School Spirits season 2’s finale poses the question, “Should Maddie go back to her old life or not?” I was wondering how the show could keep going if Maddie came back to the real world, but it seems the makers have a different solution in mind. The ending of the second season definitely leaves us with many questions, but it’s also an opening for the spirits to make a return to our screens at least one more time. I think this final episode wastes too much time on giving us information we already have. We know why Mr. Martin started the fire, so it didn’t have to be something that gets dragged on for so long. In truth, the way the second season was going, I felt like this would be the final season of the show, but I suppose only 2 seasons is too little, and so it keeps going. I’m a little bit concerned about where the show will go next, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see. So, with that said, let’s jump straight into the final episode.
Spoiler Alert
How Do The Kids Trap Mr. Martin?
School Spirits season 2, episode 8 begins with Maddie and Janet arguing about bringing Mr. Martin back to school. Janet believes he’ll come by himself, but Maddie doesn’t want to put her friends in danger anymore. It seems Janet is right, though, because Mr. Martin does come back of his own accord, seeing as he has some unfinished business with Janet. Meanwhile, Nicole is in big trouble, so she sends Diego home first to talk it out with her parents. Xavier’s dad takes him back from Nicole’s and asks for an explanation, while Claire and Nicole stay waiting outside the house. Nicole notices an unknown number in her call log and finds a voice note from Eugene, Janet’s old friend at the old age home. Nicole realizes after listening to the voice note that Eugene had said he’d left some evidence about Janet in a storage facility behind the old age home. Since it’s too late at night to talk to him, Nicole and Claire decide to break into the facility and get their information. At the same time, Xavier tells his father the truth about Maddie. He essentially pleads for his father to believe him, and it seems the sheriff may actually care about what his son has to say.
Mr. Martin does show up like Janet expected, and the kids set up a trap for him. I’m not sure how Spirit Maddie can look like she’s wearing the same outfit as the body, but we already know the rules of this show are a bit loopy. Anyway, Maddie pretends to be Janet in Maddie’s body, and Mr. Martin tries to grab onto her, but he realizes she’s a ghost. The kids all ask him why he hurt them on purpose, but he tells them that the school is the problem, not him. Simon shows up then and grabs him before he can run away. Simon then ties him to a chair at the edge of the stage so they can interrogate him in a way. Mr. Anderson gives Mr. Martin a piece of his mind too. Finally, Simon pushes the chair off the stage so Mr. Martin can be pushed out of Mr. Anderson’s body from the impact, and Mr. Anderson can go back. The real Mr. Martin is relieved it’s all over, but Simon tells him that the police think he stole Diego’s car, so Mr. Anderson takes the car to the police directly.
At the same time, Sandra’s sobering up at the police station, and she tells Xavier’s dad that the Maddie that came back didn’t feel like her Maddie, and she felt like she didn’t know her at all. This makes Xavier’s dad realize that there is some truth in what his son is saying. This is also when Mr. Anderson shows up at the station, so the adults will finally understand what’s going on.
Meanwhile, Nicole and Claire break into the storage unit and find Eugene’s things. Xavier shows up there too, and they find some VCR tapes about Janet. Luckily for them, there’s a player as well, so they watch the tape, which shows a young Eugene being interviewed for TV. Here, he says that what the people know about Janet is wrong and that it was Mr. Martin who started the fire because he wanted revenge for being fired. Seems Janet’s dad was the reason for Mr. Martin’s removal (we already knew this, right?). The kids then rush back to the school to tell Maddie and the gang. Oh, also, Claire knows about Xavier and Nicole texting on the app, and Nicole thinks Claire’s going to laugh at her, but Claire tells her she’s found her friends now and she’s never going back to being a prick.
Does Maddie Get Back to Her Body?
Maddie says bye to her friends, and it’s a bitter goodbye, but it’s a reminder that all good things come to an end at some point. “We all have to leave high school eventually.” Janet then leaves Maddie’s body, but Maddie doesn’t go back immediately because Mr. Martin drags Janet into their combined scar. This is also when Nicole, Xavier, and Claire show up, telling Maddie that it was Mr. Martin who set the fire. Maddie can’t leave her spirit friends behind, because if she can’t see them again, she won’t know if they made it or not. But, by then, the spirit friends realize they need to follow Mr. Martin and Janet into their combined scar.
Mr. Martin tells Janet that the fire was an accident, and he didn’t mean to put her in danger; he just wanted to teach the school a lesson for firing him and ruining his life. His scar is his guilt for Janet’s death. That’s why there are all the awards, and the future Janet could’ve had that Mr. Martin basically stopped her from having. The rest of the spirits go through all their scars until together they get to Janet and Mr. Martin’s scar. The last one is Maddie’s, and the necklace her mum gave her is the key. In Maddie’s scar, she sees her mom pouring herself a drink as well as her dad, but Maddie can’t move; she’s frozen to the floor. Suddenly, there’s water all around her, and she’s drowning, but she can’t do anything about it. Finally, it’s Wally who pulls her out, which leads them all to Janet and Mr. Martin’s scar.
Janet then announces how she didn’t deserve any of it—being born in the wrong era, her father, but most importantly Mr. Martin. Suppose this is Janet’s closure, because as soon as she makes the speech, the “Exit” board appears to her. Mr. Martin then tries to run towards the exit, but Janet stops him by knocking him over. She chooses to stay, though, because she still has some questions she needs answered. But, by this time, Simon and the gang realize that Maddie’s body is too cold, and she needs to be rushed to the hospital. Simon knows they can’t take her body off campus, but they need to get her help. Simon goes back to find Maddie in the school, but at the same time, Maddie and the spirits run out to find her body being taken into the ambulance.
At the end of School Spirits episode 8, Maddie takes the leap back to the real world. The entire school goes red and starts blinking at this time too. I wonder if this is because Maddie going back has somehow made a tear in the space-time continuum. She wakes up the next day at the hospital, with her mom by her side, finally alive again. On the other hand, Janet decides to go back to the scar to get answers from Mr. Martin, but inside she finds another puzzle for herself: “Why is Simon here?” At the same time, Wally goes back to his scar and finds his own exit door. I suppose, with Maddie gone, he can finally say goodbye to everything in the earthly realm and leave the spirit world for real. I don’t think Simon’s a spirit as such, but maybe he can just see spirits, just like Xavier can see Maddie’s dad at the hospital? But Xavier had a near-death experience, so does this mean Simon’s lying in some ditch, nearly dead as well? If so, the gang needs to find him soon.
