Does Zeke Die On Manifest? His Fate Explained

Although "Manifest" never became the huge success that "Lost" was in the 2000s, it did at least outperform most of those other shows commonly accused of copying the "Lost" formula. The plane-related mystery box show lasted four seasons — four and a half, really — and it got to end on its own terms. That's a privilege that poor "Flash Forward" (canceled one season into a planned 3-to-5 season run) never got to enjoy. 

Among the show's many "Lost" parallels is the character Zeke Landon (Matt Long), who is sort of like Desmond Humes in that he wasn't involved in the show's inciting incident. Like Desmond, Zeke was introduced late and quickly turned out to be both super important and thrown into the show's most interesting romantic storyline. Sure, Zeke never quite got an episode as strong as Desmond's "The Constant," but it was still fun to have him around. 

One major difference between him and Desmond is that, while "Lost" let Desmond live happily ever after with his long-lost love Penny, "Manifest" chooses to kill Zeke off. Or does it? Things get a little wacky near the end, so let me explain.

The basic gist of "Manifest" is that what's happened to the main cast — their passenger plane inexplicably jumping through time — is one big cosmic test that will decide not just their fate, but the fate of the human race. The passengers must heed those psychic calls they're getting and grow to become better people before their time is up, or else they and everyone else will die. Zeke knows this in part because he went through a similar situation; he was supposed to die from his own time-jump experience, but he improved as a person and his looming death date spared him. 

Unfortunately, death wasn't quite done with Zeke yet. In season 4 part 1, Zeke finds out that plane survivor Cal (Ty Doran) is the group's only hope of surviving their death date, and therefore is the world's only hope. Knowing that Cal has terminal cancer, Zeke chooses to use his powers to absorb Cal's cancer into himself. Zeke dies, but he ensures that everyone else has a decent shot at survival. It's a heroic end, one that really underlines just how much Zeke's grown over the series. However, that's little comfort to poor Michaela (Melissa Roxburgh), who sure isn't happy to find out what he's done.

Luckily for Zeke, "Manifest" is a show that loves to play around with time. Early into season 4, part 2, a grieving Michaela talks to a version of Zeke who's from 2018 (during the cave incident that started his whole arc on the show). 2018 Zeke hasn't met Michaela, but because Zeke's within the "divine consciousness," he seems to remember everything that's happened. Throughout the final few episodes, Zeke pops in as an omnipotent ghost to reflect on his life and all those missed connections he had with Michaela. It turns out that he was doing airport pickups for his taxi job at JFK the night Michaela's plane was supposed to land there. Doesn't that sting? If only there was a way to turn back time and do it all over again. 

Well, good news: in the series finale, the passengers of Flight 828 survive their judgment from the divine consciousness. As a reward, they get to return to 2013 and land at JFK safely. Technically speaking, none of what we've seen in the past four seasons actually happened, but the memories still remain in the minds of the passengers. Michaela uses this to her advantage; she gets into the cab with Zeke and explains the whole situation. Zeke wonders a bit if she's crazy, but the spark's still there.

The show ends with Michaela and Zeke driving out of JFK. We never find out how things went for them afterward, but the implication is that they got a second shot at love. They'll probably get married again, Zeke will avoid that whole cave situation that nearly ruined his life, and everything should be drama-free. It's sort of a happier version of what happened in "11/22/63," another time travel story where one main character keeps their memories while the other one doesn't. That book/TV show explored all the complications that come from this, whereas "Manifest" is happy to let us assume things worked out for the best. 

"Manifest" caught some flak from fans for not making a ton of sense logically. People may complain about "Lost" not wrapping things up in a satisfying way, but in hindsight, it answered way more questions than its successors like "Manifest" ever did. Still, "Manifest" understood that the true appeal of "Lost" was its characters, not its mysteries, which is why it feels fitting for the show to end with a focus on Michaela and Zeke. They may not hold a candle to Desmond and Penny, but they were arguably the show's most interesting couple. It felt right to let them have their happily ever after.