‘School Spirits’ EPs Break Down Season 2 Finale’s Shocking Twists & Reveal Season 3 Plans

[Warning: The following post contains MAJOR spoilers about School Spirits Season 2 Episode 8, “Fire, Talk to Me”]

Cue the Lizzy McAlpine needle drop. The School Spirits Season 2 finale answered key questions but opened up a vault of new ones. After straddling the line between the living and the dead (and a ghost stealing her physical form), Maddie (Peyton List) reunited with her body in the final episode of the season.

However, all is not well in Split River. After running back into the school as Maddie returned to the living world, Simon (Kristian Ventura) found himself inside Mr. Martin’s (Josh Zuckerman) scar. What does this mean for Maddie’s best friend? And then there’s Wally (Milo Manheim). After saying goodbye to Maddie, Wally took a trip back into his scar. When he got there, an exit door appeared in the endzone. Wally took a step toward the door, but the question of whether or not he crossed over remains.

TV Insider spoke with executive producers Oliver Goldstick, Nate Trinrud, and Megan Trinrud about Maddie’s long-awaited reunion, Wally’s fate, Simon’s future, a Season 3 game plan, and more.

Were there discussions to push off Maddie reuniting with her body?

Oliver Goldstick: That was the biggest question for us coming back because it wasn’t a whodunnit? It was a how done it this season. We knew we had to satisfy that question. We knew we were building toward a reunion of body and spirit. That was always the intent. But how we got there and how we ended was always going to be a question mark because it evolved in the course of the season for us.

Nate Trinrud: I think we’ve always been very passionate about making sure that within a season we are answering a big question, resolving a big thing, while then opening the door. I think, for us, being unsure if that was going to happen felt kind of unfair to the character, and I think we needed to make sure that we had her journey come to a real conclusion, while still clearly presenting new problems that have to be resolved with her and other characters that she’s close with.

Ed Araquel / Paramount+

Okay, my biggest finale question: Has Wally crossed over?

Nate Trinrud: You’re asking all the good questions. But we’re just going to have to see in Season 3, aren’t we?

Will Milo Manheim return for Season 3?

Nate Trinrud: We’ll have to wait and see. First, we have to get renewed.

Let’s talk about Simon. Can you say whether or not he’s trapped in Mr. Martin scar? Can he willingly leave?

Oliver Goldstick: Obviously, there’s a thin veil, and he crossed it in the first season. For whatever reason, Simon is seeing a world that the rest of us cannot, most mortals cannot in the corporeal world. But the idea is, what is the price of that knowledge? What is the price when you now know there’s another world that exists outside of the one we live in? You can’t go back, and you can’t unknow it. I think we all felt this was a great way to explore for another season and the future, what it means to be trapped.

Nate Trinrud: There’s a lot of clues in the finale, too, that I think will clarify for the audiences, like little Easter eggs everywhere about where we’re hoping to see the story go. But, a big thing happened. That theory we learned about Janet clearly was exacerbated in a certain way in the finale. We even saw Xavier and Claire looking at the school, seeing something. Something occurred that night in a big, huge, world shifting way. There’s more to this ghost world than we know. I think from a character standpoint, one thing we all talk about is Simon has showed up for Maddie for two seasons. He’s put himself aside. He’s almost jeopardized his future to do this. He cares so deeply. But what does it mean if you actually do get lost in another person, if your pursuit and trying to save somebody else puts you at risk? Is that fair, and is that okay? Simon’s in an interesting situation.

Oliver Goldstick: This allows us to explore the mystery of the school because there’s something going on. Megan has said this, and the idea of the third season allows us to explore the legacy and legend of Split River.

It feels like Simon’s story is really just beginning. 

Nate Trinrud: We have to focus so much on Maddie and her story, which Simon is invested in, but there’s so much to learn about Simon. What’s his backstory? What’s his experience? What’s his family life like? We’ve been so focused on him showing up for Maddie time and time again, which is so beautiful. I think that you’ve got to remember that the people who help you have a life, too. There’s so much going on in these characters, and there’s a lot there to explore.

Ed Araquel / Paramount+

Mr. Martin has been the best kind of villain. There’s the moment where Janet comes into Mr. Martin’s scar and sees Simon. She says she still has a lot of questions, and Mr. Martin replies, “So do I.” It’s the way he said it makes me think, are they still working together? 

Megan Trinrud: I think that’s a really good question. I like what you said about him being the best kind of villain because I kind of agree. I think he’s a really complicated person, and I don’t think that he started out evil. He is a product of his circumstances, and I do think that he has actual concern for all of the ghosts and for Janet. I think he meant what he said when he was like, “I want to get you out and make up for everything that’s happened. I want to do right by you.” I do not think he’s going to easily win Janet’s trust back. I think she has finally seen that this was kind of a toxic relationship. There was a lot of manipulation going on, whether it was intentional manipulation or it was a product of whatever he was trying to achieve. I do think Mr. Martin is in a place of it’s all on the table. Everyone knows all the secrets now. “I don’t have to pretend anymore, and I have nothing left to lose, so there’s nothing to be scared of because I’m in the worst place I could possibly be, trapped in my own personal hell by the people that I thought I could control.”

Nate Trinrud: This is a guy who we’ve seen now is driven by guilt, right? We’ve learned that if you don’t resolve these issues sooner and you let them fester, they can take you over. They can control you. That becomes a resentment, right? I think we’re literally seeing him have to sit with those consequences and that reality.

Could the Nicole and Xavier connection be building to something romantic?

Nate Trinrud: Again, we are people who don’t think you need to label all these relationships. I think there is a lot of value in people letting their guards down around each other, right? Of course, those things can lead to romantic relationships. It can also lead to connections that aren’t that. So who’s to say where time will lead them? But I do think that it’s really important that these were two people who are very shut off, who are lying constantly in our first season, who have to start being really honest with each other. How does that change a relationship?

Oliver Goldstick: I love the idea of unlikely alliances. That’s what the second season is very much about for us because people who wouldn’t normally sit at the same lunch table are dining together now. They’re breaking bread and they’re open. They’re growing as young people because this is not a person I would ever trust with any of my information, and that’s really beautiful to us.

After his own near-death experience, Xavier can see ghosts at the hospital. Will you dive more into Xavier’s ability in a Season 3?

Nate Trinrud: Absolutely. Maddie lost somebody at a young age, somebody who was really important to her, and it changed the course of her life. The idea that anyone might have access to that person is a game changer. What does it mean to be able to heal those wounds or deepen that relationship?

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'School Spirits' Team Teases Season 2 Fallout of Maddie & Janet Twist

Megan Trinrud: I think Xavier is such a fun character. He’s definitely one of my favorite characters to watch evolve because I do think he started out as your stereotypical, I don’t care about anything, everything’s dumb, I’m over it, kind of high school boy, and he’s really starting to find a connection there. There are bigger things in life. There are more important things in life. People are more important. I love that journey. I love watching him on this deepening journey of opening himself up to this vulnerability. I think even if it’s sort of connecting spiritually, it’s going to be very good for him to open up in that way.

Do you have a set Season 3 game plan? Do you have a vision of where you’re going from here?

Nate Trinrud: The three of us have had a really clear vision of the show and the big strokes of where we’re going. So yes, there’s definitely a roadmap. But, what is funny is that there are always details that people will call out. They’ll be like, “What does this mean? This doesn’t add up to anything.” I would be like, “Just you wait.” We’re really intentional with the way that we do that stuff. If people watch Season 2 closely, there’s a lot of clues about where Season 3 is going.

School Spirits, Season 2, Streaming Now, Paramount+

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