Episode eight, the season finale of Paramount+’s School Spirits, begins with Maddie (Peyton List) hanging out on the school’s roof waiting for word from Simon. He’s busy searching for the money at Maddie’s house, looking in what Maddie described as her mom’s favorite hiding places.
Simon (Kristian Flores) discovers an envelope tucked away in one of Maddie’s drawers. As he’s leaving, Simon’s so distracted that he nearly forgets his excuse for being at Sandra’s place when she asks if he found Maddie’s history notebook.
Back at school, Simon reveals the envelope’s contents – Maddie’s necklace. Maddie wore it on the day she died, but it was missing after her death. Simon suggests there’s a “non-murderous” explanation, and Maddie thinks he needs to get her mom to come to the school. Maddie will be able to tell by watching her if she’s lying and if her mom actually killed her.
Simon wonders if Maddie really wants to know if that’s true, and Maddie doesn’t reply.
Meanwhile, Xavier (Spencer Macpherson) thinks Nicole (Kiara Pichardo) should tell his dad, Sheriff Baxter, that she’s the one who was blackmailing Mr. Anderson, and that she took the cash, accidentally made it look like Maddie did it, and then buried the money. Nicole and Claire (Rainbow Wedell) think that’s a horrible idea and that they’ll just ruin their futures. Xavier points out that if they don’t come clean, Mr. South’s future will be over.
Nicole and Claire believe they need proof of who killed Maddie. If they confess now, the real killer will probably get away.
Ghost therapy is underway, and the topic of conversation is Dawn. Charley (Nick Pugliese) and Wally (Milo Manheim) describe the lights, feeling goosebumps, and hearing a humming sound. Charley insists nothing like that happened when Janet crossed over, and Mr. Martin (Josh Zuckerman) can’t stop fidgeting and looking uncomfortable. He claims spirits might cross over differently.
Mr. Martin’s always told the group that looking back is a bad thing. Charley’s incredibly frustrated and insists Mr. Martin’s wrong – looking back might be the key to crossing over. Mr. Martin’s forced to admit it’s just too painful to look back. He reveals he made a huge mistake the day he died 60 years ago, which led to a fire. He saved his class but not himself.
Mr. Martin blames himself for not paying attention and believes his students have had to live with the memory of that traumatic moment because of him. “Let’s just say that I failed them, and I don’t want to fail all of you, too,” says the former chemistry teacher.
He confesses he wishes he had the answers to what makes spirits move on.
Maddie missed the session and Wally finds her alone in the hallway. Wally asks what she said to Dawn before she left, and Maddie explains she comforted her and told her she didn’t deserve to be bullied by her friends. Maddie adds that she apologized for what happened to her. Maybe hearing what she needed to hear is what finally allowed her to cross over.
Maddie confesses she’s scared of learning the truth about her murderer. Wally replies, “Hey, if anybody taught me how to face my fears, it’s you.”
Wally pulls her in for a hug and Maddie sobs in his arms.
Simon’s offered the perfect opportunity to get Maddie’s mom to school when Ms. Fields reveals Maddie won the fall English award. Simon suggests Sandra should accept the award at a ceremony that evening at school.
Xavier attempts to convince his dad that Mr. South had nothing to do with Maddie’s murder. Xavier reminds his father that he was with Mr. South when Maddie disappeared. Plus, Mr. South doesn’t fit the description of the person he saw jumping out of the window at the house where Maddie’s backpack was found. Sheriff Baxter refuses to listen to anything that doesn’t point to Mr. South.
On his way out of his dad’s office, Xavier snaps a photo of a note with the address 4916 Quebec Street written on it.
Meanwhile at school, Charley’s confused about why Rhonda (Sarah Yarkin) didn’t ask more questions in their session. He’s convinced that if they talk it through, they might figure out how they can cross over too. Something in the anti-séance allowed Dawn to leave, but Rhonda’s refusing to discuss what happened. She completely shuts out Charley, even after he reminds her that they’re friends and can talk about anything.
