‘Manifest’: Why & How Did Passengers Lose Their “Callings”?

‘Manifest‘ wrapped up its journey and gave us some long-awaited answers. When the passengers of Flight 828 reappeared after five and a half years, they soon started having visions that compelled them to take specific actions or follow certain paths. Soon enough, they named those visions ‘callings’ and believed they were crucial to surviving the ‘death date.’ Most of the passengers, led by the Stone family, tried their best to solve their visions before their time ran out, but one bad decision led to the disappearance of those visions, and surviving the ‘death date’ became unlikely. But let’s see how the passengers lost their ‘callings.’

Passengers lost their ‘callings’ after the attempt to prevent Angelina from using the sapphire. Ben injected Angelina with the ‘calling antidote.’ The serum caused a reaction in Angelina, and she started painfully screaming. Her scream affected all the passengers and fried the ‘calling’ receptors in their brains. Cal was the only one who remained with the ability to have visions.

Ben was always a rational person with a well-devised plan. He helped many passengers to cope with their own problems over the years. However, the decision to inject Angelina with the serum was rushed and guided by emotions of resentment and anger. In the next few paragraphs, we’ll discuss how his actions impacted the other passengers and how they lost the ability to receive the ‘callings.’

Angelina had the power to manipulate the other passengers with the Omega Sapphire

When the passengers of Flight 828 returned and became aware of their newfound abilities, not everyone used them in the same manner. Some of them used the ‘callings’ to do good and to help people around them, some of them were terrified and did not know what it all meant, and others turned out to be fanatics believing that they were meant to be God’s messengers destined to bring about the world’s end.

Angelina was one of those fanatics, and she was the greatest obstacle the passengers had to survive the ‘death date.’ Believing that she was God’s messenger destined to lead the people into a new era after the apocalypse, Angelina did many bad things, including murdering Grace, Ben’s wife, kidnapping their daughter, and killing other passengers. The Divine Consciousness connected all the passengers and allowed them to do good by following their ‘callings’ so they could be saved when their judgment day came.

However, sapphires could also be used to communicate with the Divine Consciousness. Angelina had one embedded into her palm, which made her even more powerful, and she could even project false ‘callings’ and manipulate the other passengers. Eventually, she was captured and taken into the detention center where the other passengers were being held.

Ben was worried that Angelina was sinking the ‘Lifeboat,’ and he had no idea how to stop her. But, when Director Zimmer ordered Saanvi to remove the Omega Sapphire from Aneglina’s palm, Ben decided to use that situation to prevent Angelina permanently from harming anyone else.

Angelina’s scream short-circuited the passengers’ ‘calling’ receptors

Saanvi was reluctant to do the procedure on Angelina because no one knew the consequences if the sapphire was removed. Nevertheless, Saanvi decided to extract the sapphire, but as soon as she started the extraction procedure, the sapphire moved from Angelina’s palm and dissolved into her veins. The only way to stop Angelina from using the sapphire and the manipulation of the ‘callings’ was to inject her with the ‘calling antidote’ Saanvi once used on herself.

And that’s exactly what Ben decided to do to Angelina. Without much thought, he used the opportunity available and injected her with the serum. If it were anyone else involved, Ben would not come through with his plans because of all the potential risks. But he considered Angelina a monster- she killed his wife, and he never forgave her for that. Ben wanted Angelina to experience the pain and loss he had felt because of her.

As soon as the serum entered Angelina’s bloodstream, tremors and high-pitched noise began. Angelina started screaming in pain, and all the passengers experienced excruciating headaches. After the tremors were over, the passengers were left unconscious and with a rash on their arms – the same rash Saanvi had when she injected herself with the serum.

Saanvi ran lab tests to see what happened and concluded that the genetic tests of other passengers showed the same results as hers- the ‘callings’ were gone, and all the passengers no longer could receive them. After hearing that, Ben was devastated and realized he made a mistake. He was so determined to stop Angelina and fueled with resentment toward her, and he now sank the ‘Lifeboat’ because of that.

With the ‘callings’ gone, there was no way of completing them and saving themselves when the judgment day came. Angelina’s scream short-circuited the passengers’ ‘calling’ receptors, but not all hope was lost.

It is later revealed that Angelina’s scream did not disrupt Cal’s abilities, and he could now hear the ‘callings’ of all the passengers, even if they could not. The problem was that all the voices were happening simultaneously, which overwhelmed Cal. He needed to focus on one ‘calling’ at a time to fully understand it so he could inform the other passengers about what needed to be done.

Eventually, Cal did his part- he understood his mission and successfully guided others in resolving their duties before the ‘Death Date.’ When the time came, Cal connected with Noah’s ark driftwood and guided all the passengers to enter the Divine Consciousness and face their judgment.