******SPIRITS & SPOILERS!******
Created by sibling writer/creators Nate & Megan Trinrud, the young adult supernatural drama “School Spirits” debuted three years ago, and I discovered it almost by accident. For clarity, I am the absolute wrong demographic for this series (a boring, old guy), but my wife and I used to enjoy “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” nights together when we were dating back in the late 1990s, so I was curious when I saw this series appear on my Paramount+ streaming menu. With an hour of anti-arthritic exercise to endure one morning, I gave it a try on my iPad, and it won me over.
Evoking the early (and best) seasons of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (1997-2003), “School Spirits” began with a high school student named Maddie Nears (Peyton List) whose body is stolen by a renegade ghost from the 1950s named Janet (Jess Gabor), leaving Maddie’s spirit stranded at Split River High in Wisconsin. There, she befriends spectral student Charley (Nick Pugliese), a sensitive gay teen who died on campus in 1994 after a fatal peanut allergy. Maddie then meets the ghost of amiable school jock, Wally Clark (Milo Manheim), who died during the homecoming game in 1983. Maddie also befriends the understandably bitter beatnik, Rhonda (Sarah Yarkin), who was murdered by her sexually assaultive guidance counselor back in 1964. Maddie and Wally enjoyed a sweet flirtation and romance over the course of the show, to the chagrin of Maddie’s mortal bestie, Simon (Kristian Ventura; nee Flores). Maddie and Simon’s friend Nicole (Kiara Pichardo) forms an unlikely friendship with popular girl, Claire (Rainbow Wedell). Claire previously had a brief, guilt-ridden fling with Maddie’s brooding ex, Xavier (Spencer MacPherson); both characters later joined the ghost gang’s circle.
In season 2, we met Yuri (Miles Elliott), a solitary kid who died of a panic attack in 1977. We also met Quinn (Ci Hang Ma); a geeky band girl whose 2004 death in a campus bus crash further exacerbated the guilt of spectral school counselor, Mr. Martin (Josh Zuckerman), whose death in a 1958 chemistry lab fire also claimed prized pupil Janet (not a coincidence). For his checkered past and lies, a contrite Mr. Martin was confined to the school’s boiler room. Seasons 2 saw introverted Yuri pairing up with chatty, insecure Charly. That season ended with Maddie returned to her body and to her widowed, alcoholic mother, Sandra (Maria Dizzia), as her body-borrowing spirit Janet would eventually ascend (finding her “door” to a higher plane of existence), leaving Mr. Martin and the other ghosts of Split River High behind. After his own near death experience, Xavier can now see and talk with spirits too, including Maddie’s late father, Dave (Danny Mac). Season 2 ended with Maddie’s still-alive best friend Simon trapped in the spirit underworld–both in spirit and body.
In season 3, the ghost gang reluctantly seeks out a contrite Mr. Martin to help Simon return to reality. Along the way, Quinn opens up to reveal they’re nonbinary, and finds fledging romance with reclusive Rhonda, just as things heat up between Maddie and amiable jock Wally. Wally later finds his ‘door’ and ascends, in a selfless attempt to find the now-missing Simon. We also learn the school was built on the site of a deadly flood, which drowned a group of children and their pastor (Roy Campsall) after the town’s river was split for realty development (hence the town’s current name of Split River, Wisconsin). The spirit of the man behind that decision, Alfred Van Heidt, lives on in the present by possessing new bodies, leaping from one to the other. The season finale reveals he’s leapt into corrupt school superintendent Dr. Deborah Hunter-Price (Jennifer Tilly), whose plan is to demolish the school–leaving its high schooler ghosts forgotten, like the lost, frightened ghost-children of the flood.
With all that to absorb, here’s a look at the season 3 finale…
“Dawn of the Deb.”
As Maddie robotically walks trancelike through the real world, her consciousness steps through a door into a higher plane of existence (not necessarily heaven) to search for her equally mortal best friend, Simon–who went missing in this dimension.
