The Direct sat down with School Spirits actress Jess Garbor, who plays Janet on the Paramount+ series, where she discussed why exactly her character killed Maddie and explained her complicated relationship with Mr. Martin.
Warning - The rest of this article contains spoilers for School Spirits Season 2, Episode 8.
Jess Gabor Reveals Why Janet Killed Maddie in School Spirits
"She Didn't Know What Was Going to Happen."
Season 1 revealed that in her moment of crisis, Maddie was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and, as she opened the vault door, Janet chose that moment to run into her—taking over the living body herself and leaving Maddie in the afterlife.
The final two episodes of Season 2 revealed that Janet was at such a low thanks to being at the mercy of a long and relentless string of experiments within her personal hell, pushed onto her by Mr. Martin in the fallout shelter.
- The Direct: "In your own words, why did Janet kill Maddie? You know, what was going through her mind in that pivotal moment where she saw Maddie and just ran for it?"
Jess Gabor: At that moment, she didn't know what was going to happen. She didn't know. All she knows is that she's been locked in this shelter for, I think, six months, and she just wants to get out. So when Maddie opens the door... She doesn't even know that she can take over a life at this point. I think she was like, the door's open, run, run as fast as you f-cking can. And that's her entire prerogative in that moment.
- The Direct: "In Episode 7, they reveal that like there was that moment where Mr. Martin sees the janitor and the janitor sees him. I was curious. I'm like, Okay, what if the janitor was the one that opened the door? Would you have just been stuck in the janitor's body?"
Jess Gabor: Listen, I think that's a different series, and I think that probably exists on like a comedy, maybe a spin-off... That would have been so different and so funny.
- The Direct: "There's a moment in the finale that I was just wondering how it worked. It's when you return to the afterlife. What is the process of that? You and Maddie have this moment, and then you just kind of come out of her body? Was there something that happened that allowed that to occur, understanding between you two?"
Jess Gabor: It was kind of like a release. I don't think you can speak to it scientifically. I think emotionally, they had this connection. And speaking just for Janet, I think when Maddie gives her forgiveness and is telling her it's okay, like, I forgive you, Janet's able to let this idea of a second chance go because she doesn't want to take that from someone that's given her forgiveness, which is like everything for Janet. Which, it's going to make me cry, because it's, you know, but for her, it was everything for her. So she wanted to give, I think it was just releasing her back.
The Complicated Relationship Between Janet and Mr. Martin
"It Was a One-Sided Relationship, In My Opinion."
The mystery of Janet and Mr. Martin's relationship has been a core pillar of the mysteries behind School Spirits for a long time now.
Season 2 reveals that they both perished in a tragic fire and were the first to die at Split River High School. While blame for the fire has been questioned throughout the show, the finale reveals the truth: Mr. Martin was looking to kill Janet thanks to her father—something he was going to decide against doing, but due to accidental circumstances, it ended up happening anyway.
- The Direct: "The dynamic between Janet and Mr. Martin is very complicated, to say the least. How has it evolved from when they started out, you know, in the land of the living, to the afterlife, and up until now, where she learns that he's the one that killed her."
Jess Gabor: What a roller coaster, I must say. I think from Janet's perspective, it is where—Well, I'll say this: Where he sees her as a mentee, as a student, she sees him as this idol and as a savior. And the more and the more that they exist in this purgatory together, the more she puts him on a pedestal and idolizes him.
And obviously, that all comes crashing down when it doesn't go her way. And then he locks her in her red room. And everything changes, and like the earth shakes, and she has to grapple with that.
But yeah, I mean, her journey with Mr. Martin is just, she just got progressively, progressively more enamored with him while he always maintained this student-teacher relationship with her. It was a one-sided relationship, in my opinion.
- The Direct: "[Janet] and Mr. Martin have a scene in the boat in Episode 7, where he asks you, do you even know where you'd cross over to, which I thought was really interesting. And I wanted to ask you, how does Janet take that? Obviously, not too well, but where does she think she's going to end up? Has she thought about that a lot?"
Jess Gabor: I think when he says that, it is one of the meanest things he could say to Janet in that moment. He knows everything about Janet. He knows that she grew up from a religious background. She knows that Heaven and Hell were very active reasons why she would or would not do something when she was younger, and that's something that she has to carry with her for the rest of her life and throughout their afterlife together.
