kristi_adela

Athena is fantastic. I had never seen her work before Manifest. She did an amazing job on the scene in the back yard too
She's is playing a very unsympathetic character though. This tweet sums up how a lot of viewers appear to be feeling about Grace.

https://mobile.twitter.com/jeff_rake...6326897664?p=v

HemsyFanatic811

Well when people are under stress, they act differently and Grace might be a wonderful lady when all is well and lots of fun! She mourned her husband. She felt she owed it to him and the kids to let him stay-what was she supposed to do-just kick him out? She needed to see if the spark could be rekindled. She needed time. Danny didn't wait like he should've...anyway, it's an impossible situation for anyone to be in.
I agree Athena is a great actress! I hated her character's guts Monday night and here I am defending her now. This whole cast is amazing!

Austenphile

Good point! I waffle back and forth on her. After a rewatch I am not so mad as I was. And she was quite wonderful in 8, she and Ben were quite cute.

I am going to preface my statements with the fact that I think Danny might be the most selfish character I have ever seen on television. He wants what he wants regardless of Grace’s statements and respects no boundaries. He has never considered Ben or Cal’s feelings. And while I can forgive not considering a romantic rival, a decent person would have bowed out for the sake of a young, sick child to acclimate and left the family alone. Not to mention I doubt he even really cares about Olive with the way he made her feel guilty about his missing the soccer tournament. I think he is just using her to stay close to Grace because he still wants her.

But for the rest of my discussion, let’s assume he really is a great guy and a much better choice than Ben. And let’s ignore Ben’s feelings. Staying with Ben and breaking it completely off with Danny right away was still the right choice because of Cal. Danny is a complete stranger to him. He is sick and fighting for his life. He has to see his sister and all his friends have aged 5 years and now he’s alone except his family. Now his Dad has moved out. Even if no callings were going on, and we only had Grace and Danny’s knowledge, Cal does not need Danny coming in and basically taking his father’s place as part of the family. It would be months before he would be ready for that. Definitely not this season. So if Grace does take back up with Danny right away, she becomes selfish and inconsiderate. I think that Olive called Danny in the Promo, but we have to see how Grace reacts before I make any judgements about him being there.

For now, she was a little hasty in telling Ben it was over the day after they were happy, yet she has not done anything else wrong other than being in denial about what Ben is trying to tell her because she wants a normal life. Understandable. Cal now has these weird things happening that only his Dad and Aunt can understand. Until Grace can realize Ben is telling the truth and works with Ben, without any outside interference from Danny until Cal is stable, then she will not be sympathetic to many viewers.

Not even getting into Olive who is trying to adjust to having her Dad back and where Danny fits in, to having everything in her family blown back up again. The last thing she actually needs is Grace and Danny part 2 for a long despite how much she might want things with her second family to go back to how they were a month ago before the plane came back. Adding Cal and having her Dad alive, makes it impossible to just turn back to how it was a month ago. Yet another reason, everyone needs a breather before Grace romantically gets involved again with Danny, if she ever does. And how she handles all that balancing between her feelings and her kids will determine how I feel about her.

Sorry for the rambling and run on sentences. My grammar goes out the window when I rant.

kristi_adela

She actually did kick him out though. 3 weeks after the plane returned and a day after she toasted to a new start. The cast is amazing and I'd love them all even when the characters are breaking my heart.

wickedrum

it sounds even worse given those timescales!

BlondieLeigh

It really does

HemsyFanatic811

True. Hmmm...that does sound bad.

BlondieLeigh

It's pretty awful. And with the kids involved it's worse.

Austenphile

They need to play up a depression angle if they plan on redeeming her or keeping her. They have hinted at it so it would be possible to do.

kristi_adela

That would be the best direction for her character. If they are interested in making her the least bit likable. Maybe that's not the plan though?

Austenphile

True. She might just be the foil to stop Ben. It’s really too early to tell.

BlondieLeigh

I just really think they need to do something with her.

Austenphile

First, the love triangle between her, Ben and Danny has to end. Either write her off with Danny where she just is mentioned or answers the door when Ben comes to see the kids, or write Danny off completely out of the picture. If she stays, then regardless of whether or not she and Ben are romantically together, she needs to be on the same page about the kids and the callings.

BlondieLeigh

That's for sure.

HemsyFanatic811

Amen!!! And well said!!!