'Manifest' Has Been Canceled, but Does It Leave Viewers With a Satisfying Ending?

Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for the Season 3 finale of Manifest.

NBC show Manifest has been compared to Lost and other mysteries due to its exciting premise and ability to keep fans on edge for every new episode. Sadly, Deadline reported on June 14, 2021, that Manifest had been canceled, much to the disappointment of fans.

While there have been several viral campaigns for the show to get picked up by streaming for its anticipated six seasons, a more imminent question might be: Does Manifest have an ending?

When Deadline announced the cancellation of Manifest, they also noted that creator Jeff Rake sold the show to NBC with six planned seasons mapped out, leaving little room for improvisation or plot holes. Unfortunately, what Jeff didn't count on was the potential for cancellation, causing a snag in even the best-laid plans, but he isn't the first to meet this challenge.

Sadly, Manifest's Season 3 finale was hoping for a story continuation because fans will never know the answer to the cliffhangers the show ended on. Grace (Athena Karkanis) died, and Ben (Josh Dallas) and Grace’s son Cal (Jack Messina) returned much older than he was supposed to be. Also, in the final seconds of the show, Gupta (Mahira Kakkar) saw the entire 828 airplane appear abruptly at Project Eureka with its pilot inside.

Fans tried desperately to get other networks to pick up the show, most notably Netflix, who eventually declined. It looks like this is one show that won't have a happy ending because despite the writer's best efforts, who could anticipate such a sudden cancellation? Maybe one day, the writers will reveal the extent of their six-season plan so audiences know what would've happened following Season 3's cliffhanger, but for now, they can only guess.

In Netflix's recently released July bulletin, the company seemingly confirmed that Manifest was not on the agenda, at least for that month. However, since the two prior seasons have appeared for streaming on Netflix, it's safe to say that fans can expect the third season to appear at some point as well.

Fans will remember that Seasons 1 and 2 of Manifest, much like the titular phenomenon, appeared on Netflix only hours after they were announced. It might be in everyone's best interests to keep their eyes open for signs that Netflix could drop Season 3 and hope for the best. However, Netflix must be fully aware of Manifest's quickly gathering cult following, and hopefully, that will keep the show on the platform at least for a little longer.

If you're unwilling to wait for the episodes to release on Netflix, NBC, Peacock, and Hulu have all the episodes readily available. While many fans of the show were hoping for a better end to the series, never say never. After all, several die-hard fan campaigns have secured future seasons for other shows, so maybe all it takes is a few more trending hashtags.