School Spirits: Beyond Death

Well, here we are again with our movie buff challenges. Two weeks ago, the final episode aired of a series that I'm completely obsessed with: School Spirits, better known as the spirits at/from the school.

 It's a recent series from the Paramount+ catalog; since the platform premiered it in 2023, it has gained a huge fan base and a large following around the world. The thing is, the plot itself is out of this world—literally… If it continues like this, just like Nickelodeon's Danny Phantom series, it's very likely to become a cult, timeless series that will endure over time.

 For those who aren't familiar with it, here's a brief official synopsis to help you understand the context of the series: Set in the fictional town of Split River, Wisconsin, the series follows Maddie, a teenager trapped in the afterlife who investigates her own mysterious disappearance. She embarks on an adventure to solve crimes while adjusting to high school in the afterlife, but the closer she gets to the truth, the more secrets and lies she uncovers. 

Essentially, it's the story of a completely normal girl named Madison Nears who, after a very mysterious accident, ends up in a sort of parallel world… an “Upside Down” version of her own school, where the souls of former students are trapped within its four walls because each of them has unfinished business that prevents them from crossing over into the light. In other words, they are lost souls who, over the course of the three seasons, will help her uncover various mysteries and secrets that the very walls that hold them have kept hidden for a long time. They are all trapped in a kind of endless “limbo”… Among the various secrets they uncover is that River High is a “practically cursed” school, where far more “accidental” deaths have occurred than previously thought. 

Currently, the series has three seasons, of eight chapters each. These usually last between 40 and 45 minutes. The same are totally available at Paramount (+).
Many of its fans are on the lookout for the confirmation of a fourth, fifth and even sixth season; since, the theme “picks and spreads”, what I mean is that there is a lot of fabric to cut and a lot of clues to discover. This story is far from over.
Now okay, with the little context I left you, let’s talk then about why this series has me so obsessed and clearly is highly recommended. There are too many edges and implications in it, I will divide it into certain categories:

1. Totally original plot and its realism:
Very well, though it’s true that the story and plot focus on Maddie and hence the sorrowing souls of the alumni, helping her discover how she got to that parallel world. The way in which, the screenwriters and actors worked out not only the plot, but also their performances, is really important. Honestly you manage to tele transport to Split River high school. It is no coincidence that the school bears that name, later on, I will reflect on that very particular aspect. But getting back to what I was saying.

The scripts are so well presented, studied and created that there are no argumentative voids, it seemed that in each season, the scriptwriters and characters would pose five questions and the same would end up being clarified in the last chapter of each season. At the end of each of them, it would seem that the screenwriters open another five questions, completely different, for the next season.

This type of strategy is very good, because it allows them to keep the audience highly concentrated during each chapter and even throughout the seasons.
That yes, each chapter is so special and unique that they keep you, as a viewer, super interested in the plot and not only that, but it even scares you to know what will happen next.

Honestly, lately, this is one of the few series that has kept my interest along its trajectory... That is, it is so coldly calculated and the screenwriters are so meticulous, with every minimal detail, that you just want to know more about the story awaits not only Maddie’s friends from the world of the living, the present, but also her friends from beyond.

2. Characters and character development:
Each character in and out of school and even from the world of the living and the dead, are too well done and structured, you not only grow with the characters on different levels, but also, go reflecting and doing a self examination about your life and certain decisions you have made over the years.

You not only once as a viewer, all the hell that goes through each character, their struggles, their internal battles, their insecurities, their doubts and uncertainties ... No, forget that, in this series we go from being mere passive spectators of the story to even active spectators of the plot.

All the characters there, not only manage to empathize with you, but you even adopt their own battles, desires, longings and insecurities because they are stereotypes so universal that everyone can identify, directly and indirectly, with them dead.

Characters like Wally the football hero, Rhonda, the girl who was forced to hide her own identity, Maddie, the girl who ended up in a completely unknown world and even Professor Martin, the ghost boys counselor, but, who also fights his own demons like guilt, remorse and even search desperate for redemption, among so many other series characters, are the iconic pieces of the entire play.

When they themselves tell their own story, of how they came to stand in the world of the dead, you are not only left with a bitter taste in your mouth, but you feel sorry for their inner hell.

3.Interpersonal relationships and an interconnected world:

Throughout the three seasons you not only immerse yourself in the plot, but you also see as Maddie and all the characters end up developing relationships and interconnections that connect the two worlds, at the same time get to Maddie, that's why she's the protagonist of this whole series.

By belonging to both worlds, she develops “psychic” abilities that no one else can. It is like the conducting thread between the blurred veil between life and death; that is, everyone gets to Maddie and everyone leaves Maddie. She is the one who keeps both worlds alive for a much deeper theme that I will develop later...The theme of memory, archive and memory.

To top this off and although I know it sounds ridiculous, throughout the series, you understand the great importance that Maddie ira developing throughout the seasons. It's as if the ghosts were a version, much more extensive, of who Maddie is, what her origins are, and why she possesses such a peculiar taste for horror films. The knot she creates with each character, is something that has no comparison. That's not to mention the relationship he generates with Wally.

Something that could be observed, and it has as proper background of this series, is Dany Fenton, that series of the years (2000) of Nickelodeon; and I mean specifically the character of Sam.

