Season three of Paramount+’s School Spirits begins seconds after the season two finale. Maddie (Peyton List) returns to her body as it’s being loaded into the ambulance, while her friends search for Simon all over the school.
(The following is a recap of season three, episode one and contains spoilers.)
Wally (Milo Manheim) looks at his door but doesn’t go through it. Meanwhile, Simon (Kristian Ventura) is stuck in the afterlife with Janet (Jess Gabor) and Mr. Martin (Josh Zuckerman). Simon was looking for Maddie when Mr. Martin made him go into his scar. He cut his hand while Janet was trying to pull him out of the room, and the fact he’s bleeding means he’s still alive. The other ghosts have no idea what’s going on.
Maddie’s mom, Sandra (Maria Dizzia), is thrilled to have Maddie awake and responding at the hospital. And Maddie’s still trying to get over the fact Xavier (Spencer MacPherson) talked to her dead dad. Xavier’s own dad doesn’t understand why the school was lit up red and refuses to admit it might have to do with ghosts.
In the land of the dead, Charley (Nick Pugliese) has determined there aren’t any missing ghosts, so Simon isn’t there due to a body swap. That means Simon’s alive in Dead World. Wally makes a joke that doesn’t go over well with Simon, since he thinks Wally’s why Maddie lingered in the ghost world. Janet clears the air, reminding Simon that Maddie stayed to help all the ghosts.
When Janet mentions a greater evil at the school, Simon’s shocked.
Claire (Rainbow Wedell), Nicole (Kiara Pichardo) and Xavier try and figure out what’s up with Simon, and Nicole points out they all know Simon’s stuck in the ghost world—even if they don’t want to admit it. They’re not sure that going to school is safe.
Rhonda (Sarah Yarkin) volunteers to be Simon’s tour guide, since Maddie is one of the good ones and Simon helped while he was among the living.
The ghost group meets and Janet thinks maybe they opened a passageway with their energy since they were all inside the building simultaneously. Simon recalls that Maddie said when you leave school grounds, you get sucked back to where you died—but he’s not dead. Simon races outside to try and leave and is immediately transported back inside. He tells Janet that it feels like he got hit by a freight train, which is super unusual. That doesn’t happen to the ghosts.
Janet refuses to let Simon into the locked room to speak with Mr. Martin, calling him too desperate and evil.
Maddie and her mom leave the hospital, and Sandra wonders why Simon hasn’t come by yet. Maddie’s sidetracked and asks if her dad was alive when he came to the hospital. Sandra confirms he was.
Janet suggests to the group that since gathering in her scar brought Simon through the veil, gathering there again might send him back. Quinn thinks they should wait until all the students are gone so they can’t accidentally bring someone through. That’s a great idea, and Janet suggests they just need to go through the fallout shelter to get to her scar and Mr. Martin’s. The watch that Mr. Martin kept from Janet all those years is probably the original key, and it should open every door.
Simon walks through the school, surrounded by students who don’t see him. He looks out the window as they leave for the day, stuck behind with the ghosts.
Sheriff Baxter (Ian Tracey) and Sandra are driving Maddie home when she orders them to stop in front of the school. She notices the sign for “Wally Clark Park” and runs into the school and through the hallways calling out for Wally, Rhonda, and Charley. She can’t see them, but they see her, indicating she did make it back into her body.
Maddie realizes she needs to be in the auditorium and heads there. She sees Wally and Wally can see her, but they can’t touch. The ghost gang arrives and they’re incredibly happy to see that she’s back and alive. She asks about Simon and learns he’s there but races off to Ms. Field’s classroom before they can tell her he’s in the ghost world.
Maddie can only see them when she’s in an area where someone died, just like Simon. So, it’s not until she enters the classroom that she learns what happened to him. Janet explains they think he’s on their side but still physically alive. Their conversation’s interrupted when Maddie’s mom pulls her away. Simon insists that she go with her mom and assures her they have a plan.
Once they make it home, Maddie apologizes to her mom for running into the school. Maddie claims she’s ready to go back to class tomorrow, and Sandra reminds her that she insisted on finishing school online. Sandra’s still weirded out by how Maddie was acting last week (unaware it was Janet in Maddie’s body), but Maddie insists she’s herself again.
Charley and Yuri (Miles Elliot) spend time alone and Charley’s upset that Yuri saw his scar. It’s humiliating and Charley’s super embarrassed. But when he calls Yuri his boyfriend as he stumbles through his explanation, Yuri tells him nothing that he saw in the scar changes how he feels about him. That’s enough to ease Charley’s mind.
Everyone grabs their keys as they head into the fallout shelter together. Wally assures a very nervous Simon that it’s going to work. Simon waits behind and minutes later, all the lights start flickering.
Meanwhile, Maddie showers and it’s obvious she still isn’t feeling like herself.
The following morning Maddie sees Simon at the school’s bus stop, but Nicole doesn’t see him—which means the plan didn’t work. Maddie says f**k out loud but at least she has Nicole and Claire there, so it doesn’t look like she’s talking to herself when the other students turn to stare.
Simon tells Maddie to just assume he’s nearby while she’s in class.
Everyone’s called into an assembly and the ghosts watch from upstairs. Some of the students whisper about Maddie returning, and Claire doesn’t let them get away with it, absolutely skewering them with embarrassing facts about themselves.
