In this interview School Spirits creators breakdown the epic season two finale as well as tease what it means for Maddie, Wally, Simon, and the rest going forward.
School Spirits Season 2 has come to an end in what can best be described as an epic showdown between Janet, Mr. Martin, and the rest of the gang. Warning: Spoilers ahead for School Spirits Season 2 Episode 8.
We spoke with creators Megan Trinrud, Nate Trinrud, and Oliver Goldstick about the incredible season two finale. They break down what evolved from their first draft, as well as what this means for Wally, Maddie, and Simon going forward – should there be a School Spirits season 3 announced.
“The point of our show is to learn to be vulnerable with other people and connect and maybe that can help heal us all.”
Tessa Smith: What has the fan reactions to School Spirits meant to you?
Oliver Goldstick: It’s a joy. It’s why we do this. You know what I mean? The idea of immediate gratification is also new. I’ve been doing this for so long that Ugly Betty was the first show where somebody was on the internet responding to a kiss that Betty got in the office. It’s incredibly gratifying, because it makes us feel like we’re doing something right. People are connecting to the humanity of these characters. They’re relating and identifying with the relationships. And that’s the longevity of talent and of a great series, the relationships they have. So to us, it’s incredibly gratifying. And we know that we have because they’re people to us too. When you sit in a writer’s room, they’re not characters. They’re extensions of us. They’re all extensions of Nate, Megan, and I. People are connecting and understanding the things that these kids are grappling with on the screen and we’re thrilled.
Megan Trinrud: I also would deeply identify myself as a fan in life. I get very, very passionate about the things that I love. So fan culture is really important to me. So the idea that anyone feels that way about this thing that we created is so special to me, because I am that person who’s on the message boards, joining the Instagram groups, getting so ingrained that it’s all I think about all the time, 24/7, that is my personality. So I feel like this is all I’ve ever wanted, was to create something that cultivated the excitement in people.
Nate Trinrud: What’s wild too, is we have the best fan base in the world, but, oh my god, I guess we all expected them to go online and talk about the mystery or theorize. But I think what we’ve seen is like people are really connecting over this show, in these groups. I have found threads or been sent things where people suddenly take a theme from the show and they’re just talking about their life with strangers online in these in these groups and that is even more rewarding. The point of our show is to learn to be vulnerable with other people and connect and maybe that can help heal us all right? And getting to see that somehow this fan base is doing that too has been so unexpected and moving. But it’s amazing,
“I think there’s a lot to explore in a third season where two people who care deeply had to make a tough decision and what happens next.”
Tessa Smith: Wally and Maddie finally hook up this season. Can you talk about the importance of doing that scene right?
Megan Trinrud: We’ve talked about this a little bit in a way that I think for us, what we wanted to do was really earn it. I feel like it’s so easy to see online, oh, people ship these people. Let’s just give the people what they want. But I think that we always intended for this to be that kind of relationship where you don’t know how it’s going to work out. You don’t know if it can be a forever thing, but you can’t deny that these people have connected in a real big way. I think that character wise, one of Maddie’s biggest challenges is being able to be vulnerable and intimate with people, because she’s been hurt so badly in her life. So we wanted to show that Wally was there for her. He took his time with her, he listened to her. He wasn’t just trying to be this Casanova who was going to come save the day. He saw her, and he let her know, you’re safe here. And she felt safe. So we wanted to build that up over time. These two people both opened up to each other. Both were in a place where they’ve earned that from one another, and they were in a true mutual love. You know they truly care and so it felt good for us too. It was this beautiful moment of being able to say, I see you, I care about you, and you’re safe with me and I think that it was a special moment for us as writers too.
Tessa Smith: And then you ripped it all away in the finale…
Oliver Goldstick: That’s the price of coming back to life. What can you do? This time in people’s lives, when kids are seniors in high school and learning that their best friend is going to college 3000 miles away and it’s very painful. Those are moments of transition into adulthood that is really scary. I think we’re trying to explore that thematically and illustrating it through these characters who are, with Wally, it’s Carpe Diem, because he’s trying to help this girl who he cares so deeply about, but the same time helping her means he’s going to lose her. And that’s very poignant.
Megan Trinrud: Nate said something really beautiful earlier, about the fact that these are relationships that are so big and important when you’re young, and they do become a part of who you are. It informs you. Moving forward, you never lose what that was, even if it is something where you’re forced to be a part and it and it can’t work out. I’m not saying, we’ll see what happens with Maddie and Wally, but I think that the thing we want to say is it’s not, Nate, what did you say?
Nate Trinrud: Basically just that people come into our lives, and there’s a moment where maybe you’re not with them forever, but it’s not about that. It’s about what you do when you are with them. It’s about taking advantage of the present, right? I think this poses a really huge existential question that is true, whether you go to college or whether you really lose somebody, and it’s, do we ever really lose anybody? Are people, either metaphysically or even just emotionally, always with you? It’s like, what does that mean, and what does that look like? But the show’s always been about longing and navigating really tough dynamics. I think there’s a lot to explore in a third season where two people who care deeply had to make a tough decision and what happens next.
