School Spirits: Season 2 Review

Catherine Hughes ‘28 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer 

Spoilers Ahead.

School Spirits is a series streaming on Paramount Plus totaling sixteen episodes that was first released in March of 2023. The series follows Maddie (Peyton List), a recently deceased girl turned ghost. After a traumatic event  in the basement of her school, a now deceased Maddie must figure out how exactly she died. She enlists the help of other spirits of former students such as Wally (Milo Manheim), Rhonda (Sarah Yarkin), and Charley (Nick Pugliese) to help her figure out exactly how she died. Maddie’s death is unusual, as all the other ghosts remember exactly how they died, but Maddie isn’t even sure where her body is. Maddie is also able to communicate with her living friend Simon (Kristian Ventura), something the other ghosts can’t do. The series follows many twists and turns, season one ending on a massive cliffhanger where it is revealed that Maddie never actually died. It’s revealed that she was kicked out of her body by Janet (Jess Gabor) , one of the other spirits haunting the school. Season two now follows the spirit who’s taken over Maddie’s body as well as Maddie’s ghost. 

This new season does an exceptional job at expanding the lives of each character. New insight is given into the lives and deaths of the ghosts through “keys”, items that allow each of the ghosts to enter into their own personal hell or “scars”, extreme and warped versions of their deaths. Wally’s fatal football game and Charley’s anaphylactic shock were finally shown, forcing the characters to face personalized emotional and physical torment. We are also finally given an explanation as to what happened to Rhonda and the trauma behind her death. It is revealed that not only was she groomed and then strangled by her music teacher, but she was judged and ridiculed after her death for her relationship with her teacher. Understanding the insecurities and fears of Wally, Rhonda, and Charley made them much more dynamic characters, helping deepen the connections between viewers and the characters. The character growth in this season was subtle yet intentional, we’re able to see each character grow beyond their traumas and come to terms with their individual deaths. Maddie is able to become less guarded with those in her life, Charley becomes open to the possibility of being worthy and able to love, and Wally begins to act on his own wants and needs. While each character experienced growth and development throughout the season, the way the growth was approached for season two kept each character true to season one. 

One thing School Spirits always does extremely well is curate a soundtrack. The first season ended with a massive reveal backed by Lizzy McAlpines “Doomsday”. I honestly didn’t think anything else could top that scene, but sure enough this show pulls through with an amazing soundtrack. One song in particular, Ethel Cain’s “Family Tree” in episode two, backs one of the best scenes in the show. “Family Tree” plays in the background at the end of the second episode. This scene contrasts an earlier one, showing the living characters coming upon Janet’s dug up grave in her old house. Janet being the ghost now inhabiting Maddie’s body. She died in 1958 and it was revealed at the end of season one that she knocked Maddie out of her body. Now free from the school Janet went to visit her grandmother’s house, which presently, is completely abandoned. that she was earlier shown to have been laying down in. “Family Tree” is about religious guilt and being raised in an overly religious family to then live a life that opposes religious values. This ties in beautifully with Janet’s story as her character is a brilliant scientist with aspirations of college and a successful career. In flashbacks it is revealed she was physically abused by her father, a pastor, who wants her to marry and be a housewife. This song is essentially Janet’s backstory, playing this song in the background as the living cast begins to uncover her story connected Janet with these characters without them interacting. It is one of the first scenes where we see our living cast put some of the pieces together as to what exactly is going on with Janet, and becomes a turning point for the rest of the season. 

It is revealed in the very final episode of the first season that one of the ghosts, Janet (Jess Gabor), had pushed Maddie out of her own body and was now walking around while Maddie was stuck in the school. Pieces of Janet’s life are revealed throughout the season in flashback scenes, we discover her love of science, and her family’s unwillingness to let her pursue her aspirations. We find out that Janet and Mr Martin (Josh Zuckerman), a ghost teacher who’s taken on the task of helping the ghosts of dead students “cross over”, had known each other before their death. Janet, like Maddie, wasn’t like other ghosts. She was the one who discovered the “scars” and is even able to alter the reality of the living. Janet’s story and the insight into her abusive background is absolutely heartbreaking. We watch as Janet makes frustrating choices while inside Maddie’s body; setting fire to a house, stealing from a college party, and evading all of Maddie’s living friends as they try to help Maddie get her life back. While Janet seems to be ruining Maddie’s reputation and making things extremely difficult, there is also context given to her actions. While she seems to be ruining Maddie’s image, she is also just trying to escape the ghost of the teacher who ruined her life and is also trying to achieve her life goals with her new second chance at life. While the full context of her motives is not entirely clear, there is enough understanding of Janet’s character and her background to have sympathy for her actions.  Peyton List, the actress playing Maddie as well as Janet-Possessed Maddie, does an amazing job changing her speech, body language, and overall presence on screen for both Maddie and Janet, she creates subtle yet meaningful contrast that puts both characters into their own realities despite them being one actress. 

This season was very plot driven, the pacing surrounded the progression of this season and left little time for relationships between characters leaving the developing dynamics such as Maddie and Wally rushed. There are very few scenes in which the characters can just exist, while I do think there is a good connection between character and viewer, there is potential for so much more if there were an opportunity to just present the characters as they are, not in relation to the mystery. This is a common theme amongst shows made as of late, they are so restricted in how much they can fit into a season, there’s no room for filler episodes and so things like relationships between characters feel rushed and unnatural. In older shows, ones with forty five minute episodes, twenty two episode seasons, need the main plot of the season to be spread out leaving time to establish relationships and romances within a show. School Spirits being plot driven without the time for filler means that relationships are rushed through and move very quickly without a strong foundation. Occasionally shows can figure out how to fully convey a connection between characters, but School Spirits is unfortunately note one of them. There are also issues with the pacing of conflicts, for example to one between Maddie and Simon. Simon stops believing that Maddie is a ghost and believes he has fallen  into a state of hallucinatory psychosis. Maddie is now faced with the challenge of convincing Simon that she is real and that she needs his help. This solidifies the relationship between Simon and Maddie, but the conflict only lasts about an episode or two. While this conflict was stressful it served a purpose, and with how little time it took to be resolved, it became forgettable. I also found the constant action of the show became a bit overwhelming. The constant and fast paced conflict centers the show around the story more than the characters, while each character can be empathized with the connection between character and viewer is very lacking. 

I thought this season was wildly entertaining and full of many twists and turns. While I wouldn’t necessarily say it is flawless, the show persists with lovable characters and a unique concept. I think that overall this season of School Spirits is comparable, if not better than the first. It’s engaging, funny, and in my opinion might have one of the best soundtracks in current television. This season of School Spirits is absolutely to die for.