In this series, she is a goth girl, with a goth soul and her goth nature not only allows her to understand and support Dany with her whole transition to “the ghost guy” and the hero we all know. That nature is what justly, allows him to maintain connections between the world of the living and the dead; for that reason Sam is the anchor that keeps Dany from getting lost in her mixed, ghostly nature.

That weird sensibility that Sam possesses, is the same sensibility that Maddie goes on to develop throughout the story, after setting foot in the parallel world of Split River school. In fact, she builds a romantic and loving relationship with Wally who would come to be Sam’s new “Dany Fenton”. And with everyone else she generates a relationship so important that she keeps them alive.

4. Symbolisms and power keys:

Throughout the series, as is natural, we see a lot of symbology associated with the divine, life, death, God and the very archenemy of God. From the use of the colors on the doors, of each ghost commemorating the day of his death; which is like a quarter of torture for them and a test they must pass if they wish to find peace.

As Dante Alighieri said in his work The Divine Comedy: hell has nine circles or gates, one is worse than the other... In that sense, the keys each ghost possesses are things with which they died gateway to power, power to atone for their sins, generate consciousness and advance to the next life, but also, a quarter of torture.

Throughout the series we see how each ghost must enter, more than once, “their door” site in which they died in their moment. During the plot, you find out that each of them are interconnected like a network... and that gentlemen, is super relevant... Because each door represents a kind of level, typical of video games, that they must traverse if they want to move forward and have peace. And the most interesting thing about all this, is that that has its own logic of chaos, a specific order and it is what allows him to unravel the dark secrets that the school itself possesses.

There are also icons proper to eternal life, death, heaven and hell. A super specific one is that before the school was known as “Split River” it was directly related to the archenemy of God, because the insignia of the first school uniforms, turned out to be one of the faces with which this dark being is directly associated. That is why I tell you, everything here has a symbolic why for its existence.

5. Diffusion between life and death (Breaking of the veil)

This aspect is really important because since Maddie arrives this “Upside Down” the fragile veil, between life and death, is totally broken and re symbolized I mean: When Maddie first arrives in this world, she not only realizes that the walls of her school hide many unheard secrets; but it also generates a “before” and an “after”, that is, its arrival generates awareness that things are not what they seem, that there is something more after death and generates claims from many of the ghosts trapped in this other world; since, thanks to this,

6. Vindication, second chances and true love from Wally:

Wally Clark is one of the most fundamental and protagonist characters of this series, along with Maddie, they are the soul of all seasons. They started off as friends, but end up being boyfriends and creating a relationship so beautiful and healthy that it can even heal certain wounds and atone for their various sins. They are two lost souls who meet, heal and whose love transcends the very boundaries of death.

During the first season and although this love relationship doesn’t develop much, it does manage to sow the necessary groundwork, not only for both to heal their wounds and even claim each other, but also this nice desire for “the first time for everything” is present.

From the day Maddie gets to this “Upside Down” Wally is the first to approach her and try to help her discover what really happened to her and although their relationship is not easy because they both had to rebuild and heal many wounds from their own demons of the past boosting bond that allows them to be better as people, work on themselves and reach that fullness of “healthy love” that they reach at the end of season 3.

The most beautiful thing about this whole relationship, is that, they are willing to support each other in whatever they need, to every second of the series, it is no secret that there has become the favorite couple of the “fandom” .

That continual striving to help each other, improve, discover the secret and always be there for the other is the perfect mix for both characters to reach the “Argumentative Climax” at least in Wally’s specific case, because Maddie still has things to improve.

They are very similar to Danny Fenton’s Sam and Danny, because, although many are against this relationship and say it is “toxic” I don’t think so, if it wasn’t for Sam’s continued support, Dany would have recently been lost in the ghost world. Sam, in the last episode of season three, of the series, makes her promise that he will return for her and when Dany returns from the battle they become more than friends ... It is the only vow of trust that binds him to return for his girl, not surrender and prosper. Which, occurs at the end of the chapter.

The same goes for Wally and Maddie, for her to return to her life and her present, Wally must renounce her and her love, because otherwise, she will end up lost like him, being a soul in sorrow that still finds no eternal rest and much less peace. And that gentlemen is the most beautiful and deepest love a guy can give his girlfriend.

As they say out there: “if you really love, you should let it go” and I know it’s hard to understand and I know it’s not something we like, and although it doesn’t apply for everyone, thank God, if it’s a maxim. Because despite having to let her go, she comes back, just like Dany comes back with Sam, because there's still something for whom to fight.

And the same goes for Wally, at a specific moment in season three, Maddie must help him out of a trap he falls into. Wally for brief seconds is trapped in a specific memory of his past, the day before the Football grand final and before his death. If it wasn't for Maddie, he wouldn't have been able to return to the present and would have been left behind. Further on, in the same season, the same thing happens to Maddie and it is Wally who saves her.

Conclusion, this couple is the most incredible of the entire series, because their love is so strong, so healthy, so genuine that they are the anchor that keeps them both alive.

So, answering the initial question: because I am obsessed with this series, because simply, this is the best series that has been able to exist in recent times... The plot, the iconic characters and even the argumentative arc is incredible.

On the other hand, the well-developed symbology and abysmal performances are impressive. I highly recommend them.