We have officially decided that we like the “School Spirits” series. More than the plot itself, it is the gradual development of the relationship between the characters that has brought us to this conclusion. We knew we had a point when we liked Wally. Additionally, this series also touches upon the issue of how children, who are forced to be the caretakers of their parents, often deal with the aftermath of such responsibility. The expectations and traumas doled out by our very first caretakers in this world following us to the afterlife had us squirming a bit, but it still felt believable. However, our favorite part was when Wally actually asked Maddie to go to the dance with him. We had waited for this moment, and we were glad that Maddie received it the way she did. This is how “School Spirits” Episode 5 plays out.
Spoilers Ahead
How Is Claire Involved With Anderson?
The school has its yearly football match coming up, and all the ghosts are excited about it. It is an especially important event for Wally, as it was during one of these matches that he lost his life, yet he wants to continue with the tradition. Rhonda is being nice instead of her usual sarcastic self as she is trying to figure out a way to move on from the ghost life. Meanwhile, Maddie and Simon talk about how Claire could be involved in Maddie’s death. Maddie tells Simon that she and Claire used to be neighbors with equally bad home situations. One day, when Claire needed Maddie to let her into the house, Maddie hadn’t because her mother was having a fit right then. Claire had left for a year and returned for middle school but has ignored Maddie since.
In the present day, Simon and Maddie are keeping a watch on Claire, and so far, they have found nothing except that Claire’s parents regularly keep making donations to the school. They see Claire as she demands to know the update on Mr. Anderson’s situation under this very garb, but she is reassured that everything is just fine. Watching this, Simon does a bit more investigating. He gets the keys to Mr. Anderson’s classroom on the sly and finds the students’ assignments, in which Claire has turned in the same report for multiple homework yet she has been passed. This is proof that the relationship between Mr. Anderson and Claire wasn’t just about favoritism. But when Simon shows this to Maddie, she doesn’t want to push the investigation. For the first time in a long time, Maddie has seen her mother sober. Maddie’s backpack was discovered at a house in the corner, and Sandra thinks that Maddie might be living there. She brings the backpack to school to submit some of Maddie’s papers so that she can keep up with the schoolwork. Seeing Sandra be on her feet to care for her, Maddie feels that if they reveal that she is dead, her mother will sink back into her old lifestyle, which is why she asks Simon to withhold the investigation. As for Claire, she definitely has something to hide. She goes to meet Mr. Anderson herself and demands to know what he told the police about her, not being at peace even when he reassures her that her name never came up during the interrogation. Additionally, the house in which Maddie’s backpack was found belongs to Claire’s family.
Back in school, Nicole is baffled as to why Simon keeps pushing her away. Simon is angry with her for trusting Xavier so much, but she doesn’t know that Maddie is dead or the extent to which Xavier or Claire is involved in her disappearance.
“School Spirits” Episode 5: Ending Explained – Does Maddie Want To Continue The Investigation?
Wally is excited about the game and how he can be a part of it. He tells Maddie that his mother never missed a game since his death, even though his father stopped coming 15 years ago. His mother always leaves a spot next to her, and that is probably for Wally. In a flashback scene, we see that even though Wally had wanted to sit out of the game for a while, his mother had pushed him to keep playing, and he died when he did that. We don’t think he blames his mother for his death, but he still keeps playing, even in the afterlife, because he is so attuned to doing things that make his mother happy. He has not been able to let go of her expectations, even after his death. When Maddie asks him whether he likes playing football, he tells her that he doesn’t and that he only does it for his mother. But maybe something clicks all these years later, and as Wally looks at his mother, who has not been able to let go of her dead son’s memories, he decides that he will not carry the burden anymore, and he takes off his uniform, signaling that he won’t be playing the game anymore.
Meanwhile, Maddie sees her mother, Xavier, and Nicole distributing flyers asking for leads on Maddie. As much as she wants to hold back the investigation for her mother’s sake, she realizes that by doing so, she will only be creating something that her mother can’t move on from, much like Wally’s mom. Additionally, it is not Maddie’s responsibility to take care of her mother’s well-being, even after her death, and she decides to continue looking for her murderer.
Meanwhile, a video is sent to Simon, Xavier, and Nicole of Claire arguing with Mr. Anderson about her involvement with the money. Maddie comes up with a plan, and through Simon, she tells Xavier to ask Claire for the homecoming dance. It is difficult for Maddie to make her ex-boyfriend write a message full of love to the girl he had been cheating on her with, but what has to be done has to be done. As she is walking back, a bit distraught, Wally asks her whether she would like to go to the dance with him as friends, and Maddie agrees.
When Simon and Maddie are trying to figure out who could have sent the video of Claire, they figure out that it could have been the person who gave Simon the keys to Mr. Anderson’s classroom, as he had hidden his phone from Simon when he had gone to meet him. But it turns out that the man wasn’t it, as he had just hidden a video in which some very offensive stuff was written in the basement, where Maddie had disappeared. Maddie goes to the basement, and a little poking around reveals a secret door. When Maddie and Simon find that they can talk there, they understand that someone died in that place, and it could either be Maddie or someone else. They find a chute connected to the room and figure out that Maddie’s body could have either been hidden there or removed from the premises using that.
Final Thoughts
With “School Spirits” Season 1 inching towards the finale, maybe it is time that it is revealed that Maddie is dead instead of just assuming that she has disappeared. We also think that Simon is not quite the ally to Maddie that he is coming across as. As for Wally, we knew he liked Maddie right from the beginning. Talk about finding love in the afterlife, with the fabled meadow being the school’s playing grounds. We think that the season will not only solve Maddie’s murder but also begin to unravel the mystery of why so many deaths happen in the school, to begin with. It’s a week’s worth of waiting until then.
