Review: School Spirits

On March 9th, Paramount+ launched the first three episodes of its new supernatural mystery show, School Spirits. School Spirits follows Maddie, the spirit of a high school student searching for answers about who killed her and why. CAUTION: Mild spoilers ahead.

A Familiar Setting

School Spirits takes place primarily in the high school in which Maddie was murdered. She’s accompanied by other spirits of students that have died during different times on school property, along with a guide to try and help the spirits find rest and move on. There are three spirits that seem to stand out as the most important to the story. First we have Charley, a member of the LGBT+ community that died due to a peanut allergy. Next up is Wally, whose death is a little ambiguous at the moment. Then we have Rhonda, a girl who was strangled by her guidance counselor. These three characters seem to be the front runners for guiding Maddie through her journey, and providing exposition on how things work in the ghost world.

Somehow Different

We’ve all seen the typical high school dramas, mysteries, etc… in our watch lists, and the setting for School Spirits is no different. However, through the first three episodes, there are still a ton of questions surrounding who killed Maddie and why, with no indication that there’s an easy answer yet. This is new for me. Most of the time when I get three episodes in, I have a pretty strong grasp on who the culprit is and a potential motive. Not with School Spirits. There have been several characters that have been marked as potential suspects on my board, yet I haven’t been able to narrow it down AT ALL. There have also been some curveballs thrown in to really throw me off in a somewhat exciting way!

Tropes Making Sense

While the show does have its fair share of stereotypical tropes that play out, they do so in a way that makes sense. As I mentioned before, there’s a guide, named Mr. Martin, who attempts to help the spirits of these kids come to terms with their passing and allow them to move on. However, something is keeping them here. Charley’s reason is revealed relatively early in that his love from when he was in school is now a teacher at the same school. It was a heartbreaking moment and brought a tear to my eye. There’s also the point where one of Maddie’s friends can actually see and hear her, but the explanation as to why is not the simple “strong connection” nonsense.

I don’t want to spoil too many details as I feel like this show is definitely worth checking out. It was a very interesting first three episodes with promise to provide twists, turns, and emotional moments throughout the season!

School Spirits is available to stream on Paramount+ now!