The NBC-turned-Netflix series Manifest finally returned with the first part of its fourth and final season earlier this month. The saved drama series largely focuses on Ben Stone (Josh Dallas) and his family after they mysteriously disappeared on Flight 828 for five and a half years. Throughout the series, he and the others followed "Callings" that led them down various, mystery-solving paths. However, one non-passenger has been instrumental in helping the Stones, Michaela (Melissa Roxburgh) specifically, as they try to work out the mystery of 828 — Jared (J.R. Ramirez).
While Jared has been helpful on the 828 side of things, he's also been stuck on quite the rollercoaster of relationship drama since Season 1. Early in the show, viewers learn that Jared is Michaela's almost fiancé. But when 828 went missing, Jared soon waded back into romantic waters, this time with one of Michaela's best friends, Lourdes (Victoria Cartagena). In Season 3, he begins a "secret" casual relationship with Drea (Ellen Tamaki), who is, almost unsurprisingly, another of Michaela's close friends and her former partner. Even if Jared is subconsciously aware of how he chooses women to date, Ramirez acknowledges that maybe Jared should take a step back. In a recent interview with The Wrap, he said, "I always joke around that Jared needs some time by himself because he has a really hard time keeping a woman for more than two weeks. And I find him to be a good guy. I don’t know what he’s doing wrong in that department."
Even with the complexities of Jared's relationship, Ramirez loved working with Tamaki and praised the organic nature of Jared's relationship with Drea.
"First off, I love Ellen [Tamaki] to death. She’s incredible. She’s such a talented actress and just so great to play off of. She’s become a dear friend. And it’s just it was really fun to play, to see where it was going because it’s another thing I had absolutely no idea [about]...organically you will see something arise with Jared and Drea that I think is just beautifully put together and people won’t see it coming. I didn’t see a lot of what’s to come with that whole situation between Jared, Drea, Michaela, Zeke, everything — a lot of it you don’t see it coming. So it organically kind of happens."
Moreover, viewers also see his dynamic with Zeke and how Jared will navigate grief as it pertains to Zeke's (Matt Long) death. Zeke has long been the reason why Jared and Michaela didn't get back together, with Michaela eventually marrying him. Despite Jared's heartache, "he never wanted any pain for Michaela, he never wanted to hurt Zeke. He never wanted any of that, he wanted things to work out between the love of his life, between his soulmate and just, you know, Mr. Rake had something else coming. But he never wanted anything bad for him." Ramirez also assures that Jared won't jump at the chance to be with Michaela now that Zeke is dead, saying, "They couldn’t do it that way because that’s the beauty of what Manifest is. It's family first."
Ultimately, Ramirez just wants Jared to find his own happiness after everything he's experienced.
"I hope I just hope the guy gets a damn happy ending; a happy ending at the end of it all. He deserves to be frickin' happy. Took me a while to say because I didn’t know where it was all going. After Season 3… I’ve talked about it. People were like, 'Does he deserve a happy ending?' And I was like, 'Yeah… yeah?' And now, he deserves a darn happy ending. You know, he’s a good guy who has had everyone else’s heart and best intentions at the forefront, and he deserves to be happy. So hopefully he gets it."
Manifest Season 4 Part 1 is streaming now on Netflix. Part 2 does not yet have a release date but is expected in 2023. Watch the Part 1 trailer below: