How School Spirits' Twist Ending Sets Up Season 2

Big Season 1 finale twists set up School Spirits’ Season 2 in many ways.

The last time audiences saw Peyton List's Maddie Nears, she had just remembered that she wasn't ever killed in the first place. Instead, another spirit belonging to the mysterious Janet Hamilton forcefully took over her body.

To make matters worse, she all but lost her best friend in the real world and was blindsided by the betrayal of Josh Zuckerman's Mr. Martin.

What Is Up With Mr. Martin?

First and foremost, the cast of characters will need to learn what’s up with Mr. Martin.

In the closing moments of Season 1, the afterlife support squad came across a collection of creepy momentos from everyone’s death—topped with full-on research notes about the lot of them, all from Mr. Martin himself.

What exactly is he planning? It all looks like a sinister twist right now, but perhaps it's all just a misunderstanding.

However, the mysterious details around the death of him and Janet certainly do not give off positive vibes.

Hopefully, Season 2 will provide some much-needed answers about what the two of them were up to. One key clue is probably the word “thinning,” which was casually read from his notes and almost certainly relates to how Janet was able to jump back into the real world.

Janet Is Out and About

The big reveal that Maddie Nears didn't die but was rather ejected from her body was a high point for the series—despite its polarizing nature.

Now, Maddie is still stuck in the afterlife while Janet runs free with her body. While she might have been boarding a bus to some distant location, the story probably won’t let her vanish for long.

There’s not much Maddie and her friends in the afterlife can do about the situation from where they’re at. However, every living friend of Maddie will undoubtedly be gung ho about finding her in Season 2 and figuring out why she would abandon everyone.

After all, they’re probably pretty pissed about what she did to Xavier.

Perhaps the quest to locate her will lead to more people in the world of the living finding out about the afterlife situation at Split River High.

Simon and Maddie’s Friendship

Fate was seriously just piling onto Maddie for the season finale. 

On top of everything else, the reveal that Maddie is still alive in the real world (or at least, her body is) was cataclysmic to her relationship with Simon. The poor man now fully believes the Maddie he’s been talking to all season is nothing but a figment of his imagination.

To make things even more heartbreaking, it truly feels like there’s little to no way to change Simon’s mind—at least, not until all the pieces of the narrative puzzle can come together again and forcefully show him the truth.

In the meantime, Season 2 might have more space to explore the dwindling romance between Wally and Maddie. Who knows how long it might last, but it would be fun to explore their dynamic more deeply.

School Spirits has been renewed for season 2, and the new episodes are expected to begin production in early 2024, though there is no official release window.

The recent strikes probably delayed the whole production, so while late 2024 was the previous estimate, don’t be surprised if it leaks into 2025.

School Spirits is now streaming on Paramount+ and Netflix.