They're trying to figure out how to break out of this purgatory. And I don't really, you know, I don't think Janet and Mr. Martin fully know what that means for them. They just know that if they do enough science, [they can] figure their way out. I definitely think that she's thought about if she would go to heaven or hell. Janet thinks about everything. She's extremely Type-A and thoughtful.
So I think when he says this, it's a dagger. It's him saying, who's to say that you're going to go to heaven, you could just as easily, go to hell. You stole somebody's body. You're not a good person. And it's his way of chaining her down and trying to manipulate her once again.
- The Direct: "Despite everything, she still doesn't seem to hate Mr. Martin. Would you agree with that sentiment?"
Jess Gabor: I know. It's so complicated those relationships. I mean, she's known him for like 60-70 years at this point. She's loved him for so many of those years, like, you can't just take away your love when somebody does something bad
And I think a lot of her wants to give him forgiveness as well. And I think a lot of her sees that he's troubled and that he's messed up... I think it's just so complicated with abusive relationships because, you know, you don't want to leave, you don't want to go, even when everything is telling you that this bad, this is a bad person, this is a bad guy.
Everyone's like, he's the villain, and she's still like, Yeah, but I remember a time when he wasn't, and I remember a time when he was the only person that saw me, and he was the only person that I could go to college. That's huge for her, and he'll always be that person to her that allowed her to dream.
Why Doesn't Janet Move On From the Afterlife in School Spirits Season 2?
"Janet Is Someone Who Gets Answers."
In the finale, as Janet unloads her truths onto Mr. Martin, the door to allow her to move on opens up. Surprisingly, she doesn't run through it, instead choosing to stay behind.
- The Direct: "Now the shining door to whatever it is opened up for you, yet you chose to stay. After so much fighting to move on, why is Janet now keen to remain around in the afterlife and get those answers?"
Jess Gabor: I think it might be as simple as Janet is someone who gets answers. She wants to know. She's intelligent. She wants to figure things out. And when this door opens, she has not only been forgiven, but she forgives herself, and she accepts her trauma into her own, which is, you know, one of the reasons why this door opens and she makes the choice to have this second chance at life with friends in this Purgatory and to help them figure out how they're going to move on. I think she's just a resilient character, and it goes back to her morals and even when the moment [is here] and she's ready to go, she does want to help other people.
Was Janet Ever Truly Friends With the Split River High Ghosts?
Jess Garbor's Janet spent decades with the ghosts at Split River High School, yet, even they questioned what the group ever meant to her after finding her secret notes—which positioned everyone like lab rabs in her hypotheticals and experiments.
"I Don't Think She Was."
- The Direct: "Janet, in Episode 7, finally comes face-to-face with the ghosts at the school. After all the things that have happened, she has a lot of explaining to do. You know, and she kind of touches upon this a little bit, but just in your own words, I was wondering, can you just confirm one thing: Was she ever truly friends with them throughout their time, or was it an experiment, yet she just had more empathy than Mr. Martin did?"
Jess Gabor: In my opinion, no. I don't think she was. And not—I'm like, trying to excuse them. I'm like, not for the sake of them being bad people. No, I think that Janet was with Mr. Martin for five years, previous to when Rhonda first died. She's created this relationship. She's existed in this purgatory without them, and so when they all start showing up, I don't think that she needs them.
I think that she has her number one person, Mr. Martin. She trusts him. She believes in him. She believes in the process that they're working on. She believes in their theories, and she's not—Friendly is not a quality that I would say that she has. I don't think that she's like this charming individual who would get along with these people. I think, if anything, she's probably more scared off by them and just doesn't feel included by them.
So, she just excludes herself so that she doesn't have to feel pain or have to feel left out. So no, I don't think that she was. And so when she comes back, and, you know, they interrogate her, but then in the end, they kind of forgive her. I think it's a huge step for Janet emotionally, and I think she becomes more of a human in that moment.
School Spirits is now streaming on Paramount+.
Make sure to check out some of The Direct's other conversations with the cast of School Spirits, where they talk in detail about Season 2, Episode 5 and Episode 6!
