In all of our pessimism regarding an investigative high-school drama, the second episode of “School Spirits” has forced us to consider that this might actually be a good show. It is a part of our job that we watch a lot of movies and series. It is also part of our job that we have to dissect the full spectrum of the entertainment value of said movies and series. Call it instinct borne of experience, but we can usually tell, either from the trailer or a two-line summary of the story, whether we are going to like something or not. Trust us when we say that there are times when we desperately want to be wrong, when we want our doubts quashed, and our caution proved to be unnecessary. But that rarely ever happens, and that has made us a bit stubborn with our opinions. “School Spirits” did not excite us initially, but Episode 1 made us want to give this a careful chance, even though a lot of what we saw in the trailer seemed to have been covered right away. Yet, the storytelling brought a glimmer of optimism, and that has only gotten stronger. We still haven’t picked a side, but we are getting there, and this is our summary of “School Spirits” Episode 2.
Spoilers Ahead
What Happens With Simon?
As it turns out, Simon can see Maddie after all, though we find it suspicious that he looks more scared than confused. But he understands that she is a spirit, which means that he now knows that she is dead. She tells him about Xavier cheating on her with Claire, and before she can talk to him more, he rushes out to join the search, and Maddie tries to follow him, but of course, she lands right back in the boiler room.
Charlie tells Maddie not to tell the other ghosts about her being able to talk to humans, as he worries that they will be tempted to start using her to send messages from beyond. While Maddie sees his point, curiosity gets the better of her, and in their support group meeting, she asks the ghosts if any one of them has ever spoken to humans. None of them have, but they interpret her question as another symptom of her inability to move on. Mr. Martin recommends that she write her own obituary to give her some sort of closure. To be honest, we find that suggestion quite morbid, despite everyone being already dead. Maddie seems to think the same way and refuses to do it. As she is sulking on the rooftop, Mr. Martin joins her, and they end up talking about how Maddie is worried for her mother. We understand that she was the caregiver in their relationship and often took care of her mother at the cost of her own mental health. Mr. Martin tells Maddie that writing one’s own obituary is a way for them to move on from the disappointments of their past lives. He asks her to give it a try when she can.
What Is Going On With Xavier?
Xavier wants to go back to school, but his father, who is also a police officer, tells him to lay low for the time being. His father also tells him that the blood in the boiler room has been identified as Maddie’s. Xavier is depressed, but he is hiding a lot of secrets, not to mention that he looks at Spongebob with an unnatural interest. He has also been ignoring Claire enough that she shows up at his house. He admits that he is scared of people discovering Maddie’s body, implying that he knows that she is dead. But we think something else has also happened because Claire initially assumed that he was scared of some guy saying something on TikTok, which means that there might be a scandal waiting for him. Before leaving, she asks him not to give in to the demons, but he replies that it is already late. Later, his dad asks him why he had Maddie’s phone when they found nothing on it. Xavier says that he doesn’t know about it since he couldn’t even figure out her passcode. Xavier is aware that the phone is not Maddie’s; therefore, this might be a deliberate misdirection. His father tells Xavier that he is under suspicion now, and he doesn’t know whether he is actually innocent in all this.
Maddie’s Investigation
Maddie sees that the phone being investigated is not hers and understands that the mystery is just getting deeper. She drags Simon with her to what looks like a storage room. This is where she and Xavier often hung out, and she expects to find something here. Now that she is seeing Xavier in a different light, she remembers how easily he had killed a rat, and that too while laughing at his own actions. There was something unhinged about him, and Maddie finally recognized it. Luckily, coming to the dingy room pays off, and Simon finds a piece of her phone. They wonder what to do with it, and against Maddie’s better judgment, Simon hands it to Mr. Anderson for investigation. Maddie is worried that it will eventually end up with Xavier’s father and be erased as evidence. Her suspicions regarding Xavier are growing stronger since she remembers being brought back to consciousness in the boiler room as a ghost when some drops of blood fell on her face. When she had stepped out, she had found Xavier leaving and Claire following him. Simon tells her that Xavier never attended the last class, so it could mean that he was involved in her death. But we know from Xavier that he spent his last class in the washroom, trying to unlock Maddie’s phone. The events are a blur since Maddie remembers nothing of what happened after she saw her mom and left to speak with her. Simon tells her that her mother, Sandra, had said that she never met Maddie, which means that the mother-daughter duo likely argued about something. It is imperative for Maddie to start piecing together her last few hours so she can figure out what happened to her.
‘School Spirits’ Episode 2: Ending Explained: Why Does Xavier Meet Maddie’s Mother?
Xavier seems to have met Sandra because he probably had no one else he could confide in. He tells her that if Maddie knew what he had done, she would have undoubtedly been hurt by him. Sandra joins in and says that she has similarly hurt Maddie many times. We believe that Xavier and Sandra just wanted to be able to talk to someone to assuage their guilt a bit. Meanwhile, Mr. Martin tells Charlie that he has been very helpful in their support group’s progress. Charlie is happy, but we see that he desperately misses his high school crush, Amelio. We suspect that he was more than a crush, but we can’t say for certain. Additionally, Mr. Anderson has been very suspicious. When the police dogs come to inspect the second floor and can’t stop smelling his desk, he brushes it off by using the scent from Maddie’s paper as an excuse, but there is definitely something more.
As for Maddie, her suspicions regarding Claire have started to weaken ever since she saw her saving a girl, but Simon asks her to keep her doubts and focus sharp. When they try to look for more evidence in the previously mentioned dingy room, they find another piece of the phone, but right then, Mr. Anderson shows up. He cannot see Maddie, but he asks Simon to stop whatever he is doing and just trust the police. Mr. Anderson might be part of whatever larger conspiracy is going on with the school administration and the police.
Final Thoughts
Ghosts being sleazy seems to be a running joke in “School Spirits.” It was Charlie watching boys showering in Episode 1 and Rhonda following Mr. Anderson to the bathroom in “School Spirits” Episode 2. We don’t have anything more to say about it for now. But we will say that Simon is so obviously in love with Maddie that it is a surprise that none of them have brought it up until now, not even Nicole. We have figured out that Maddie was most certainly killed in the boiler room, so is it possible that her body is still in the school somewhere? We will have to just wait and see.
