NBC's Manifest: Ranking The Characters By Intelligence
NBC's show Manifest centers around a group of individuals who return on a plane after having been presumed dead when their plane went missing for 5 years. This provides an intriguing mystery as the survivors of flight 828 work to try and discover what happened to them and what the meaning of the "callings" they hear.
As the characters are trying to solve a complex mystery, many of them are fairly intelligent. The characters possess different types of intelligence that are combined to help reach their goal of figuring out what is happening to them. But the survivors from the plane aren't the only ones on the quest for truth, adding further wise characters to this cast.
10 Zeke
Zeke's intelligence is often overlooked. Though he isn't the best at understanding the callings or piecing together, Zeke has his moments of wisdom.
Zeke is an expert at connecting with others and sensing the feelings of those around him. This caused him to develop a close relationship with Cal, which led to him helping to calm, comfort, and provide advice to Cal.
9 Jared
Jared often has moments of stupidity as he holds steadfast to this idea of right and wrong. His tendency to think in black and white often inhibits him from seeing what is directly in front of him.
But Jared does have good intuition. He is able to read Michaela fairly well and eventually believes the Stones about their callings. Jared is also extremely tactically strategic, even creating a plan to go undercover with the Xers.
8 Grace
When Ben first returned, he often left Grace out of what he was doing despite her pleas to be involved. He eventually accepted her offer of assistance and Grace began working with Michaela and Ben to understand the callings.
She was able to begin making connections, piecing together clues from the callings that others had overlooked. By the time she started having callings of her own, Grace was already actively involved in trying to solve the central mystery of the show.
7 TJ
TJ takes a different approach to understanding the callings. TJ focused heavily on some of the imagery and symbols being portrayed in the callings.
This lead TJ to examine Al-Zuras's journal, trying to piece together clues throughout history. In the finale of season 2, it was revealed that TJ has accepted an internship in Egypt which he hopes to use to research more about Al-Zuras and unlock clues to understanding the callings.
6 Olive
Olive is often overlooked, but she is incredibly intuitive. Though her family tried to keep her away from the dangers surrounding the returnees and the callings, Olive often seems to make connections with minimal information. Including her in their work is what led to many breakthroughs and discoveries, such as the death date, as Olive was able to recognize and connect imagery.
Olive also has an open mind and is willing to consider multiple perspectives, trying to remain optimistic about what the callings may mean. Olive has great emotional intelligence and is able to connect with many others around her, which is an incredibly useful skill for their mission.
5 Michaela
Michaela, played by Melissa Roxburgh, was one of the first people to understand the callings. She knows enough to trust her instincts and follow them instead of getting distracted by those around her. She has also proved to be a great judge of character, trusting some when others wouldn't and correct being wary of several characters.
Michaela knows the importance of sharing information and encouraged Ben to work with her and others to try and figure out what was going on. However, she is also smart enough to know that not everyone can be trusted with this information.
4 Ben
Ben is a professor and approaches the callings from a very scientific place. He has an entire home base filled with notes, pictures, and connections between clues and passengers.
While this may be slightly obsessive, this detail-oriented approach and focused work may be key to solving this mystery. Ben was able to locate many of the other passengers from flight 828, which helped him gather crucial information about the callings.
3 Vance
Vance is an incredibly tactical and strategic person. This NSA director teamed up with the Stone family when he realized they were telling the truth and that there was a greater threat afloat.
Vance was smart enough to fake his own death so that he could secretly continue to investigate without drawing the attention of the major. This provided him with crucial time to work behind the scenes.
2 Saanvi
Saanvi is a literal genius. Not only did she make major advances in cancer research, she also began to study the brains of those who returned from flight 828.
She was able to identify a genetic marker and work with that information to find a way to end the callings. When her research and discovery were stolen, she was desperate to continue to work to find a cure.
1 The Major
The Major has been absent in the story for a while, she proved to be a worthy adversary of the group. She always seems to be one step ahead of the returnees, counteracting their plans and obtaining information through multiple means.
She has great emotional and interpersonal intelligence, allowing her to easily connect with others and manipulate Saanvi. She has great tactical and strategic intelligence as she puts multiple plans in place. She also seems to have some medical knowledge as she was able to understand some of the details of Saanvi's research.