Emmy winner Damon Lindelof (Watchmen, Lost) is returning to the world of showrunners with the limited series The Chain, based on the bestseller by Adrian McKinty. HBO’s given The Chain a straight-to-series order, with Lindelof guiding the adaptation as showrunner, writer, and executive producer.
“From the moment I heard the wild and original premise of Adrian’s book, I was shocked, surprised, and angry I hadn’t thought of it myself,” stated Lindelof. “I’ve always wanted to try to adapt a great thriller and this one has all the dark, weird, exhilarating touches that fire up my imagination. I feel so fortunate to reteam with Francesca, Casey and Michael, who first brought me to HBO fifteen years ago, and I can’t wait to make The Chain a memorable link in their outstanding legacy.”
HBO greenlit an eight-episode season and hasn’t released details on the plot.
Damon Lindelof, Carly Wray, and Breannah Gibson wrote the pilot story, with Lindelof and Wray writing the pilot script. Executive producers include Michael Ellenberg, Lindsey Springer, and Shane Salerno. Author Adrian McKinty is a co-executive producer. The series is produced by HBO and Media Res.
Commenting on the series, Francesca Orsi, EVP, HBO Programming, Head of HBO Drama Series and Films, said, “We are honored by our continued partnership with Damon Lindelof, one of the most singular and distinctive creators of our time. The Chain promises to continue his legacy of dropping us into the pit of the human brain and delivering in ways not only emotionally daring but, ultimately, transformative.”
“Your phone rings. A stranger has kidnapped your child. To free them, you must abduct someone else’s child. Your child will be released when your victim’s parents kidnap another child. If any of these things don’t happen, your child will be killed.
Amy remembers a devastating moment in her marriage in the promo for Fox’s Doc season two, episode 14, “When You Know, You Know.” Episode 14 will air on Tuesday, February 3, 2026 at 9pm ET/PT.
“When You Know, You Know” Plot: A shocking turn of events ensues when Amy and Jake treat an expectant mother injured during a robbery. Michael is challenged to open up when Katie’s therapist invites him and Amy to a session. TJ and Sonya help Julie navigate a mysterious illness and an unexpected romance.
Molly Parker stars as Dr. Amy Larsen, Omar Metwally plays Dr. Michael Hamda, Felicity Huffman is Dr. Joan Ridley, Amirah Vann is Dr. Gina Walker, and Charlotte Fountain-Jardim plays Katie Hamda. Jon Ecker is Dr. Jake Heller and Anya Banerjee plays Dr. Sonya Maitra.
“Inspired by a true story and based on the hit eponymous Italian drama series, Doc begins its second season of the life-affirming medical drama following the heartbreak and victories of hard-charging, brilliant physician DR. AMY LARSEN (Parker) as she rebuilds her life after a car crash erased eight years of her memory. This season, Amy will continue to confront hard truths about her missing years, work to repair fractured relationships and seek to reconcile the person she used to be with the one everyone else has come to know.
Determined to get her memory back and piece together who she really is, Amy’s goal is to become the doctor she used to be in those missing years and to eventually, once again, be Chief of Internal Medicine. In the interim, her ex-husband/Westside Hospital’s Chief Medical Officer, DR. MICHAEL HAMDA (Metwally) fills the position with Amy’s former mentor and friend DR. JOAN RIDLEY (Huffman), whose motives and priorities remain hidden, just as long as Amy still can’t recall Joan’s life-changing secret. Amy’s best friend and colleague, DR. GINA WALKER (Vann), is weary of Joan’s motives and continues to be a beacon of support for those around her, while finally learning to put on her own oxygen mask first.
While relearning eight years of medical advancements is complicated, it pales in comparison to learning to navigate her new/old/current romantic entanglements. Amy continues to fight her feelings and let Michael go, especially now with the birth of his son with his new wife, bringing up emotions for both Amy and their daughter KATIE HAMDA (Fountain-Jardim). Amy’s on-again, off-again relationship with Chief Resident DR. JAKE HELLER (Ecker) is a bit more delicate as he struggles to protect his heart from her this time around. However, DR. SONYA MAITRA (Banerjee) would only be too glad to pick up the pieces, navigating the balance between her feelings for Jake and her complicated resentment towards Amy.
The second season of Doc begins as Amy’s past comes back to haunt her when a desperate father sacrifices everything to secure his daughter’s heart transplant. Chaos and confusion reverberate through the hallways of Westside Medical when a subsequent high-stakes emergency leaves a doctor’s life in the balance.”
