We had been so cautious with our opinion of “School Spirits” right from the time it began because we did not trust anything, even moderately fluff, to deliver on quality, considering a few things we had seen in the last year or so. But we are glad that the series laid our doubts to rest. Every minute of this show has been enjoyable, and it has a strong storyline. What more can we ask for from something that we watch? This is how “School Spirits” Episode 8 goes.
Spoilers Ahead
Did Maddie’s Mother Actually Kill Her?
The first lead that Maddie and Simon needed to work on is whether Sandra actually stole the money. Simon goes to Sandra’s house and looks in the drawers as Maddie tells him to. He does find an envelope, but it just turns out to be Maddie’s missing necklace. Maddie remembers wearing it on her last day, but she did not have it in the afterlife. This just makes Sandra look more guilty.
When Simon learns that Maddie is set to receive an award, he comes up with the idea of bringing Sandra to school with that excuse. Before the ceremony, Sandra and Simon are in the classroom with Maddie, and the kids push Sandra to answer some questions. Simon shows her the necklace and tells her that he knows that she lied to the police about not meeting Maddie that day. Seeing this, Sandra reveals the truth. She had met Maddie to tell her that she had bought a cabin up north for them to start a new life. But she had used up Maddie’s college fund for that, crushing her daughter’s dream of going to Chicago. This had broken Maddie’s heart, but that had been the extent of their interaction. Sandra had struggled with the guilt since, and that is why she was trying to be responsible for her daughter at least once.
Maddie believes her mother because she remembers everything she says. Later, when receiving the award on behalf of Maddie, Sandra says that she wishes someone had been there for Maddie as she had been for everyone. Sandra was a bad mother, but she did not kill Maddie.
What Are Xavier, Nicole, And Claire Up To?
Nicole, Xavier, and Claire are debating their next step since confessing everything to the police could seriously jeopardize their futures. But they also need to think about Roger South because things are getting worse for him. Someone has painted graffiti on the walls calling him a killer, and the kids feel responsible for him. Xavier goes to meet his father and asks him why he has arrested Mr. South since Xavier knows that he was not in the vicinity of Maddie at all. But the sheriff just wants to take the easy way out. But Xavier shows more initiative than his father. The sheriff had received the address of one of Claire’s houses, where someone was reportedly squatting. Xavier secretly takes a picture of the address and makes his way there with Claire and Nicole.
It looks like Nicole and Claire might be antagonistic toward each other for a while. Either way, Nicole and Xavier decide to go inside the house to investigate while Claire waits outside, ready at the wheel in case she needs to drive them away. But once inside, Nicole and Xavier get into trouble when someone attacks them. Claire gets out of the car to help, but it proves to be a mistake because the person takes the opportunity to get into the car and drive away, hurting Xavier in the process. However, Nicole has managed to get a video of the person and the car, and who she captures changes everything the friends know so far.
What Is Wrong With Mr. Martin? Who Is Janet?
Ever since Dawn crossed over, all the spirits have been trying to figure out how to do the same. Maddie admits to Wally that she just gave Dawn what she deserved—an apology—and that is what smoothed things over for her. Therefore, what the spirits need lies in the manner of their deaths and their lives as well. Mr. Martin has no answers for the spirits when they ask him how Dawn or Janet crossed over. But he says that he does not want to revisit his life. Mr. Martin reveals that he died in an accident in the chemistry lab, trying to put out a fire started by one of the students. The other spirits wonder why this is an issue since this technically makes Mr. Martin a hero, but he says that he feels bad that he couldn’t hold up his end of the responsibility towards his students.
The argument is as weak as it sounds, and Wally and Charlie decide to do some investigating of their own. They go down to the records room, and Wally finds on an old computer that another room was constructed where the old chemistry lab had been buried. In the article, it was also written that there was one more casualty that day: Janet.
The duo makes their way to the old lab and finds that it has a lot of old records. Seeing that a box had been shifted recently, they investigate it, only to find that Mr. Martin had been keeping notes about all the spirits. He has been studying them, using them as test subjects for his own experiment. They also came to know that it was Mr. Martin who was responsible for starting the fire. At that time, Rhonda came into the room, and she admitted that she knew about it. She had started following Martin a few days ago and found this room. In fact, there is also a box full of items that belong to the ghosts, including the ball that Wally was playing with, Rhonda’s acceptance letter, and the letter Charlie was holding when he died. Mr. Martin is hiding something, and this is further corroborated by the fact that there is nothing about Janet in the records. But before they can think further, they are locked inside the room. What kind of ghosts are these that cannot pass through a door?
‘School Spirits’ Episode 8 Ending Explained: Is Maddie Dead Or Alive?
After hearing her mother’s speech, Maddie is really emotional and brings herself to finish the obituary Mr. Martin had asked her to write. She reads it out to Simon, telling him how much Simon means to her and that she loves him more than she could imagine. Simon is moved to tears, but just then, he receives the video from Nicole, and to his shock, he finds that the driver of the car is none other than Maddie. Her reflection was visible in the rearview mirror. Simon is crying, and he tells Maddie that he doesn’t know anymore if she is real or if she is something he made up to cope with his disappearance. Simon leaves the room, and Maddie desperately follows him, trying to convince Simon that she is real. But when she steps a little too far out of bounds, she ends up in the boiler room once again. When Simon looks back, she is not there, and he is left questioning the events of the past few months.
When Maddie lands in the boiler room, she bursts into tears, which takes her back to the last day. She had been similarly crying after her mother left, when she heard noises coming from a room. This was the old chemistry lab. When she tried to see who it was, she spotted Mr. Martin and another dark figure who had come running at her, knocking her out. That figure had been Janet, and she had never crossed over. She had probably refused to come out of the chemistry lab all these years, and when she saw Maddie, she took the chance to take control of her body. At the end of “School Spirits” episode 8, Maddie gradually remembers all this and can hear noises coming from the room again. It is Wally, Rhonda, and Charlie who are trapped inside. They warn her not to trust Mr. Martin, and Maddie is confused as to why. As the season ends, Maddie sees Mr. Martin up the stairs, looking at her tragically. He had not wanted Rhonda to help Maddie because he knew exactly how she had died, and he feared that the investigation might make him lose everything he had built with the spirits over the years. But now that the cat is out of the bag, how far will Mr. Martin go to keep things the way he wants?
Meanwhile, Janet, who is in Maddie’s body, is going by the name “Maddie” itself, and she hasn’t bothered to change it. But she is leaving the city, maybe getting far away from Split Rivers, to start a new life for herself where she won’t be caught.
Final Thoughts
To say that we were wowed by the ending would be an understatement. We recently saw a movie named “Pride: A Seven Deadly Sins Story” and commented on how the title did not justify its name. Maybe because we saw the “School Spirits” finale right after that, we are thinking about how apt the ending was and how well it justifies its name. It is not just the story of Maddie’s life or death but also about what happens to the rest of the spirits and what it is about this school that they are all trapped inside. Looking at it that way, of course, Maddie’s killer or body kidnapper had to be one of the spirits. This is how a fluff, seasons long series, is written, and we hope the others are taking notes. “School Spirits” Season 1 has really ended on a high, and we cannot wait to see what the coming season has to offer.