Later, Simon and Sandra (Maria Dizzia) walk the hallways, and Simon suggests they practice her speech. She doesn’t want to talk when she accepts Maddie’s award, but Simon leads her into Ms. Fields’ classroom to prepare, just in case. Maddie’s already there, waiting to hear what her mom has to say.
Maddie prompts Simon to ask what she remembers about her final day. Sandra doesn’t want to talk about it and tries to leave, so Maddie tells him to ask about the necklace. That stops Sandra in her tracks. Simon knows Maddie was wearing it on her death day, but Sandra claimed she never met up with Maddie. How did she get the necklace?
Maddie stares at her mom and touches the necklace while her mom’s also touching it. That sparks a memory of Maddie walking through the hallway and Sandra rushing into the school. Maddie tells Simon to ask why she lied about seeing her that day, and Sandra admits she was ashamed about what happened.
A flashback shows Sandra excited that a guy she met in treatment told her about these cabins that were on sale for a bargain price. Sandra bought one using the money she put away after Maddie’s dad died. The money was earmarked for Maddie for college, and Sandra insisted they could still figure out how to afford school up north by the cabin. Maddie was confused and reminded her mom she planned to attend college in Chicago.
Maddie admitted she wanted to get away from her mom; that’s why she chose Chicago. Sandra wasn’t a responsible adult, never looked after Maddie, and Maddie had been on her own since her father died.
The flashback confirms Maddie took off her necklace and threw it at her mom. Since her mom took away everything her father left her, Sandra might as well have the necklace he gave her, too.
The flashback ends, and Maddie tells Simon her mom didn’t kill her. “She killed my spirit, but she didn’t murder me,” says Maddie.
Maddie sits in the bleachers and watches as her mother accepts her award. Sandra hopes those gathered understand that Maddie cared so much about everything – her friends, college, and her family. Sandra admits Maddie took care of her more than she should have had to. She knows her daughter was always willing to help anyone who needed it and was a wonderful person.
Sandra sobs as she confesses that she wishes she’d been there for her daughter. Mr. Martin joins Maddie and tells her she’s lucky she got this goodbye from her mom. Maddie says she’s ready to write her obituary now.
Xavier, Claire, and Nicole pull up outside 4916 Quebec Street and discover the door’s open. It looks like someone broke in, and Xavier wants to check it out. Claire talks him out of that and suggests a stakeout instead. However, after just a few minutes of arguing in the truck, Xavier can’t take it anymore and heads into the house, followed by Nicole. Claire is assigned getaway driver duty and stays behind in the truck.
They look around for anything indicating someone’s squatting in the deserted house. Xavier suggests they split up and search.
Claire’s watching their flashlights move around inside when she spots someone in a hoodie entering the house. She races from the truck and finds Nicole just as Nicole spots a bed on the floor. They hear a noise and scream for Xavier. As he runs toward them, he slams into the intruder. The intruder flees the house and jumps into the truck.
The intruder backs up into Xavier as the girls scream for help. Nicole also manages to film the incident on her phone.
Back at school, Wally and Charley decide to investigate Dawn and Janet’s pasts to figure out what they learned that allowed them to move on. They pull up old microfiche and look through old files, but nothing’s jumping out at them. Charley admits he feels bad he didn’t get to say goodbye to Dawn, and neither just wants to disappear when it’s their time.
Wally comes across an article on the fallout shelter being built in the location where a fire destroyed a chemistry lab on January 14, 1958. The article mentions two people were killed in the fire – teacher Everett Martin and sophomore Janet Hamilton. Mr. Martin told the group he was the only person who died in that fire! Janet also lied to the group about her death.
They check out the fallout shelter, and it looks like nobody’s been there in years. But then Charley spots a box that appears to have been recently moved. Behind the box are journals written by Mr. Martin, along with the obituaries he made them write. Mr. Martin wrote notes on each of the ghosts describing their mental states. Wally realizes Mr. Martin’s been documenting them and documenting their deaths. There are even multiple drawings of the football play that killed Wally.
