16T06:14:34Z")
Yes, the dialogue and characterization are lame. It does not bode well for what the writers plan to do with the far-out premise.
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### Author:  [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2018, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manifest-new-nbc-paranormal-series/821913/94 "2018-10-16T12:56:27Z")
There’s a lot of stuff that doesn’t seem believable, and I’m completely leaving the vanishing airplane/missing five years/voices in the head out of it.
Like Prince Charming’s wife received a half million dollars from the insurance company and used a big chunk of it to pay off the mortgage on that house. Fine. Then she borrowed against it to start her business (something cooking? a restaurant or a catering service?) which apparently has made so little profit she hasn’t been able to pay off the loan. Since otherwise she could just borrow against the house again to pay back the insurance money – after all, it should be worth even more after five more years of rising house prices – and she wouldn’t be at all that desperate over the repayment letter.
But then Prince Charming runs some math(?) – so now we know he’s a teacher of math on the university level – and announces they can just borrow the half million against the business and pay off that loan “taking as long as we like.”
Uh, would a bank loan them half a million on a not-really-profitable business? And if they did, wouldn’t they then have about a million dollars worth of debt (new loan plus original HELOC on house?) Both accruing interest, of course, and he’s sanguine about paying them all back with the money she earns at the business plus the salary of a college professor? On top of general living expenses of course.
Does that make sense?
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### Author:  [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2018, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manifest-new-nbc-paranormal-series/821913/95 "2018-10-16T13:28:29Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#):
>
> But then Prince Charming runs some math(?) – so now we know he’s a teacher of math on the university level – and announces they can just borrow the half million against the business and pay off that loan “taking as long as we like.” ?
I think he said they could take a loan which they would invest (in something?) and use the profits from the investment to make regular payments to the insurance company. He was saying that if they made regular payments in good faith, they would be okay. So I guess he meant they could take a smaller loan than $500k for the investment.
But the silly thing is, how do they invest the money such that they make enough monthly profits to pay back both the loan and the insurance company? That would be a heck of an investment. If he’s that savvy of an investor, he should just make that his full-time job instead of trying to be a teacher.
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### Author:  [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2018, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manifest-new-nbc-paranormal-series/821913/96 "2018-10-16T14:02:15Z")
I’m sure the voices in his head would clue him onto some primo stock picks. Or, if he needs the money quick, he could try the racetrack.
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### Author:  [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2018, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manifest-new-nbc-paranormal-series/821913/97 "2018-10-16T17:16:56Z")
Anyone else think of the Weeping Angels from the Whoverse after last night’s episode?
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2018, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manifest-new-nbc-paranormal-series/821913/98 "2018-10-16T19:44:50Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#):
>
> But then Prince Charming runs some math(?) – so now we know he’s a teacher of math on the university level – and announces they can just borrow the half million against the business and pay off that loan “taking as long as we like.”
>
> Uh, would a bank loan them half a million on a not-really-profitable business? And if they did, wouldn’t they then have about a million dollars worth of debt (new loan plus original HELOC on house?) Both accruing interest, of course, and he’s sanguine about paying them all back with the money she earns at the business plus the salary of a college professor? On top of general living expenses of course.
>
> Does that make sense?
No, that’s not what he said. He said that they can pay back the insurance company as slowly as they like, as long as they make a “good faith” effort.
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### Author:  [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2018, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manifest-new-nbc-paranormal-series/821913/99 "2018-10-17T00:28:23Z")
> [@DrDeth](#):
>
> No, that’s not what he said. He said that they can pay back the insurance company as slowly as they like, as long as they make a “good faith” effort.
I’m skeptical; how much interest would they be earning? (As you said earlier. And as you also pointed out, it seems unlikely that they could take out a new loan at all, if they no longer have equity in the house due to earlier loans taken out, and an unprofitable business wouldn’t be good collateral, either.)
Anyway: I just watched the first four episodes, and am disappointed. I love a good high-concept SF premise, and remain curious how the five-year disappearance and voices-in-their-heads ideas will be explained.
But this show seems to follow some unofficial network-drama rule of ‘_have a bunch of characters who alternate between shouting at each other and staring off into the distance, fraught with emotion. Throw in a few occasional heartfelt hugs. Then repeat ad nauseam_.’
I don’t say this to thread-shit but to express a real frustration with this frequently-seen pattern. I think, maybe, it’s just a lot easier to write this sort of stuff than to write shows with actually-surprising character interactions and plot developments. (Keeping it limited to network and basic cable, I’m thinking here of shows like _Better Call Saul_, _The Americans_, _Justified_, and _Fargo_.)
Maybe _Manifest_ will end up surprising me; I’ll certainly give it a few more tries. But I really could live without the fake-conflict (the shouting about issues that probably wouldn’t be handled by shouting in real life). And no more staring into the distance, please.
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### Author:  [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2018, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manifest-new-nbc-paranormal-series/821913/100 "2018-10-17T00:48:10Z")
> [@Oakminster](#):
>
> Anyone else think of the Weeping Angels from the Whoverse after last night’s episode?
Heck yeah, I kept shouting “Don’t blink!”
I’m looking for an edgier vibe to this, like Sawyer’s wise-ass remarks on Lost, or a character like Hurley. I’m particularly disappointed in “Olive”. The actor Luna Blaise (I keep wanting to type that as Blaise Pascal) was a hoot on _Fresh Off the Boat_ as a rebel, goth, lesbian teen. If they had written Olive as a rebellious teen instead of the bland character on _Manifest_, there would be more humanity and realness in her role. If anyone should be rebellious, it’d be a teenage daughter whose life just got lot more complicated. And that’s just one of the minor characters; I’m not really finding any character that grabs my attention and interests.
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