Megan Trinrud: Maddie is somebody who has dealt with loss, literal loss, of her father, the loss, you know, sort of figuratively, of her mother to alcoholism, and now she’s having to face like stare in the face again, and she’s just a kid. And I think that’s another thing that we that’s, that’s real, that’s a lot of kids have to do that way too young. And so it’s, it’s just, it’s a part of of how she sees and navigates life.
“It costs a lot to leave people behind who might be in peril.”
Tessa Smith: The finale almost felt like it was going to be the series finale for a minute there…
Oliver Goldstick: We don’t want to poke you in the eye and not leave you with something satisfying, because you have invested in this character, and you’ve been part of her journey for 16 episodes, and you deserve, as an audience you deserve to know where is she going to be. But at the same time, there’s still questions that have to be answered and there’s prices to be paid. It costs a lot to leave people behind who might be in peril. That was part of for us, too, to know that not everything’s so tidy. It wasn’t going to be tidy. You say goodbye, and that was it. It was a lovely summer. Loved meeting you all loved the summer romance. No, there’s real investments, and I think you care about it’s very painful for Maddie not knowing what the future is. Are these people left in purgatory forever? Are these people ever going to cross over? I mean, what are the answers? Are they left with somebody who might be nefarious in that school? I think we want to propose all those questions and leave a door open to explore the legacy of Split River. What is the story of that school in this town? And can people get out?
“If you just look close enough, there are answers hidden.”
Tessa Smith: How is this going to affect Maddie going forward?
Nate Trinrud: I mean, one thing we always talk about is, a lot of this show, we’re talking about what it means to deal with something really difficult, to feel like you’ve been at a place in your life that is your lowest point, and can you go from that place to feeling like you’re alive again. I think that when a person goes through something really difficult and they get back to a place of healing, that’s not the end of the story. Right now, you’ve got to figure out, how do I take this new version of myself into a life that that was different, and apply that so suddenly. Everything she’s learned in this world, she’s just gotta figure out how to bring back into her actual life. But does that mean leaving the other world behind, or does it just complicate it? I think those are big, exciting things to explore, but there’s a lot of story.
Oliver Goldstick: You can’t unknow what you already know. That’s one of the reasons putting Simon in that situation, because he did have a connection to the other world. He is aware that not everything you see is the whole world. There’s another world, an unseen world, sitting with us, and because the danger and the price of knowing, having that knowledge has now put him in peril, and that’s sort of something we wanted to explore. I don’t think Maddie can unknow what she knows now.
Nate Trinrud: I do think, if our fans pay such close attention, there are a lot of easter eggs and a lot of clues we’ve laid through this season that really help give an idea of what’s happening looking forward. If you just look close enough, there are answers hidden.
“When we got toward the last couple episodes, we thought we don’t want to lose her and she’s kind of a great advocate for the other ghosts.”
Tessa Smith: Is there anything that changed from your initial plan?
Oliver Goldstick: Janet is the clearest answer. We found this actress. We love the actor and we loved when we started creating the backstory of who she was, and how nuanced she was, that I think we started to see in the writers room. We started the season thinking Janet is crossing over. She deserves it. This poor thing has been through so much. Then I think when we got toward the last couple episodes, we thought we don’t want to lose her and she’s kind of a great advocate for the other ghosts.
Nate Trinrud: They need her if they want to have a chance. She’s finally cracked the code. That door opened for her. Originally, in the script, we brought in day one to Oliver, way back three years ago now, the big culmination with Janet and Mr. Martin leads to Janet finally crossing over. But exactly what Oliver said, Jess is so incredible, and I think we realized they need her. If they have a chance of getting out, they need somebody who’s got more info, and she definitely has that. I think it’s a really powerful thing to know that you could go, you could say that it’s all over, or you could decide to stay.
“He put his life aside, maybe jeopardized his own future to try and save someone else, but there’s a cost to that.”
Tessa Smith: Where do you see Simon going from here, should there be a School Spirits season 3?
Nate Trinrud: Well, much to be determined, right? There’s something’s going on with Simon, and something’s happened at that school, but I think that thematically, a thing that we’ve all been talking about in these interviews that I think is real, is in a very literal way, now we’re seeing what happens when you can lose yourself in trying to save someone else, right? What happens and what does it mean for this character, who we’ve watched for 16 episodes now show up for Maddie non stop. He put his life aside, maybe jeopardized his own future to try and save someone else, but there’s a cost to that, and I think that there are so many conversations today that happen about codependency and what it means to have these kinds of relationships. Simon’s in a very strange predicament now, but I think we have to look at all that and figure out what does it mean when he needs help?
Megan Trinrud: What brought him here? He has to really examine, how did I get to this? How did I get here?
Tessa Smith: I am really looking forward to the School Spirits graphic novel, which is coming right?
Megan Trinrud: Yeah. It takes so much longer than we knew.
About School Spirits Season 2
Maddie finds herself stuck in the afterlife investigating her own mysterious disappearance. She goes on a crime-solving journey as she adjusts to school in the afterlife, but the closer she gets to the truth, the more secrets and lies she discovers.
School Spirits seasons 1 and 2 are now streaming on Paramount+.
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Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. On Camera personality and TV / Film Critic with 10+ years of experience in video editing, writing, editing, moderating, and hosting.