Billy Magnussen (Black Mirror) stars in AMC’s new series The Audacity, which just released a teaser trailer. The comedic drama, set in Silicon Valley, stars Magnussen as Duncan Park, the CEO of a data-mining company.
The series also stars Sarah Goldberg as Dr. JoAnne Felder, Zach Galifianakis as Carl Bardolph, Lucy Punch as Lili Park-Hoffsteader, Simon Helberg as Martin Phister, Rob Corddry as Tom Ruffage, and Meaghan Rath as Anushka Bhattachera-Phister. Paul Adelstein plays Dr. Gary Felder, Everett Blunck is Orson Stern, Thailey Roberge is Tess Phister, and Ava Marie Telek is Jamison Park-Hoffsteader.
Randall Park guest stars as Gabe, the “qualm-free CFO of a data mining operation.”
The Audacity‘s eight-episode season debuts on April 12, 2026 at 9pm ET/PT. New episodes air on Sundays.
Zach Galifianakis as Bardolph and Billy Magnussen as Duncan in ‘The Audacity’ (Photo Credit: Ed Araquel/AMC)
AMC offers this synopsis: “Set inside the bubble of Silicon Valley, The Audacity takes on the warped dreams, outsized egos, and ethical lapses of the self-styled inventors of the future. In a world of jaded billionaires, psychiatrist-gurus, bio-hacked tech bros, AI labs, and disillusioned teens being optimized in elite private schools, an audacious data-mining CEO (Magnussen) strives to turn insight and influence into profit and power. The darkly comedic drama confronts reality, privacy, and the delusions fueling our ever-changing world.”
Emmy, Peabody, WGA, and PGA Award-winner Jonathan Glatzer (Succession, Bad Sisters, Better Call Saul) created the series and serves as executive producer, writer, and showrunner, along with executive producer Gina Mingacci. Series directors include Lucy Forbes, Dan Sackheim, Dan Longino, and Alex Buono.
Sam Heughan opens the final trailer for Starz’s Outlander season eight, saying, “Get ready to take an epic final journey with us.” Caitriona Balfe adds, “Because the official trailer for Outlander season eight is here.” Neither of those statements prepares fans for the emotional two minutes that follow.
Jamie (Heughan) has the final words in the trailer, declaring, “I love you all, then, now, forevermore.” Grab the tissues!
The eighth and final season premieres on Friday, March 6, 2026.
Caitríona Balfe and Sam Heughan lead the cast as Claire and Jamie Fraser. Sophie Skelton stars as Brianna MacKenzie, Richard Rankin plays Roger MacKenzie, John Bell is Young Ian Murray, David Berry is Lord John Grey, Charles Vandervaart is William Ransom, and Izzy Meikle-Small is Rachel Murray.
Poster for ‘Outlander’ Season 8 (Photo Credit: Starz)
Starz’s Outlander season eight synopsis reads:
“As Season Eight begins, Jamie and Claire soon find the war has followed them home to Fraser’s Ridge, now a thriving settlement that has grown and flourished in their absence. With new arrivals and changes made during their years away, the Frasers are confronted with the question of what they are willing to sacrifice for the place they call home and, more importantly, what they would sacrifice to stay together.
While the Frasers keep a united front against outside intruders, family secrets finally coming to light threaten to tear them apart from the inside. Although they’ve left the war for America’s freedom behind, their fight for Fraser’s Ridge has only just begun.”
The series is based on Diana Gabaldon’s bestselling book series. Balfe, Heughan, Matthew B. Roberts, Ronald D. Moore, Maril Davis, Toni Graphia, Luke Schelhaas, Andy Harries, and Jim Kohlberg are the executive producers.
Christopher Nolan’s Inception, Pixar’s The Incredibles, and the film that told us it only takes 20 minutes to get anywhere in Los Angeles have been added by the Library of Congress to the National Film Registry. 25 films have made the cut, including six silent films and four documentaries.
“When we preserve films, we preserve American culture for generations to come. These selections for the National Film Registry show us that films are instrumental in capturing important parts of our nation’s story,” stated Acting Librarian of Congress Robert R. Newlen. “We are proud to continue this important work, adding a broad range of 25 films to the National Film Registry as a collective effort in the film community to protect our cinematic heritage.”
According to the Library of Congress, films are selected “due to their cultural, historic, or aesthetic importance to preserve the nation’s film heritage.”
Turner Classic Movies will screen a selection of the new inductees beginning at 8pm ET on Thursday, March 19, 2026. The addition of the following 25 films brings the total recognized by the National Film Registry to 925.