Note: Despite the bright lights behind the “doors” we see leading to the next realm of existence (evocative of 1990’s Oscar-winning “Ghost” and its depiction of heaven) , the actual realm looks like, well… the woods of British Columbia. I realize this is more of a budget/production issue than a storytelling one, but it was a mite disappointing, all the same. Nevertheless, the attempts to make it look eerie with fog and random mirrors/doors placed throughout was appreciated. They never stated that this dimension was heaven, so I assume the afterlife architecture of the show is multi-tiered.
Also in this higher plane looking for Simon is his unlikely friend, the amiable football hero ghost Wally Clark (Milo Manheim) who gazes into a mirror and gets pulled into his own glory days of high school, circa 1983. It takes Maddie to help pull him back.
Note: Wally Clark (Milo Manheim) is one of my favorite characters, and I loved his 1983 flashback scene, which was both authentic and nostalgic (for me). Wally is of my generation (I was Class of 1985) and he reminds me of some football players I went to school with, who were usually much nicer than the stereotypical jock douchebags we see in many teen movies and TV shows. Wally’s outward confidence and healthy ego masks some real heartbreak at being cut down in his prime, as well as his inevitably doomed romance with Maddie, and it’s a credit to Manheim that he makes those moments as real as any others.
Wally and Maddie find an amnesic Simon (Kristian Ventura), whose milky eyes reflect the late pastor from 1912 who drowned along with eight children from his parish after the town’s river was unsafely split by Alfred Van Heidt. It’s only through Simon’s deep connection to Maddie that he regains his own memories.
Note: Kristian Ventura is another talented actor with a real career ahead of him. The actor recently changed his last name from Flores, following the divorce of his parents three years ago. He’s also authored a 2023 novel called “A Happy Ghost,” which (by accounts I’ve read) is semi-autobiographical. This show’s cast really work to make their characters more than what’s on the page, even if they’re aging out of playing authentic teenagers.
Wally, Maddie and Simon are joined on the other side of their doors by former Split River High ghosts Dawn (RaeAnn Boone), Janet (Jess Gabor) and by Maddie’s own deceased father…
Note: Dawn (RaeAnn Boone) was the 1960s hippie girl we’d met in season 1 who’d ascended to the higher plane we find her in now (“Your Friend Ghost”), along with Wally, and season 1’s misunderstood ghostly antagonist Janet (Jess Gabor). I suppose if one’s spirit has all eternity, it doesn’t matter if the afterlife has multiple levels to wade through, even if it’s disappointing to those with religious convictions (personally, I have none, so I can accept the show’s depiction of an afterlife as easily as I accept ‘the Force’ in the “Star Wars” universe).
With the clock ticking, Dave Nears (Danny Mac) finds the door so that Maddie can return Simon to the mortal world–which means making painful goodbyes both to her dad and to her ghost-boyfriend Wally.
Note: I don’t know if Maddie and Simon exiting this realm (for lack of a better description) means we’ll never see Wally, Janet, Dawn or the spirit of Maddie’s father (Danny Mac) again, but if so, it was a poignant sendoff. I really enjoyed season 3’s scenes of a tearful Maddie communicating with her father in the hospital via newly-minted medium (and ex-boyfriend) Xavier (Spencer MacPherson). At least in this dynamic season finale, Maddie has the chance to actually hug both Wally and her father one last time before returning to Earth…
Possessed by the spirit of the man who cursed Split River, Dr. Deborah Hunter-Price (Jennifer Tilly) bullies Principal Hartman (Alex Zahara) and others opposed to her plan of demolishing Split River High and destroying any ghostly interference. To that end, she deserts the meeting, chain-locks the doors, and sets the school ablaze, merrily smashing fire alarms as well.
Note: One of my other nits (of both the episode and the third season in general) is a general lack of subtlety with the character of evil, greedy superintendent Dr. Deborah Hunter-Price. Actress Jennifer Tilly (“Bride of Chucky,” “Liar, Liar”) plays the role so broadly over-the-top that it’s like she’s acting in her own private Farrelly Brothers comedy. So much so that the character’s ‘possessed’ state isn’t all that different from her previously seen ‘normal’ state. Nevertheless, I gotta hand it to Tilly for fully committing to the bit; it’s a high-octane performance, to say the least.
Nicole (Kiara Pichardo) and Claire (Rainbow Wedell) and the assembled guests in the library react as the ghosts leap into their ‘scars’ to become briefly visible in the library, where they warn everyone that the school is on fire and that they’re locked in.