It turns out the assembly is to introduce Dr. Deborah Hunter-Price (Jennifer Tilly), the district superintendent. She calls what happened two nights ago on campus a serious incident, and promises she’ll deal with the offending students. The school will adopt a zero-tolerance policy, and any disruptive behavior won’t be allowed.
She stuns everyone in attendance by announcing they’ll be closing Split River High and building a new campus across town! This class will be the final class to graduate from this campus. Principal Hartman takes over and cancels all off-school lunches and some extracurricular activities. He promises they will be restoring order and that he’ll try and save the school. Dr. Hunter-Price cuts him off and claims the students will love the new school.
“This place is about to get a lot more lonesome,” says Rhonda.
Maddie’s passed a note as the assembly ends and Claire warns her that although it has hearts and a welcome back message, it’s a threat. It’s from Livia, who Claire knows well and the others don’t. Livia’s big trouble.
Principal Hartman pulls Maddie aside and asks about what happened that night. She claims she has memory issues and doesn’t know anything. Maddie yells that she’s going to the greenhouse, unaware that Simon’s right beside her.
In the greenhouse, Maddie fills Simon in on the news that the hospital is just like the school and Xavier saw her dad’s ghost. Simon asks Maddie to get his suspension letter before it’s mailed. And Maddie can use his iPad and send his family messages to cover his absence.
Wally joins them and Maddie apologizes for not being able to stay and talk. He’s heartbroken until Maddie pops back in and says to meet her at the football field after school; it’ll be just the two of them.
Janet confesses to Simon that maybe her decision not to take her door is why Simon is stuck. It might have thrown off the balance. She thinks that if she goes through her door, it could send him back. Janet’s sad and wants to stay, but if there’s a chance of Simon returning to his life, she’s willing to take a leap.
“I can’t be the reason another person is trapped here,” says Janet.
Xavier and Nicole stumble through a request to start an afterschool grave rubbing club to get the clerk away from her desk so they can grab the suspension paperwork.
Maddie meets Wally on the field and he’s such a good guy that he even brought flowers. She can’t touch them, but it’s the thought that counts. She wishes she could hold them, and he wishes he could hold her, but they can’t even touch hands. Maddie wonders what happens now and Wally says that maybe they should consider this a “great summer fling.” When he describes it as an almost love story and one of those what-if relationships, Maddie admits that’s not what she wants. He doesn’t want that either. They both want to try to continue the relationship, and Maddie blames herself for all of this.
Wally lightens the mood by saying it’s all their fault since they could have torn a hole in the universe that night in the AV room. They laugh, and Wally promises he will get Simon back for her.
Mr. Martin is piling up furniture as Janet and Simon enter the room. She demands to be let into her scar, telling him that he’s her key and ordering him to look at her. Janet says he needs to do this for her and Mr. Martin takes her hand. Her room opens and her exit lights up.
Lights flash throughout the school. None of the ghosts knew what Janet had planned, and they’re shocked to see someone’s passing over. Rhonda finds Simon and demands to know what he did. He explains Janet tried to help him and hands Rhonda a note.
The ghost group reads the note and learns that Janet wants them to keep trying and not give up. She claims she’s exactly where she always dreamed she’d be—among the stars. Simon looks lost and defeated.
Xavier visits the hospital and sees a guy he noticed earlier when he was talking to his dad.
Maddie and her mom are still in that awkward, getting-reacquainted stage, but it’s made better by Maddie’s grandmother’s recipe for mac and cheese. They talk about Maddie’s dad since Maddie mentioned him at the hospital, and Maddie realizes that her mom’s really going through things emotionally and mentally. She promises things will return to normal and her mom just wants her to be safe. Maddie knows her dad was her mom’s best friend, and Maddie admits she didn’t realize how hard it was for her back then, losing him.
Nicole and Claire are hanging at night when Nicole receives a text message with a video of Maddie sitting on a bench on the football field, laughing by herself.
Yuri holds a lighter and a note that reads, “Yuri, I promised I would teach you. The secret is in the scars.” He stands outside the greenhouse as it lights up red. He quickly turns and walks away.
Xavier looks around the hospital and enters a room. The guy he saw earlier is a ghost who follows him into the room.
Simon enters Mr. Martin’s scar and demands to know why he’s there and how to leave. Mr. Martin in turn asks to be let out of the furnace room. He claims it’s been waiting for him and then adds it’s been waiting for all of them. He tries to wrestle the watch away from Simon and Simon continues to ask what he’s hiding. Suddenly, ashes rain down on them out of nowhere.
Maddie wakes up in the middle of the night with water dripping on her head. The ceiling looks like it’s about to collapse, and the floor is soaking wet. She walks down a hallway and opens a door to the boiler room where she “died” at the school.
- School Spirits Season 2 Finale Recap
- School Spirits Season 3 Episode 2 “Mean Ghouls” Recap
- School Spirits Season 3 Episode 3 “The Halls Have Eyes” Recap
- School Spirits Season 3 Episode 4 “The Bereftest Club” Recap
- School Spirits Season 3 Episode 5 “Raiders of the Lost Scar” Recap
- School Spirits Season 3 Episode 6 “Children of the Scorned” Recap
- School Spirits Season 3 Episode 7 “Midsomester” Recap
- School Spirits Season 3 Finale Recap