2025 National Film Registry New Additions
• The Tramp and the Dog (1896)
• The Oath of the Sword (1914)
• The Maid of McMillan (1916)
• The Lady (1925)
• Sparrows (1926)
• Ten Nights in a Barroom (1926)
• White Christmas (1954)
• High Society (1956)
• Brooklyn Bridge (1981)
• Say Amen, Somebody (1982)
• The Thing (1982)
• The Big Chill (1983)
• The Karate Kid (1984)
• Glory (1989)
• Philadelphia (1993)
• Before Sunrise (1995)
• Clueless (1995)
• The Truman Show (1998)
• Frida (2002)
• The Hours (2002)
• The Incredibles (2004)
• The Wrecking Crew (2008)
• Inception (2010)
• The Loving Story (2011)
• The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
It’s lights out for Port Wenn all because Martin isn’t great at dealing with people on Fox’s Best Medicine episode five. “Hello Darkness My Port Wenn” will air on Tuesday, February 3, 2026 at 8pm ET/PT.
“Hello Darkness My Port Wenn” Plot: While conducting a wellness check on the agoraphobic recluse who controls the town power grid and has stopped taking his meds, Martin’s brusque bedside manner ultimately causes a massive town blackout. As the townspeople fight for electricity, Martin befriends a young boy who reminds him of himself and Louisa and Mark share a romantic moment in the dark.
Season one stars Josh Charles as Dr. Martin Best, Abigail Spencer (Suits) as Louisa Gavin, Annie Potts (Young Sheldon) as Aunt Sarah, Josh Segarra (Sirens) as Sheriff Mark Mylow, and Cree (Twinless) as Elaine Denton. Recurring guest stars include Didi Conn as councilwoman Geneva Potter, Clea Lewis as pharmacist Sally Mylow, Stephen Spinella as Greg Garrison, Jason Veasey as George Brady, Cindy De La Cruz as Jeannie, John DiMaggio as Bert Large, Carter Shimp as Al Large, and Wattson as Copernicus.
The series follows Martin Best (Charles), a brilliant surgeon who abruptly leaves his illustrious career in Boston to become the general practitioner in a quaint East Coast fishing village where he spent summers as a child. Unfortunately, Martin’s blunt and borderline rude bedside manner rubs the quirky, needy locals the wrong way, including schoolteacher Louisa Gavin (Spencer). He quickly alienates the town, even though he’s all they have.
Although Martin can expertly address any medical ailment or mystery in this idiosyncratic town, he’s really just desperate to be left the hell alone. Instead, he keeps getting dragged smack into the middle of their personal chaos, feuds, and fantasies. What the locals don’t know is that Martin’s terse demeanor masks a debilitating new phobia and deep-seated psychological issues that prevent him from experiencing true intimacy with anyone. But tenacity is the creed of everyone in their small village, and the people who live there may be exactly what the doctor ordered.
Fox’s new thriller Memory of a Killer continues its first season with episode three, “Samurai.” Episode three will air on Monday, February 2, 2026 at 9pm ET/PT.
“Samurai” Plot: Dutch assigns Angelo to kill an Internal Affairs Agent who threatens to take down their whole operation. Still rattled by the shooting, Maria seeks Dave’s help in procuring a gun. Agent Grant runs into Angelo, who suspects she may see him as more than just the father of a victim. Angelo and Nicky fiery reconnect.
Patrick Dempsey stars as Angelo Flannery, Michael Imperioli plays Dutch, Richard Harmon is Joe, Odeya Rush is Maria, Daniel David Stewart is Jeff, and Peter Gadiot plays Dave. Aaron Zelman and Glenn Kessler serve as co-showrunners and executive producers.
Inspired by the book and 2003 award-winning Belgian film De Zaak Alzheimer, Memory of A Killer is a dramatic thriller starring Emmy nominee Patrick Dempsey as a hitman, Angelo Doyle, leading a dangerous double life while hiding an even deadlier personal secret. Emmy winner Michael Imperioli stars opposite Dempsey in the role of Dutch, Angelo’s oldest friend and an accomplished chef whose restaurant is a front for criminal enterprise.
Jason Sudeikis and Hannah Waddingham in ‘Ted Lasso’ season 4 (Photo Credit: Apple TV)
Apple TV’s critically acclaimed feel-good comedy Ted Lasso has scored a summer 2026 premiere for the upcoming fourth season. Jason Sudeikis is back in the titular role and executive produces.
Hannah Waddingham returns as Rebecca Welton, Juno Temple reprises her role as Keeley Jones, Brett Goldstein is back as Roy Kent, Brendan Hunt returns as Coach Beard, and Jeremy Swift is back as Leslie Higgins. Newcomers to the Emmy-winning series include Tanya Reynolds, Jude Mack, Faye Marsey, Rex Hayes, Aisling Sharkey, Abbie Hern, and Grant Feely.
