Awww yuuuus, this show is my absolute jam! It’s like Lost meets Heroes meets Tru Calling and has filled my sci-fi need. The plot follows the Stone family: Michaela Stone, a detective with a troubled past, and Ben Stone, Michaela’s brother and husband to Grace, and father of Cal and Olive. After a trip to Jamaica with their parents, the flight gets overcrowded and passengers are offered alternative routes if they’re willing. Michaela, who’s struggling with going home after the death of her best friend in a drink driving accident, and not sure how she’s going to respond to her boyfriend’s proposal, opts to take a later flight to postpone it. Ben and Cal offer to stay behind with her. Cal is dealing with leukaemia and isn’t responding to treatment and has no desire to go back home, either.
*spoilers*
On the flight, the plane is struck by intense turbulence, but everyone’s okay and the pilot requests permission to land. He’s met with bewilderment from the air traffic controller and the plane is diverted to another airport where the passengers are greeted by police and the FBI. After disembarking, the passengers are told that they’ve been missing for five years. Confused and upset, they’re questioned for days but are finally let go after thirty-six hours. Grace, Ben’s wife, and Olive, his daughter and Cal’s twin sister, meet them at the airport, along with Ben and Michaela’s dad, but they find out that their mother’s passed away in the time they’ve been missing, and Jared Vasquez, Michaela’s boyfriend, is now married to her best friend Lourdes. Grace, too, has a boyfriend. But the personal complications are the least complicated part of their return.
Michaela’s on a bus a couple days later when she starts to hear a voice telling her to ‘stop’. She forces the bus to stop and, amazingly, saves a child’s life. Later, she and Ben both hear the same voice telling them to free a pair of dogs. The deed leads Michaela to saving two kidnapped children. She and Ben dub the voices their ‘callings’ and soon the voices lead them to other passengers, namely Saanvi Bahl, a doctor whose cancer research is curing children with leukaemia – including Cal. (Saanvi is an absolute gem!!!)
Ben, Michaela, Jared and Saanvi begin working together to figure out the mystery of the callings, why the plane jumped through time, and what it means for everyone involved. Initially, each episode follows another member from the plane and how they’re handling their callings and how their stories propel the group towards answers (and total confusion). The storylines eventually bring the passengers to an organisation who have deeply nefarious intentions and the question of whether someone else knows what’s going on.
I love the focus on family and siblings in this show. Michaela and Ben’s relationship is the central force of the show and they’re a great duo! Cal and Olive, twins with now a five year age difference between them, are adorable and protective of each other. The romantic relationships are great and really tug at your heartstrings. I love Ben and Grace together, and while I really liked Michaela and Jared at the start, I’m liking Zeke more and more. Zeke is introduced as a mystery character about midway through season one and I was pleasantly surprised to see the actor was Matt Long from Jack & Bobby! Nostalgia throwback!
The third season is airing in 2021 and I can’t wait to finish season two and find out what happens!
a writer’s blog. 