The 3rd episode of School Spirits season 3 might be the most tender of the season so far. I love how all the episode titles are modeled after film names. This one is “The Halls Have Eyes.” But, I must add that this episode also reminded me of The Barbie Diaries, which is basically a Barbie version of Mean Girls, which I absolutely love. Anyway, I like that we’re venturing more into other character territory this season, and we get to learn more about characters other than Maddie. Despite having Simon here for most of the 3 seasons, I feel like we don’t really know much about him as a person. I do hope we go a little more into his story this time around. Having said that, it’s interesting to get more information about characters like Rhonda and Yuri, whom we’ve grown fond of over the years. This season might be an emotional one based on how things are playing out now, so I still feel like it might be the last one. But with that said, let’s jump into episode 3.
Spoiler Alert
What Does Simon Want To Do?
School Spirits episode 3 begins with Simon freaking out about what Mr. Martin told them in the previous episode, and now he wants to go into that hole in the bottom of Mr. Martin’s scar, because he thinks it’s the only thing that will bring him back to the real world. What Simon clearly doesn’t account for is the fact that Quinn is probably traumatized by what Mr. Martin revealed, and the others are also upset about the whole thing. Nobody even knows if they should believe him or not. But Maddie suggests the group discuss their ideas so that it’s not all so Simon-focused, even though he’s the guy they’re trying to save. All the while, Mr. Martin is literally outside cleaning a stone. What is this stone you’re wondering? Well, it happens to be the memorial set up for the kids that died on the bus that he ended up coming in front of. i.e., the Quinn bus.
What’s Happening With Maddie’s Mother?
This episode sees Sandra go a little berserk with her spying on Maddie. Not only is she focused on spying on her phone, but she’s also got a tracking app to keep an eye on exactly where Maddie is at all times of the day. Her paranoia obviously stems from having lost her daughter one time, and she doesn’t want to lose her again, but this is another level of control, which isn’t helping anyone. After constant scrutiny, finally, Maddie gets genuinely upset and gives her mother a taste of her own medicine. She opens all the kitchen cabinets to search for booze, finally finding some bottles under the sink. But Sandra is clear that she hasn’t touched a drink in days. But by this time, Maddie’s reached her tipping point, and she gives her mother the ultimate heartbreak—“You’re the reason I was hurt in the boiler room.” I suppose this is the ultimate truth that Sandra has been needing to hear ever since Maddie came back, but it’s also unbelievably sad. However, the only thing on Maddie’s mind right now is getting Simon out.
On the other hand, Maddie’s trying to get in touch with her dad through Xavier, and he’s there for her, because she can’t see him, of course. Maddie’s looking for love in a place where she can’t really get it, though. Yes, she misses her dad, but her mother is right there, and she’ll lose her too if she keeps at it. Obviously, she needs her dad to help Simon, but it does seem like this is a good excuse to think about her dad instead of her mum for once. Also, Xavier and Maddie seem to be getting cozy again, with Xavier possibly thinking he has a chance again, but she’s literally in love with a dead boy named Wally.
What Does Nicole Learn?
On the other hand, the most fun part about this episode is Nicole hanging with Livia and her girls and pretending to be mean. There’s something about the cinematography of this show that confuses me a little bit, especially when it’s shots of people looking directly at the camera, though they’re meant to be looking at other characters. It’s certainly interesting, but anyway, Nicole pretends to hate Maddie and Claire and talks about how they’ve been ignoring her to get into Livia’s clique. Suddenly, Nicole’s invited to a special party at Livia’s. The unfortunate truth is that the girls have only invited Nicole because she’s meant to be telling them what really happened to Maddie. They just want to spread this news and bully her further. However, Nicole’s a bit too drunk to get this through her head. Obviously, she doesn’t say anything to the girls, but she does say she has a crush on Jason, the boy Claire specifically told her not to mention. This immediately gets her an exit from the party, because she really needs to run. However, before she gets out, she calls Claire and ends up in Livia’s mother’s office. I.e., Deborah Hunter-Prince’s office. It’s funny how Nicole didn’t realize she was Livia’s mum when they have the same second name, no? Anyway, Nicole learns a shocking truth: Deborah is planning on building a skyscraper on the site of Split River High, and Claire’s stepdad seems to be the businessman she’s in touch with.
What Does Yuri Reveal?
In episode 3, Yuri reveals to Charlie that he might have a grandson, because when he was in school, he got a girl named Julie pregnant before he met a guy named Paul. Yuri did mention a possibility in the last episode, when Charlie thought he was pining after a boy who could be his grandson’s age. Only Yuri was being serious. Now this puts Charlie in an uncomfortable position, and he’s wondering how many people Yuri has been with, all while Yuri explains how he had an anxiety attack in the green room after Julie told him about the “mistake” they’d made. But basically, his anxiety triggered his death. Now, Yuri doesn’t want to go through that trauma again, especially because he feels like he was very immature at the time it all happened, and he’s still the boy who doesn’t want to know what the future holds for him as a dad. More importantly, he reveals he’s not been in his scar at all.
What Does Rhonda Reveal?
Meanwhile, Rhonda and Quinn are getting really close, almost like something is going to happen between them. But anyway. Rhonda also feels like a makeshift grandma for Quinn, who felt detached from her own mother. Quinn needs a yearbook photo, and Rhonda offers to take it, even saying Quinn can change up their look (I don’t know if the nonbinary pronouns are going to work in this show, but I’ll try to use them). But by the end of the episode, Quinn doesn’t want to change, because overalls are something they don’t have to think about. They just want to be normal and free. Rhonda then talks about her past and how, when she was young, even wearing pants was a punishable offence. Clothing was revolutionary, not just aesthetic, but Rhonda was also quite different as a whole. She went to a show once where she met a girl named Joyce who encouraged her to go to UC Berkeley, to a different state to study. Rhonda always thought she was never meant for something grand, but Joyce showed her she could be on top of the world. That’s probably what made her a beatnik (only guessing). Ultimately, the duo take a picture together, but it’s strange that a picture comes out in the ghost world at all, and to add to that, the duo isn’t in it. If a picture is showing up anyway, why aren’t their faces? This logic feels a bit off, but of course, it’s a metaphor for how they’ve truly felt invisible at the end of the day.
What Does Simon Do?
Now, Simon has become a little desperate after everything that’s gone down, and he’s super fixated on the hole in Mr. Martin’s scar. Wally is eager to help Simon, because he is Maddie’s best friend. But the problem is, the other kids aren’t so sure about this plan, especially considering people died the last time someone went down there. Unfortunately, this hunch was justified, because when Wally goes into the dingy basement, he gets pulled in by something and shows up in the library, a live human actually being able to see him, which means that he could’ve killed someone again. Fortunately, the guy just ends up fracturing his arm, but still, it’s pretty bad.
In the ending of School Spirits episode 3, the others agree to let Simon go down, because Quinn has forgiven Mr. Martin, too. It wasn’t really his fault. They all need to figure out what’s happened here, and the only way is through finding out what’s down there. Simon goes in with a rope tied around his waist. However, pretty quickly, the rope returns to Wally, cut off, not by Simon, of course. Nobody knows what happened before he sees something in front of him, carefully avoiding the water. Even his light starts to flicker before going off. Now, there does seem to be an entity on the other side of this waterbody, or whatever it is that Simon is standing across, and it looks humanoid but creepy. I do hope it’s not some weird Vecna situation, like a science experiment gone wrong, but that’s probably what it is, no? Guess we’ll have to wait to find out.