Tanya Reynolds and Jason Sudeikis in season 4 (Photo Credit: Apple TV)
“In season four, Ted returns to Richmond, taking on his biggest challenge yet: coaching a second division women’s football team,” reads Apple TV’s synopsis. “Throughout the course of the season, Ted and the team learn to leap before they look, taking chances they never thought they would.”
Brett Goldstein, Leanne Bowen, Jack Burditt, Brendan Hunt, Joe Kelly, Jane Becker, Jamie Lee, and Bill Wrubel serve as executive producers. Bill Lawrence, Jeff Ingold, and Liza Katzer also executive produce. Goldstein, Bowen, Sarah Walker, Phoebe Walsh, and Julia Lindon are the season four writers.
Sudeikis, Lawrence, Kelly, and Hunt developed the series, based on the preexisting format and characters from NBC Sports.
Brendan Hunt, Jason Sudeikis and Tanya Reynolds in season 4 (Photo Credit: Apple TV)Annette Badland, Grant Feely and Jason Sudeikis in season 4 (Photo Credit: Apple TV)
Kiara Pichardo as Nicole and Rainbow Wedell as Claire in ‘School Spirits’ season 3 episode 3 (Photo Credit: Ed Araquel / Paramount+)
Paramount+ School Spirits season three, episode three opens with Simon (Kristian Ventura) insisting that he needs to climb down into the hole. He has to try since a living person saw Mr. Martin when he went down there. Whatever’s in the hole could be the reason they’re all stuck inside the school.
(The following is a recap of season three, episode three and contains spoilers.)
Maddie (Peyton List) asks the ghosts for their opinions, and Wally (Milo Manheim) wonders if Mr. Martin is lying. The ghosts don’t think so since he admitted to killing a busload of students. Wally also reminds them that something grabbed Mr. Martin. Maddie’s concerned that Simon isn’t the right one to go into the hole since he’s actually alive and going into the hole might kill him. Mr. Martin was already a ghost when he crawled into it.
Maddie wants to give Xavier (Spencer MacPherson) time to ask the hospital ghosts if they’ve ever heard of a living person getting stuck in the ghost world.
Maddie makes it home late and her mom’s upset. Sandra believes the school isn’t safe and is busy packing a suitcase for them to leave. She insists she won’t let bad things keep happening to Maddie at that school. But Maddie refuses to leave her friends.
Maddie’s confused about how her mom knows she got splattered with paint but doesn’t ask.
School starts and Nicole (Kiara Pichardo) and Claire (Rainbow Wedell) tell Maddie that Livia saw her (actually it was Janet in Maddy’s body) at the college party. They want Maddie to be careful. And Claire fills Nicole in on the best way to get in good with Livia: convince her she hates Claire and Maddie.
Xavier confirms that Kyle found Maddie’s dad and none of the hospital ghosts have ever heard of a living person getting stuck in the afterlife. Xavier offers to help Maddie talk to her dad that afternoon at the hospital.
Principal Hartman (Alex Zahara) tells the gang that they won’t be allowed to go on the senior trip and instead will pull Saturday detention. When Maddie asks, Hartman says he didn’t tell her mom about the incident during the school pictures.
Charley (Nick Pugliese) gently prompts Yuri (Miles Elliot) to open up about his possible grandson. Yuri reveals that he got a girl named Julie pregnant the summer before his senior year. It wasn’t a serious relationship, but Julie called and told him she was in trouble and wanted to talk. Yuri thinks she wanted to keep it. They were going to meet at a record store, but Yuri went into the greenhouse to think first. He was worried about how he could get out of this situation and his anxiety triggered his asthma-and he died.
Yuri doesn’t know what he would have done if he met her at the store. He isn’t positive she kept the baby but believes she really wanted to. Charley acknowledges it’s a lot to take in and wonders if Yuri’s still into girls and guys. It doesn’t really matter; he just wants to know. Charley confesses he thinks Yuri’s into him because there aren’t many options.
Charley’s really shaken by this. His self-esteem is low anyway, and knowing more about Yuri’s sexual life isn’t helping.
Ci Hang Ma as Quinn and Sarah Yarkin as Rhonda in ‘School Spirits’ season 3 episode 3 (Photo Credit: Ed Araquel / Paramount+)
Quinn (Ci Hang Ma) and Rhonda (Sarah Yarkin) chat and Quinn realizes that if Mr. Martin hadn’t appeared in front of the bus, she would have just gone home to her mom and dad. Rhonda suggests that she can take her yearbook photo and that Quinn can pick an outfit that matches her new ‘Quinn’ name.
