Manifest Star Explains How Her New Crime Show Is Different From The NBC Supernatural Drama

Manifest star Melissa Roxburgh compares the supernatural drama to her new NBC crime series. The cast of characters in Manifest were led by Ben Stone (Josh Dallas) and his sister Michaela (Roxburgh). Ben and Michaela were passengers on Montego Air Flight 828, which landed five and a half years after taking off. After Flight 828’s return, Ben, Michaela, and the other passengers heard voices in their heads and experienced visions known as Callings, which influenced their actions and led to conflicts among them throughout the show’s run.

After airing on NBC for three seasons, the series was canceled after several major cliffhangers. High viewership for seasons 1 and 2 on Netflix and a strong fan campaign led to Manifest being saved for a fourth and final season by the streaming platform. Instead of having thirteen episodes as in the previous seasons, Netflix split season 4 into two 10-episode installments. Manifest‘s ending brought the series full-circle and in a way that led to a divisive response.

Melissa Roxburgh Explains How The Hunting Party Is Similar And Different From Manifest

Her Characters Have A Similar Profession

Roxburgh breaks down how her character and the story in The Hunting Party compare to Manifest. The new NBC series follows a task force that is tasked with hunting down serial killers who have escaped from a high-security prison known as The Pit. Roxburgh plays Rebecca “Bex” Henderson, an FBI agent who is part of the task force. In Manifest, Roxburgh played a somewhat similar character, as Michaela was a police officer and used her position to pursue Callings.

The Hunting Party‘s cast also includes Patrick Sabongui, who played David Singh in CW’s The Flash.

While speaking with TVLine, Roxburgh explained that despite the high-concept idea of The Pit, The Hunting Party is more grounded than Manifest‘s supernatural story. As for comparisons between Bex and Michaela, she clarifies that Bex feels like a more stable and secure character. Roxburgh discusses how Michaela took a while to figure out who she was and how to accept herself while Bex is already in a good place with herself. Check out Roxburgh’s comments below:

Manifest was super sci-fi. I feel like we went into different worlds with Al-Zuras and the cloud coming at us in the airplane and the burning hands and all that stuff, voices in your head. [The Hunting Party] is a bit more grounded in reality despite it being a very high-concept idea about this panopticon, this place called The Pit. I kind of like it that there’s no voices in your head.

I used to joke that it was just Michaela with a promotion, but well, promotion to the Royal Hearts Casino where she plays as a security guard. But I think Bex Henderson is a bit more sturdy. When we met Michaela in Manifest, she was a hot mess. She was going through a lot and she kind of took a while to find her footing and be okay with herself. Whereas I feel like Bex knows who she is. She knows she’s got her job. She’s very intelligent. She knows how to do her job well. She just has some bad luck. And so getting back into the Bureau, going after these killers, I think she’s ready to go. She’s ready to do what she’s really good at.

The Hunting Party Is A Promising Post-Manifest Show

Every season of Manifest had overarching storylines and mysteries, but there was a procedural element that stemmed from each episode’s Callings. The Hunting Party leans more into being a procedural show, as the episodes see the intelligent and skilled Bex and the task force hunting down different serial killers. For those who enjoyed the procedural aspect of Manifest and seeing Roxburgh play a police officer, The Hunting Party is a show that is worth watching, even though it lacks Manifest‘s more fantastical elements.

The Hunting Party airs on Mondays at 10 P.M. ET on NBC.

Source: TVLine