While it’s impossible at this point in Manifest to understand what the shadow force is, we do know it’s hovering over the series' major players. Ben’s young tweenage son Cal (Jack Messina) spends a lot of time in “Reentry” drawing a portrait of his family. It’s a pretty cute detail until you realize a shadow man is lurking behind the Stone family in the portrait; a shadow man identical to the the force that was also sliding around Kelly’s home. Although Cal says he “doesn’t know” who the shadow man is, it’s clear he either has a connection to the being or simply recognizes its presence. As usual, kids in sci-fi shows can always detect the supernatural before the bumbling adults around them.