Livia (Erika Swayze) and her minions invite Nicole to their lunch table to see how the photos turned out. Livia loves them and Nicole offers to send her some. Nicole follows Claire’s advice and trash talks Maddie and Nicole, calling them a**holes – among other things. Livia invites her to a party and Nicole agrees to come.
Wally heads outside and finds Mr. Martin trying to clean up the plaque in memory of the bus crash victims. Wally’s certain Mr. Martin’s still hiding things, but Mr. Martin insists he can’t figure out how to send Simon home. When Wally asks who’s going to figure this place out, Mr. Martin replies, “Maybe I’m looking at him.”
Xavier visits the hospital morgue after school and introduces himself to Maddie’s dad, Dave. Dave confesses that he’s afraid he’ll disappoint Maddie and asks Xavier for details about his daughter who he hasn’t talked to in 10 years.
Meanwhile, Simon’s still pissed that no one will help him get home. He finds Wally in class writing a list of reasons to go down the hole and reasons not to try. On the go side, Wally’s listed that Mr. Martin could be wrong. A reason not to go would be that Simon could die.
Wally thinks he’s the one that needs to try it. Maddie would never forgive him for letting Simon die. Simon’s actually happy for the first time since becoming a ghost and cheers on Wally’s decision.
Rhonda and Quinn look around for just the right outfit for Quinn to wear in her class photo.
Wally and Simon uncover the hole and Wally enters it. He falls hard but is okay, assuring Simon that he can’t see anything because it’s too dark. Wally feels his way around and tells Simon that he’s heading further in.
He finds stairs and thinks it might be a house. He’s beginning to get a little freaked out when he steps in water. Hands reach up and grab him, pulling him under as he screams for Simon. He pops up soaking wet in the library near Rhonda and Quinn, accidentally making a custodian fall off a ladder.
Quinn is furious that Wally and Simon would risk someone’s life. Wally tells the gang that after he was pulled under, he popped up in the library and the custodian briefly saw him, which scared him so much that he fell off the ladder. Fortunately, he didn’t die.
Simon insists that, although it was bad, it at least proved that whatever was down there was powerful enough to lift the veil twice. They need to be smart, but they need to try again. Quinn grabs the watch from Simon and Rhonda warns him that he’ll have to go through them first.
Maddie and Xavier head to the morgue, and Xavier says her dad’s caught up on her and Simon. Dave’s waiting for them and Maddie says hi. Dave, through Xavier as the intermediary, says she looks beautiful. Maddie cries, recalling their final day together and that she should have hugged him goodbye. Dave says he loves her and will do everything he can to help Simon get back into the world of the living.
Their talk is cut short when Maddie’s mom texts telling her to come home.
Xavier apologizes for being the one who was the intermediary, thinking it should have been Nicole or Simon. Maddie hugs him, thanking him for making it possible. She’s hugging him when her mom interrupts, demanding that she go home.
Claire helps Nicole get ready for the party, reminding her to keep trash talking her and Maddie. Also, if she gets stuck, she should talk about boys. “Do not under any circumstances talk to Jason,” says Claire.
Nicole’s brother, Diego, wonders what’s up when she’s getting ready for the party and they give him a brief rundown of what’s going on and why Nicole’s going to Livia’s party. After she leaves, Claire and Diego hang out and eat dinner.
Nicole downs a few drinks to get up her courage. Livia and her minions pull her into the house, insisting there’s better drinks inside. She’s kept drinking and now she’s having a rough time following their conversation and remembering what she’s supposed to say. They want all the secrets of what happened to Maddie, and Nicole changes the subject to a boy. She says she’s interested in Jason, which is definitely not what she was supposed to say.
Nicole calls Claire from Livia’s mom’s office, confessing she just screwed up. Claire warns her she needs to leave right now, but Nicole can’t; she’s had three Long Island iced teas. Claire insists she get an Uber and leave.
Nicole’s drunk but not so far gone that she doesn’t realize the paperwork on the desk about the school could be super important. (She didn’t know that Livia’s mom is Superintendent Hunter-Price.) She accidentally wakes up the superintendent’s laptop, and it shows a live stream of different areas of the high school.
Wally finds Simon and wonders what’s in the heavy bag he’s carrying. Simon insists he’s not safe there and doesn’t have time to figure things out. Quinn and Rhonda eavesdrop as Simon says he’s not like the rest of them and doesn’t belong. Quinn tells him he’s wrong, none of them belong there, but she’s not going to stop him. She hands over the watch.
