A year after a season finale full of unanswered questions, “School Spirits” finally returned with the first three episodes of Season 2 on Paramount+ Thursday.
The series follows Maddie, a high school student played by Peyton List who dies and discovers a supernatural afterlife both for her and for other students who have mysteriously died at her school. Alongside her fellow ghosts, she investigates the events leading up to her death.
In an eventful first season, viewers learn that Maddie and the other ghosts are trapped in the school and get teleported back to where they died when they step outside of campus boundaries.
The show follows an interesting plot over the course of only eight episodes. While there are occasional corny jokes, mediocre acting and annoying side characters, it takes a fascinating approach to paranormality.
One intriguing character is Kristian Ventura’s Simon, Maddie’s childhood best friend and the sole person who can see and talk to her on the school campus. As Season 2 unfolds, Simon continues his investigation into Maddie’s death, but the surprise comes when the other students finally believe that Simon can communicate with Maddie.
It is satisfying to see Simon get some help and not have to work alone. Unfortunately, his job is made harder in this season, since the cliffhanger in Season 1 revealed that Maddie did not die in the school, but instead there is a ghost who looks like her that took over her body and is roaming in the real world.
Trying to track down the ghost in his best friend’s body, Simon is desperate to know how this could have happened, but mainly if this means Maddie can switch back to her body and return to her life.
Back at the school, Maddie works with the other ghosts who have died over the decades to discover how and why the ghost, Janet Hamilton, would take over her body. The others realize that Janet was trying to rebel against Everett Martin, the father figure of all the ghosts, who had found out how to get off school grounds without teleporting back.
At the end of the third episode, the ghosts discover that Janet stole the objects they had with them when they died because they were keys to getting off campus. It is interesting to see that Mr. Martin, a trustworthy character all of the first season, has been hiding secrets all along.
It will be entertaining to see how the show approaches why Simon is the only one who can talk to Maddie, what Mr. Martin’s motives are and if Maddie will be able to return to her body. As the investigation heats up, Season 2 promises to present shocking information that will change everything we thought we understood about Maddie’s world.
