by Samuel Nichols, Contributing Writer
They say, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” That being said prepare yourself for a crazy statement: thus far, School Spirits is a smarter version of Stranger Things. Of course, we have a full five seasons to look back on for the Netflix juggernaut, and its final season certainly left a certain taste in many viewer’s mouths. For all we know School Spirits could completely fumble its ending. The plot and mythology could be over exclaimed and the characters hooking up could take too much of a front seat. Development could be halted for our heroes in a bad way. But so far, my time with School Spirits has felt rewarded.
After finally getting her body back, Maddie Nears (Peyton List) heads back to Split River High. Her ghost friends Wally (Milo Manhe), Rhonda (Sarah Yarkin), Charley (Nick Pugliese), Quinn (Ci Hang Ma), and Yuri (Miles Elliot) are happy for her, but they have a new guest. Somehow Maddie’s best friend Simon (Kristian Ventura) has been trapped in the ghost world. Figuring out how he got there will stretch the gang further than they’ve gone before. But there is a force manipulating the ghost world too, the team may need help from the manipulative Mr. Martin (Josh Zuckerman). Just as dangerous, district superintendent Dr. Deborah Hunter-Price (Jennifer Tilly) has plans to tear down the school. So, Maddie’s living friends Xavier (Spencer Macpherson), Nicole (Kiara Pichardo), and Claire (Rainbow Wedell) will also have their hands full. With threats on all sides, the odds are long against our heroes both dead and alive. Having friends on both sides has its perks.
What works best for the show is the connective tissue between each character. While Maddie and to a lesser extent Simon are the people on both sides of the paranormal aisle, each person has something critical to the plot. It makes each side story valuable and not feel like just fodder. My favorite instance of this is seeing Maddie’s friends like Nicole go to other classmates for info on staff. Maddie then passes that along to the ghost group who can dig through school information unnoticed by the living world.
On the ghostly side, the show walks dangerous ground carefully. Having the protagonist of the show be separated from her body for two seasons and then re-inhabit it in the third, is a good twist for our hero. But expanding the world out to show how the dead can cross over and explore different levels of the underworld could be dangerous. Overwhelming the audience with too much information runs the risk of losing their interest. But the show is careful with balancing the line between explaining everything and showing what happened. Exposition and explanations are even paced. Even smarter is the mystery of why and how the dead have not “moved on” is not the focus of the show. It keeps the focus on the living and the dead and how they can help each other.
Overall, I think that makes for a better focus for the show: the characters, not the mystique. I want to know how they’ll get through this together. Watching the living and dead heroes sort out who can and cannot be trusted and how far and deep the rabbit hole of the ghost world goes makes the show entertaining. While I don’t want it to be drowned in lovey-dovey feelings and triangles, seeing their relationships evolve despite the dangerous circumstances is touching. I look forward to this show coming back for future seasons.
Rating: High Side of Liked It
School Spirits is currently streaming on Paramount+
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