Maddie returns home, finds her mom’s phone, and discovers her mom’s been tracking her movements and reading her texts. Nicole pounds on the door and Maddie steps outside, surprised Nicole’s dressed up. There’s no time to get into that because Nicole has big news. Superintendent Hunter-Price is working with Claire’s stepdad’s company to bulldoze Split River High and build a fancy high-rise. Also, there are cameras all over the school and maybe even all the neighborhoods.
Lizzy McAlpine as Joyce Ball in ‘School Spirits’ season 3 episode 3 (Photo Credit: Ed Araquel / Paramount+)
Back at the school, Quinn takes a seat next to Mr. Martin on the bus bench. Quinn assures Mr. Martin the bus accident wasn’t his fault; sometimes bad things just happen. Mr. Martin takes a deep breath…maybe his first in decades.
Quinn finds Rhonda and confesses she forgave Mr. Martin. Also, she doesn’t want to change her outfit. She’s okay with what she’s wearing and just wants to be herself. Rhonda explains that in her day, girls could get into trouble for wearing pants. Clothing was a statement, and for the longest time she didn’t even know what statement she was trying to make. But then she found a club with poets and interesting people and felt like she’d found her place.
She remembers sitting by this woman (special guest star Lizzy McAlpine, a big fan of the series) who offered her a cigarette and made her feel welcome. The woman introduced herself as Joyce and revealed she attends UC Berkeley. Joyce thought Rhonda would fit in there and advised her not to let anyone trick her into thinking she doesn’t have a say.
Joyce took the stage and performed “House of the Rising Sun,” and Rhonda couldn’t take her eyes off her. Rhonda explains it was at that exact moment that she discovered who she could be if she was brave enough.
Rhonda wants that feeling for Quinn, too. They take a photo and of course they don’t appear on the Polaroid.
Simon’s bag is full of ropes, and he promises Wally they’ll walk out of Mr. Martin’s scar together.
Maddie’s mom confesses she got the app to track Maddie because she hasn’t been honest in weeks. Maddie goes through all the drawers and cabinets, looking for alcohol, telling her mom this is how it feels to be spied on. Sandra claims she hasn’t been drinking, but Maddie finds bottles in a box.
Maddie claims it was her mom’s drinking that hurt her and made her want to disappear.
Charley admits that hearing all the people Yuri could be with got to him, and he realizes he made what Yuri’s going through about him. Yuri confesses he never went into his scar and is not sure he’ll ever be ready.
Maddie’s mom packs her bag and announces she’s going to a treatment center.
Simon’s tied to the rope as Wally lowers him down. He’s wearing a light on his head and looks around before heading down the same stairs Wally went down. Simon calls for more rope as he avoids the water and keeps looking around. Simon hears the song Ralph was humming before he disappeared. Suddenly the rope breaks and Simon’s light goes out. A wind kicks up out of nowhere and he sees someone or something in the distance.
Spencer MacPherson as Xavier and Peyton List as Maddie in ‘School Spirits’ season 3 episode 2 (Photo Credit: Ed Araquel / Paramount+)
Unfortunately for Maddie, the video of her sitting by herself and laughing is getting tons of views and comments as Paramount+’s School Spirits season three, episode two begins. Claire (Rainbow Wedell) and Nicole (Kiara Pichardo) are doing their best to figure out who posted it. Claire believes it was Livia since it makes Maddie look crazy.
(The following is a recap of season three, episode two and contains spoilers.)
Xavier (Spencer MacPherson) and Kyle the ghost discuss the bus crash that killed the marching band. He lived through the crash but died at the hospital and wants to know if his friend, flute player Tracy, made it out alive. Kyle reveals the bus crashed because someone jumped in front of it, not because of black ice. He doesn’t know who it was, but there was definitely someone who was almost roadkill.
Mr. Martin (Josh Zuckerman) is haunted by a vision of a young boy who demands to know what happened to him. (This kid pops up again later in the episode.)
Maddie (Peyton List) believes she’s near the boiler room at school, but when her mom finally gets her attention, she’s actually standing in the kitchen.
Simon (Kristian Ventura) saw snow in Mr. Martin’s scar, but the ghost gang doesn’t understand its significance. Mr. Martin was flipping out, and Simon thinks they need to let him out. Since Janet went through her door, Simon doesn’t seem to have any way to get back to the living. Mr. Martin might be the only one who can send him back.
The conversation turns to all the other ghosts around town, including the ghosts at the hospital. Wally (Milo Manheim) thinks maybe they should round up everyone at school and ask them to go through their scars. That could possibly help Simon get home.
