Editor's Note: This article contains spoilers for Manifest.
After the death of Grace Stone (Athena Karkanis) at the end of Manifest Season 3, some have quickly taken to Ben Stone (Josh Dallas) ending up with Saanvi Bahl (Parveen Kaur) at the end of the upcoming final season on Netflix. Given the characters’ stories over the last three seasons, this would be an utter mistake.
When Manifest premiered on NBC in 2018, the pairing of Saanvi and Ben quickly became a fan-favorite. Their energies fit so well together, and they became quite the duo as they raced to find the answers to what had happened to them and the other passengers of Flight 828. Saanvi was a great friend to Ben as he started to unravel, and the chemistry between the actors was undeniable. (Personally, I was shipping them too, even well into Season 2!)
It didn’t help that Ben’s wife, Grace, had found another love in Danny (Daniel Sunjata) during the five and a half years that the passengers were missing, and was written as quite an unlikeable character at first. But, with Season 2, things changed. Grace and Ben’s relationship became stronger as Grace discovered she was pregnant and started experiencing callings. The two rekindled their flame and their love blossomed once again. They became a strong couple worth rooting for.
Meanwhile, Saanvi had some issues to deal with. During Manifest Season 2, we learned that the reason Saanvi had been in Jamaica and on Flight 828 to begin with was because she was seeing a married woman. This woman chose to stay with her partner, leaving Saanvi heartbroken and alone.
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Though the therapy sessions were fake and for the Major’s personal gain, we watched as Saanvi addressed the reasoning for partaking in a relationship like this and the toll it took on her. We watched as Saanvi later kind of admitted she had feelings for Ben and actively tried not to think about him in that way, whom she knew she couldn’t have because of Ben’s devotion to Grace. Saanvi started to work through why she only chose people that were unavailable, where she would be the second choice and she wouldn’t need to fully commit. Those “therapy” sessions may have been cut short, but that doesn’t negate the progress that Saanvi made. Ending up with Ben during the final 20-episode season of Manifest would.
Firmly believing that the writers made a mistake by killing Grace and shattering any hope for the Stone family to have a real happy ending, Saanvi doesn’t deserve to be Ben’s second choice. With Grace gone, that’s what Saanvi would be. Does Ben deserve to find love again? Absolutely. But it should not come at the cost of Saanvi’s development and happiness. Saanvi deserves to be someone’s first choice. Being with Ben in the end would be a step back for her after watching Saanvi address her issues and slightly start to look forward in life for a real kind of happiness. If the writers killed off Grace to pair Saanvi and Ben, it would always be tainted by the fact that, had Grace not died, that is who Ben would be with. Saanvi would have to live her life and end the show fully aware that she was not what Ben wanted when he pictured his future. (Perhaps this could have been avoided with more time, but given that the series was only given one more season instead of the three that the creator, Jeff Rake, originally planned, there’s little chance it would feel satisfying.)
If Ben and Saanvi were going to be paired together, it should’ve been done much sooner (and without killing off characters). Given Grace and Ben’s marital troubles in Season 1, that would’ve been a perfect time for the two to end things amicably and each find their own happy endings. Sometimes things don’t work out and what a family looks like changes.
Danny was such a big part of Grace and Olive’s life… and he just disappeared after Grace discovered she was pregnant. Manifest showed us how Danny helped Grace grieve the loss and Ben and Cal and start to move forward. We saw how much Danny meant to Olive, as he stepped up to be a father figure to her during many of those years. If Grace and Ben were never meant to end up together, that should have been the ending Grace received, not an ending where she was fridged.
We’ve spent the last two seasons with the writers showing and telling us how important Ben and Grace’s relationship was. How much they loved each other, how they were willing to stop at nothing to save each other, and that their happy ending was beating the death date and being a happy family together. It wouldn’t be fair, for either woman or the fans, to give Saanvi that ending. Saanvi deserves a happy ending of her own, where she is in the best possible position for fans to imagine a happy future ahead of her. Perhaps that could be with someone on the show, like the coworker that we saw her bond with during Manifest Season 3. Or, maybe, another previously established character that hasn’t seen any romance thus far, like Michaela’s former partner from work Drea (Ellen Tamaki).
Whatever the case, pairing Saanvi with Ben in the final episodes would be such an unsatisfying ending. For those who have watched Pretty Little Liars, it would be reminiscent of Spencer and Toby only ending up together after Toby’s wife, Yvonne, died in a car accident. Saanvi deserves better, while Manifest has instilled in fans that Ben’s one true love was Grace. There’s no going back on that.
As we head into the final season on Netflix, it’s unclear exactly what path the writers will take. Hopefully, the adoration that fans have for Ben and Grace’s relationship and the Stone family will pay off with a true happy ending. Meanwhile, Saanvi deserves the same. She’s risked so much for the passengers, even putting herself in immediate danger, and has had a very limited romantic life as her focus has fallen to her work. Saanvi’s romantic life should become a bit more of a priority (not too much, though) and she should have a thriving and fulfilling relationship… just not with Ben.
The first three seasons of Manifest are streaming on Netflix.
KEEP READING: 'Manifest' Will Keep Its Original Ending, Says Creator Jeff Rake