Note: I would’ve liked a bit more urgency from the crowd when the arriving ghosts tell them that the school is on fire, but upon reflection, it makes sense that the assembled guests were also momentarily stunned at the sight of several ghosts suddenly dropping soaking wet from out of nowhere, so I give it a pass. Sadly, the character of Nicole (Kiara Pichardo) hasn’t been given as much to do this season beyond a few comical moments trying to infiltrate the mean girls clique of the superintendent’s daughter, Livia (“Mean Ghouls”), and playing Scooby Gang detective with Claire. Claire (Rainbow Wedell), however, was given a new hairdo and began with a serious flirtation with Nicole’s older brother, Diego (Zack Calderon). Claire used to be one of the ‘mean girls’ when the show began, and romanced Xavier when his then-girlfriend Maddie was still missing in season 1, so she’s come a long way.
Realizing that the escaped superintendent has started a fire in the cafeteria below the library, and that the library doors are chained shut, Charly and Yuri do their non-corporeal best to put out the fire. Strangely, the fire affects the ghost dimension too, allowing them to have some impact in fighting it.
Note: Nice to see some shadings and conflicts within the relationship between ghosts Charly (Nick Pugliese) and Yuri (Miles Elliot). Contrary to myth, relationships are an ongoing negotiation and not just a series of endless, dreamy romantic interludes. Charly was another favorite character of mine right out of the box in season 1, and I appreciated seeing him enter his own romance with the introverted Yuri instead of winding up as everyone’s clichéd ‘gay best friend.’ I also appreciated bisexual Yuri learning one of the current students at Split River High might be his own grandson from a 1977 fling where he got a girl pregnant, which led to his fatal panic attack (“The Halls Have Eyes”). This gave added scope to his character, as well as to his growing bond with Charly. Ironically, it took the school fire in this episode to really cement Charly and Yuri’s status. Yuri also discovers at the end of the episode that the fire may have destroyed the barrier between the ghosts and Split River High’s perimeter, meaning we might see more freedom for the ghosts in future episodes…
After Maddie and Simon exit through the door back into the mortal realm, Maddie snaps out of her somnambulist state and ‘awakens’ in the hospital, where she’s surrounded by Xavier (Spencer MacPherson) and the superintendent’s daughter, Livia (Erika Swayze), a ‘mean girl’ who stopped to help Maddie when she saw her sleepwalking on the road while in the other plane.
Note: Excellent performance by star/producer Peyton List in this episode, who really sells Maddie’s sleepwalking state, as well as her tender ‘first embrace’ with ghost-boyfriend Wally (whom she might never see again), after the two of once more enjoy–albeit briefly–a non-corporeal state together. Kudos as well to the superintendent’s daughter, Livia (Erika Swayze), who drops her tiresome mean girl shtick to do the right thing and deliver her rival Maddie to the hospital. Oh, and for the record, Canadian actress Erika Swayze is not related to the late Patrick Swayze, the star of “Ghost” (1990); though it might’ve been great press for the show if she were.
Racing back to the school, Maddie confronts the superintendent, possessed by the body-thieving ghost of Alfred Van Heidt (Michael Adamthwaite). As Van Heidt threatens Maddie, he is knocked unconscious by Simon with a handy fire extinguisher. After the fire, Yuri discovers that the fire has somehow unbound the ghosts from the school, as he steps outside of its grounds…
Note: Loved Simon’s heroic return to the physical world as he clocks the possessed superintendent with a heavy metal fire hydrant. That’s gonna leave a mark. However, that brief victory over the spirit of Van Heidt (Michael Adamthwaite) is short-lived, as we discover…
With the school partially saved, and with Simon safely returned, the finale cuts to a few days later, where Simon and Maddie take in a screening of “Night of the Living Dead.” After coming home, Maddie says goodnight to her mother Sandra (Maria Dizzia), who gazes into a window–where we see the reflection of Alfred Van Heidt, who now possesses her.