Nicole picks up Maddie for school, and Maddie admits she’s seen the video. They’re going to stop by Simon’s and pick up his iPad before school. Meanwhile, the ghost gang divvy up all the other school ghosts to talk them into going into their scars. Quinn refuses to handle the marching band. It’s a weird reaction, and no one’s sure why she’d refuse.
Claire confronts Livia about the video, and Livia claims she had nothing to do with it. Livia blames Claire’s friends for turning the school into a fortress. She reveals she saw Maddie at a college party and Claire tries to convince her she didn’t. It doesn’t work. Livia saw what she saw.
Maddie retrieves Simon’s iPad from his car and watches as messages from his parents flood the screen. They miss him and want to talk when he has a chance.
Xavier tells Maddie about Kyle and says that he’s recruited him to help to find Maddie’s dad. He also fills her in on the new bus crash info, and Maddie seems to brush it off.
Wally and Simon catch up on the other ghosts’ status, and they haven’t been able to convince anyone. They watch as Livia and her friends look at the video of Maddie on the football field, and Wally follows them into the bathroom. Rhonda (Sarah Yarkin) joins Wally to listen in, and one girl confesses she feels bad for Maddie. Her friends don’t, and Livia even admits she shot the video.
Wally walks into Maddie’s classroom to tell her what he saw, and she does her best to try not to call attention to herself but accidentally says, “Who?” out loud. Maddie writes down “evidence?” and Wally tells her to steal Livia’s phone to prove it.
Miles Elliot as Yuri and Nick Pugliese as Charley in ‘School Spirits’ season 3 episode 2 (Photo Credit: Ed Araquel / Paramount+)
Charley (Nick Pugliese) and Yuri (Miles Elliot) discuss scars, but Yuri’s distracted and keeps looking at a student.
Maddie heads to the boiler room to meet with Simon, with Nicole and Claire guarding the door.
Xavier visits the hospital morgue where Kyle’s hanging out, and Kyle explains a lot of ghosts like to hang there to play cards or do the dead people’s hair. (Ghosts can visit the morgue because a mortician died there.) Kyle hasn’t found Maddie’s dad yet, and Xavier hasn’t had time to research Tracy.
Xavier brings up the band, explaining that they’re convinced it was ice that caused the crash. Quinn confirmed it, but when Xavier brings up her name, Kyle doesn’t recognize it. There wasn’t a Quinn in the marching band, and Kyle thinks maybe it was Quinn who jumped in front of the bus.
Simon’s upset that the ghosts won’t let Mr. Martin out when Mr. Martin’s probably the only one who can get him home. Maddie reminds him that Mr. Martin is evil. The topic changes to Sabrina—a name his dad mentioned in his texts. Simon’s dad thinks he’s with her, and Simon reveals she’s his older half-sister. They’re both adopted and share the same mother. Maddie’s excited that he has a sister, and Simon confesses he didn’t mention it because he was busy helping the family he already has.
Maddie pauses for a minute and then admits she’s having trouble sleeping and is seeing stuff. But she doesn’t want Simon to be worried about her. Before they part, Simon tells her Janet took her door and is gone.
Principal Hartman finds Maddie in the boiler room and brings her into the office. Charley joins her there, but even though she can’t hear him, he confesses he’s worried about a studly water polo player. He stops talking and listens when Xavier calls Maddie to tell her that Quinn wasn’t in the marching band. Xavier warns her that the ghosts might not be telling the truth.
All the ghosts, except Quinn, gather to discuss what Xavier told Maddie. Charley’s worried she’s on the dark side and is trying to manipulate them, just like Mr. Martin. Rhonda vehemently defends her, refusing to believe she’s lying to them. Wally reminds them that no one has seen her play an instrument.
Quinn’s been missing since breakfast, and Simon thinks maybe she’s hiding in her scar. Rhonda heads out, angry, to find Quinn and get the truth once and for all.
Principal Hartman promises Maddie that he’ll get to the bottom of the video. When he’s ready to call her mom, Maddie lies and says she posted it as a joke because everyone thinks she’s crazy anyway. The principal doesn’t take that well and wonders if the blood in the boiler room was also a stunt. Maddie says it wasn’t and that she still doesn’t remember anything about that.
Charley and Yuri go through the yearbooks and don’t find Quinn’s photo with the band. Rhonda joins them and starts to help but then slams a yearbook shut. She refuses to be part of this because it hurts too much to think Quinn is lying to them.
Wally walks in with Quinn’s instrument case and points out the label’s been removed. Charley and Yuri decide to check the band room for more clues while Wally keeps searching the yearbooks for Quinn’s photo.
