After first searching for the identity of her murderer and recovering her missing memories, then subsequently seeking out the ghost who ousted her from her body, Maddie Nears (Peyton List) finally returns to her body in School Spirits season 3. However, normalcy continues to elude her, as an unfortunate turn of events leads to her best friend Simon (Kristian Ventura) being trapped in the spirit world—body and all—with both his life and memory at risk. In this latest outing, the series notably shifts focus toward building its world and expanding the lore of the spirit world, delving further into the ghosts’ so-called scars and what lies beyond the mysterious doors. Consequently, said exploration comes at a great cost, detracting from the impressive character work and grounded and brutally emotional storytelling that separates the show from anything else on television.
From the jump, School Spirits season 3 is much more focused on the supernatural elements in the story. Simon is stuck with the spirits, discovering an entirely new layer to the scars with ghosts and secrets hidden underneath the school in an old church. Maddie is now the bridge between the dead and living, with the only advantage over Simon being her pre-existing relationships with the ghosts and the tension of now being on two separate planes of existence, specifically regarding love interest Wally (Milo Manheim). Meanwhile, we’re now branching out from the school as Xavier (Spencer MacPherson) begins interacting with the ghosts trapped at Split River’s hospital — a little gift from when Janet (Jess Gabor) ran him down with his truck and he temporarily died. Aside from Xavier’s interactions with Maddie’s father, Dave (Danny Mac), this shift in focus feels a little strange considering the title of the show, but ultimately plays a major part in how the progression of the story and development of the new Big Bad villain (more on that later). More importantly, everyone is concerned about the news that Split River High School could potentially be demolished, resulting in everyone left at the school becoming one of the “forgotten” and eternally stuck in a loop with no recognition of time passing around them.
Credit: Paramount
Frankly, it’s all far too much to tackle, especially in only eight episodes, and this is painfully obvious throughout the season. So many aspects of what initially made the series so powerful are dialed back or forgotten, resulting in a season chock-full of missed opportunities. After two seasons spent isolated from nearly everyone she knows and loves, School Spirits fails to do anything worthwhile with Maddie’s homecoming. She learned so much, positive and negative, when investigating everyone for her supposed murder, but nearly all of this remains unaddressed. Only Xavier is given an opportunity to apologize as he and Maddie build a new kind of relationship. But there’s nothing for Nicole (Kiara Pichardo) or Claire (Rainbow Wedell), both of whom I’d argue are more important for Maddie’s character and growth than Xavier. We’ve learned how Claire hurt Maddie, and vice versa, and how Maddie hurt Nicole, to the point where they were both suspects in her supposed murder, and it would have been powerful for these young women to acknowledge this harm and set forward to rebuild their relationships with a bedrock of open, healthy communication. Instead, Nicole and Claire are treated as afterthoughts for much of the season, on the sidelines with minimal importance and too often used as comedic relief.
On the other hand, having Simon stuck with the ghosts he’d been hearing about but hadn’t yet seen offered great potential for him to build relationships with other characters on the show, as he’s been pretty one-note thus far with his only notable relationship being that with Maddie. Instead, Simon and the spirits are so caught up in the constant developments with the church in the scar, White Eyes (Roy Campsall), and the school being on the verge of destruction that he doesn’t even develop a particularly meaningful relationship with anyone. Sure, he has a few nice moments with Wally and Rhonda (Sarah Yarkin), but nothing that establishes a relationship outside of them all being close with the same person. Essentially, it boils down to the friend of my friend, if you will. Even with his memory gone in the season finale, the strongest relationship and connection that Simon has outside of Maddie is with Janet (Jess Gabor), whom he’s barely interacted with. With his ability to see the ghosts now up in the air, does it matter if he can? That’s how little he connected with them.
Credit: Paramount
All of that said, the most disappointing aspect of the season is the progression of Maddie and her mother’s relationship. Sandra (Maria Dizzia) begins the season in the throes of her addiction, drinking and embracing bad habits again, like gaslighting Maddie and now spying on her through software downloaded onto Maddie’s phone. Before either has a real opportunity to address this or anything we’ve learned over the last two seasons, Sandra leaves town to detox at a center. Then, only a few days later, Sandra returns, and Maddie spills out the truth about Janet, the ghosts, and everything else. The catalyst? Maddie finds out her mother, not her father, is the one who bought her compass necklace, her most prized possession. But, as much as I enjoy watching this fraught relationship and both mother and daughter try to understand the other, there was no growth to justify this sudden turn. Sandra has done nothing to earn Maddie’s trust, only compromised it, and it doesn’t feel like there’s real interest in exploring all of the harm we’ve been told that Sandra has done over the years, because, if so, any chance at healing the relationship would be off the table.
Was the story entertaining? Yes. There were also still several moments that embraced the grounded, emotional storytelling from earlier seasons; they were just a bit more sporadic this season. It was great to learn more about Quinn (Ci Hang Ma) and Yuri (Miles Elliot), their backstories, and to see their respective romances move forward. Overall, School Spirits is still an incredible watch, but there is simply no denying that the third season prioritized the story and world-building over character and relationship development. And, it’s starting to feel that the series is taking a Riverdale-ian turn and going off the rails, particularly following the introduction of Alfred Van Heidt (Michael Adamthwaite), the Big Bad villain moving forward. I mean, a ghost who has been body-hopping for over a century, skirting the rules and ghostly boundaries, and has now taken Sandra’s body for his own because Maddie dared to threaten him and tried to protect the school? (Not to mention, we’ve no idea what this means for Sandra and where her spirit is located.) While I will attempt to refrain from passing judgment until we see more, it’s hard to imagine how this twist could be written in a way that doesn’t feel like jumping headfirst into the supernatural world.