Note: You’d think Maddie and Simon would be sick of horror movies after living in one for the past three seasons, but hey, these kids today, am I right? Also enjoyed the cliffhanger of Maddie’s mother, Sandra (Maria Dizzia) being possessed by the elusive spirit of Alfred Van Heidt. It’s creepy how easily Van Heidt slipped into the role of Maddie’s mother, but it makes sense, since Van Heidt has over a century of body-possessing experience, and has no doubt become quite the actor in that time. With Sandra possessed, the school in shambles, and the formerly campus-bound ghosts now free to roam, there is a lot of material to be mined in a fourth season.
The End.
Summing It Up
Star/producer Peyton List is aided by a charming ensemble, even as she tours an underwhelming next plane of existence.
“School Spirits” has evolved considerably over its three (very) short seasons. The core characters, Maddie (Peyton List, who’s also a producer), Simon (Kristian Ventura), Wally (Milo Manheim), Rhonda (Sarah Yarkin), Charly (Nick Pugliese), Yuri (Miles Elliot), Nicole (Kiara Pichardo), Xavier (Spencer MacPherson) and Claire (Rainbow Wedell) remain as engaging as ever, and I enjoy their variety of personae, though I’m concerned with how much longer they can continue to plausibly portray high school kids (especially the ageless ghosts). With my own advanced age, I’m certainly not trying to be ageist, simply realistic. I just hope the cast and production team get a fourth season in the can as soon as possible, pending renewal. Season 3’s finale “Dawn of the Deb” (continuing the show’s tradition of episode titles as riffs on horror/teen movies) certainly leaves plenty of grist for the mill.
Jennifer Tilly’s Dr. Hunter-Price stops just short of 1960s “Batman”-villainy, but Tilly really commits to the performance.
As seasonal villains go, superintendent Dr. Hunter-Price (Jennifer Tilly) was a bit too over-the-top for my taste, even before she’s possessed by the ancient evil ghost of Split River statesman, Alfred Van Heidt (Michael Adamthwaite). Nevertheless, Jennifer Tilly really commits to it with her unhinged performance. She’s not simply vamping for vamping’s sake. The tragic backstory of the Split River drowning of 1912, and the terrified ghosts of the eight lost children are this show’s version of Buffy’s “Hellmouth,” with Split River High literally built upon a well of tragedy. The show also maintains its ongoing theme of our teenage years as a sort of living purgatory, where one is neither child nor fully adult (even if the show’s teens are often much wiser than their parents and/or teachers).
Mr. Martin (Josh Zuckerman) redeems his own past with Janet by selflessly helping Simon, and correcting a terrible wrong from his own childhood.
As the mythology of “School Spirits” grew increasingly (and surprisingly) dense over the course of this latest season, there were bound to be a few misfires as well. Some episodes were positively leaden with exposition (“Raiders of the Lost Scar,” “Children of the Scorned”), while others had format-breaking moments awkwardly shoehorned in (Quinn’s mushroom-fueled musical number in “The Bereftest Club”). While some of season 3 isn’t quite as surefooted as seasons 1 or 2, it certainly pulls out all the stops for its finale. “Dawn of the Deb” is easily one of the series’ best, save for one or two bits that didn’t quite work, such as the admittedly eerie but underwhelming British Columbian woods standing in for the next plane of existence, or Simon and Mattie’s protracted, black-curtained plummets. However, these are mere limits of production and budget, not storytelling.
Despite the recent buyout of CBS/Paramount+ by ultra-conservative Skydance owner David Ellison (and its more recent merger with CNN/Warner Bros), “School Spirits” maintains an authentically varied stable of characters across race, gender and sexuality.
Those production nits aside, “School Spirits” remains a nice mix of engaging, naturally diverse characters and well-balanced horror-comedy-drama that works remarkably better than it should. It also offers a 1990s nostalgia fest for fellow “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” fans who exited that ride during its lesser final years. I realize that this is a young adult series, but despite being nearly 60-freaking years old, I look forward to a fourth season of “School Spirits.”
Let the séances begin…
Where to Watch
“School Spirits” seasons 1-3 are available to stream exclusively on Paramount+
I have been avoiding this one strictly because of the demographics difference. You’re wearing down my resolve.
As a fellow “Buffy” fan, I’m twisting your arm a bit more… 😉