Yuri thinks Quinn was a ghost before she was a ghost.
Kristian Ventura as Simon in ‘School Spirits’ season 3 episode 2 (Photo Credit: Ed Araquel / Paramount+)
Simon takes the watch to the bus stop and it lights up red. He waves it around to see if anything opens up, but it’s not until he takes a seat on the bench that he’s transported to the day of the bus crash. The dead marching band members are in their seats, and he walks through the bus calling out for Quinn. The dead become ghosts and Simon freaks out and runs away.
Claire and Nicole discuss why Maddie would tell the principal she did the video. (Someone overheard and posted Maddie’s confession.) Nicole’s worried that whoever actually did it might have more video of Maddie. Xavier thinks they should chill out.
Simon tells Wally about the bus crash and that Quinn wasn’t there, describing the aftermath as brutal. Wally grabs the watch and reminds Simon that he promised to keep him safe. He hands him some research to do that’ll keep him away from scars. Simon can’t focus after seeing a drummer with a stop sign staked through his heart.
Simon really wants to free Mr. Martin, making the point that they’re treating Mr. Martin as badly as he treated them.
Maddie’s seated in the library, posing for her senior picture when someone splashes her with red paint. She refuses to go clean herself up and demands the photographer shoot the photo.
Livia couldn’t have done it because she’s standing right next to Maddie.
Nicole’s sure whoever’s behind this won’t stop until Maddie confesses to everything Janet did while in her body. Claire knows it’s not Livia and Nicole insists she’s going to go inside Claire’s old clique to find out who’s responsible. She’s been tortured by these girls forever and knows how to handle them.
Wally finds Maddie in the bathroom and she’s in tears. She confesses she doesn’t know how to live in two worlds; she can’t unsee what she’s seen. Wally wonders if being with him is making it worse and offers to call it quits to help her.
“Wally, nothing about you makes my life worse. Nothing,” says Maddie. She wants him to put a copy of the charm from her necklace on his chain.
Charley finally confronts Yuri, asking who he really is. He quotes New Age poems and keeps staring at the same student. Charley’s jealous because he thinks Yuri’s got a crush on the student. But it turns out Yuri thinks the kid could be his actual grandson. Yuri walks off before offering any details.
Simon visits Mr. Martin to tell him the group has questions.
The ghosts assemble in auto shop and it turns out that’s where Quinn’s been hiding. She says Maddie has given her the courage to be herself. Her real name is Jacqueline, which didn’t fit her personality, and she was always missing on picture day. When Rhonda pulled her from the band, she decided to call herself Quinn—because Quinn’s not a she or a he. Quinn didn’t mean to lie to anyone and thought that for once she was being honest about herself.
Nicole takes photos of the cheerleaders on the field, saying she’s snapping candid shots for the yearbook. She plays into Livia’s ego, requesting that she stay front and center.
The ghosts and Maddie are upset that Simon let Mr. Martin out, but Simon wants answers. Maddie wonders if this has something to do with the bus accident and asks Quinn about it. Quinn doesn’t remember much because she was in the back of the bus, and Simon asks if it was snowing that night.
Rhonda remembers Mr. Martin was the first one on the scene, and Mr. Martin confesses he didn’t move here to teach. He grew up here and used to play with his two best friends, Joe and Ralph, during the summer. Then one day they cut through the graveyard and it got unnaturally dark. Ralph stopped following and they discovered him on the ground, the earth around him burned. Joe left to get help, telling Everett (Mr. Martin) to stay and keep Ralph safe. But right after Joe left, Ralph started humming a song and wouldn’t respond.
Everett ran off. Ralph’s parents and the doctor rushed to the scene and Ralph was gone. No one knew where he went. It’s possible he wandered to the river, but no one knows. Even years later, everyone told Mr. Martin that it wasn’t his fault.
Mr. Martin confesses that years after he died, he heard the song Ralph had been humming. It was coming from underneath the floorboards at the school. He discovered a hole and climbed down into it.
Yuri asks where the hole leads, and Mr. Martin says there are others in this school but they’re not like them. He doesn’t know what was down there and he couldn’t find his way out. Something clawed at his ankle and pulled him underwater. When he finally got loose and came up for air, he was blinded by headlights and caused the bus to crash.
“I followed the music,” says Mr. Martin. Eight students died because of that.
Simon points out that the driver saw him, which means a barrier broke down and made him visible. Mr. Martin apologizes to Quinn for the deaths. He believes that whatever it was that grabbed him might be why so many people die at this school and why Simon got sucked in.
Episode two ends with Simon asking, “How do I get down there?”