Charley finds an article stating Janet’s parents sued the school over her death. The article reveals the surviving students claimed Mr. Martin started the fire.
Wally realizes none of Mr. Martin’s notebooks mention Janet. They’re still looking through the notebooks and articles when Rhonda joins them. Charley realizes she knows Mr. Martin is treating them like test subjects. Rhonda explains she began following Mr. Martin after Maddie arrived and she learned Maddie could communicate with Simon.
Rhonda opens a container and inside are all the objects they had with them when they died, including her acceptance letter to Berkeley and Wally’s football. Rhonda refuses to allow someone in authority to take advantage of her again. As they’re talking, the fallout shelter’s metal door locks and they are unable to open it.
Outside of 4916 Quebec Street, Xavier comes to before the ambulance arrives. His head’s bleeding, but he’s more concerned with figuring out who hit him. Nicole watches the video and says, “What the f**k?!” She sends the video to Simon.
Xavier looks at the blood on his hands from his head wound and passes out.
Over at the school, Maddie’s found a quiet spot to write her obituary. Simon finds her and is about to show her the video when Maddie announces she wants to read him her obituary. She struggles to hold it together as she reads, “I was born. It was really hard, but I had Simon.”
She goes on to say he’s never taken more than he’s given; that’s why they can talk. He’s the only person she can always trust and the only person who’s loved her unconditionally.
Simon cries as Maddie tells him she’s grateful she had him in her life and never had to be alone.
“I wish that was true,” replies Simon.
He shows her the video and it’s clear that Maddie was driving the truck that hit Xavier!
Simon says she’s the one who’s been breaking into houses which means his conversations with her might just be coping mechanisms. “You’re alive out there and I lost my mind,” sobs Simon.
Maddie insists she’s real as Simon leaves without looking back.
Maddie’s at the bus bench when Simon hurries out of the school and grabs his bike. She screams at him to listen and swears she’s there, but he ignores her and rides away. She tries to run after him and because he’s off the school property, she’s flung back into the boiler room.
Simon looks back, but she’s no longer there.
She screams in frustration and then hears Charley calling out for help from the fallout shelter.
A flashback shows Maddie sobbing in the boiler room after the run-in with her mom. She hears a girl cry out for help and follows the sound to the fallout shelter. She opens the door as Mr. Martin and Janet are arguing, and Janet runs toward her, pushes Maddie out of her body, and takes over! That leaves Maddie without a physical form but also not dead.
Back to current events, and Maddie tries to open the door to let Charley, Wally, and Rhonda out. It won’t budge and Rhonda yells for her not to trust “him.” She turns and sees Mr. Martin standing at the top of the stairs.
Meanwhile, Janet – in Maddie’s body – buys a bus ticket out of town. She slips up, gives her name as Janet, and then corrects it to Maddie. On her way to the bus, she spots a missing flyer with Maddie’s photo and rips it off the wall.
And that’s the end of season one. Paramount+ hasn’t indicated if there will be a season two, but the ending certainly leaves enough threads dangling to warrant a second season.
How was Maddie able to hear Mr. Martin and Janet fighting in the fallout shelter, and why was Janet able to leap into her body? Inquiring minds / fans of the series need explanations. Hopefully, Paramount+ will renew the supernatural coming-of-age tale for a second season and answer all of the lingering questions.
- School Spirits Series Preview: Who’s In It, What’s It About, and When Does It Air
- School Spirits Season 1 Episode 1 “My So-Called Death” Recap
- School Spirits Season 1 Episode 2 “The Fault in Our Scars” Recap
- School Spirits Season 1 Episode 3 “Dead and Confused” Recap
- School Spirits Season 1 Episode 4 “Ghoul Intentions” Recap
- School Spirits Season 1 Episode 5 “The Twilight End Zone” Recap
- School Spirits Season 1 Episode 6 “Grave the Last Dance” Recap
- School Spirits Season 1 Episode 7 “Séance Anything” Recap
