Hopefully, you've already read our recap for the first episode of School Spirits season 2. Now, we're about to dive into the second episode, "Field of Screams." This episode explores Janet's backstory while Maddie and the teen ghost gang press on with their search for her and Mr. Martin.
Major spoilers ahead from School Spirits season 2 episode 2!
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Could Mr. Martin not be as bad as we thought?
Possibly! We'll get to this later on. The episode kicks off with Janet jolting awake in her grave, only to find Mr. Martin looming over her. But it's not real—she's hallucinating. After finding a can of mystery meat in the shed, Janet heads back to her old house. She sets a blanket on the floor and makes a sandwich from the meat. The episode then shifts to a flashback from the '50s, where Janet's father confronts her about a college catalog he found lying around the house.
He pointedly asks Janet if Mr. Martin gave it to her, but Janet sidesteps the question, instead sharing details about the school’s renowned chemical engineering program. However, her father dismisses her words, unwilling to listen. He tells her that her role as a woman is to have a husband and kids, not to go to college. Frustrated by her father's words, Janet defiantly responds, only to be met with a slap. Her father then throws the catalog in the fire and walks away. Janet sits at the dining table, holding the side of her face that was struck. The flashback ends, and the opening credits begin to play.
After the opening, we return to Split River High, where Maddie, Rhonda, Wally, and Charley gather to discuss their next steps in the search for Mr. Martin. As they struggle to get anywhere, one of the band ghost members enters the room. The next scene takes us to the hospital, where a stoic Xavier lies in bed, and Nicole and Claire watch over him. He's alive, after all! However, it appears he's still shaken up after his brush with death. Simon enters the room, and Nicole and Claire begin to argue shortly after. During their argument, Xavier finds out that Maddie hit him with the truck.
However, Simon explains that it wasn't Maddie behind the wheel. As everyone in the room looks at him in disbelief, Simon goes on to explain that the one who actually hit him was a vengeful spirit named Janet. He reveals that Janet has possessed Maddie and is using her body while Maddie's spirit remains trapped at the high school. Simon also shares that other spirits roam the school as well. While Nicole and Claire brush off Simon as delusional, Xavier seems to consider the possibility, likely because he experienced seeing spirits when he briefly died.
Simon attempts to persuade Nicole and Claire to join him in helping Maddie reclaim her body, but they disregard him. Xavier seems open, though. Back at Split River High, Maddie and the teen ghost gang fill the band ghost member in on the situation, revealing that Mr. Martin had locked Janet in the fallout shelter. Maddie asks the band ghost member if she's seen Mr. Martin, but she just stares in confusion. They then make their way to speak with Yuri, another teen ghost at the school, hoping to gather more information on Mr. Martin and Janet. However, Yuri remains silent as he continues to focus on his pottery.
Maddie, Rhonda, and Wally leave the classroom while Charley lingers behind. As Charley picks up a vase, Yuri finally speaks and tells him that Janet is the one who made it. He also shares that Janet often spent time with him in the classroom, trying to make a pitcher. Charley tries to get more information about Janet from Yuri, but Yuri doesn't respond. Charley then changes topics. During their conversation, Charly learns that Yuri isn't fond of Mr. Martin and his beliefs about crossing over. Yuri seems to accept his immortality.
Charley then picks up a wooden box made by Janet and discovers her notebook inside. It's the same kind of notebook that he and Wally found in the fallout shelter. The ones Mr. Martin used to document details about each of the spirits. Charley grabs Janet's notebook and heads off to find Maddie and the others. Meanwhile, Xavier makes it clear to Claire that they can't be together if Maddie turns out to be alive. Though Claire is upset by this, she understands. Later, Nicole decides to help Simon find Maddie even though she still doesn't believe that Janet is in her body.
At the greenhouse, Maddie, Wally, and Charley flip through Janet's notebook, which is filled with random chemical equations. They struggle to figure out what it all means and how it connects to everything. Simon then bursts through the door to talk to Maddie. During their conversation, Simon asks Maddie how she was able to see Janet on the day of the possession, considering she was technically still alive. While Maddie doesn’t have a definite answer, she theorizes that it might be because she was at a low point in her life at the time. In other words, her low spirits made her more susceptible to seeing supernatural phenomena, such as the ghosts of Mr. Martin and Janet.
Back at Janet's house, Janet hides in a closet as a mysterious man walks around the home. After he leaves, she exits the closet. Meanwhile, Xavier posts a comment on an online paranormal discussion board, asking if anyone has ever communicated with the dead. He’s still trying to make sense of how he saw spirits and is desperate for answers. Elsewhere, Simon and Nicole visit the corner store where Janet was seen in episode 1, hoping to gather any information on where she might have gone next.
In the Split River High library, Maddie and the teen ghost gang continue to look through Janet's journal. The band ghost member, now revealed to be named Quinn, examines the writing and realizes it’s in shorthand. She then translates it for the group. After reviewing the pages, Quinn explains to the others that some of the writing is Janet’s, while the rest appears to be by Mr. Martin. She also points out that, based on the writing, it seems Janet and Mr. Martin were working together at one point and had both intended to leave the school together.
The episode then transitions to another flashback from the '50s, showing Mr. Martin driving Janet to her grandmother's house. Once they arrive and he parks the car, Mr. Martin and Janet have a conversation about her plans for the future after high school. However, their conversation is interrupted when Janet's father appears at Mr. Martin's car window, insisting that Janet go inside. Determined to stop Mr. Martin from encouraging his daughter to pursue college, Janet’s father threatens to report him to the authorities for spending too much time with her. Mr. Martin seemingly takes the hint and leaves. Then, the flashback ends.
Back at Split River High, Maddie and the others try to understand how Janet and Mr. Martin ended up at odds, considering they had once worked together. They decide to visit Yuri again, hoping he can provide them with some answers this time. However, Yuri explains that Janet never discussed her plans with him to possess someone or cross over, knowing he didn’t believe in such things.
This frustrates Wally, leading him to break Janet’s vase accidentally. Maddie then leads him out of the room to try to calm him down. Once they return, Maddie and Wally join Charley and Yuri in cleaning up the broken vase. However, they’re puzzled as to why the vase didn’t repair itself since that usually happens when a spirit is involved.
Thanks to Wally’s mention of an old yearbook from Janet's class, Maddie thinks Janet might be at her old family farm in Bingham County. This would make sense because Janet got off the bus there. Of course, viewers already know this is where she is now. After locating the address, Simon and Xavier head to the farm.
Meanwhile, Nicole is at home researching whether a spirit can possess a human body. She's slowly but surely starting to believe that Janet has taken over Maddie's body. While browsing the same online paranormal discussion board that Xavier had been on, she stumbles upon his comment, not realizing it was from him. She replies, asking why he would pose such a question. Xavier then responds, revealing that he has spoken to a spirit before.
Before Nicole can continue the conversation, she hears her mom calling for her to answer the front door. She closes her laptop and goes to answer the door, finding Claire on her doorstep. Claire tells her she had a big argument with her parents and needs a temporary place to stay. Nicole agrees to let her stay and invites her in.
Back at Split River High, Wally spots Mr. Martin coming out of a classroom and then chases after him. However, Wally is unable to catch him because he disappears once he reenters the classroom. Meanwhile, Maddy and the other ghosts sit in a common area in the school, reading over Janet's notebook. They discover that Janet was the one who took all the spirits' personal belongings and hid them in the fallout shelter. They also start to piece together a possible reason why Janet and Mr. Martin stopped working together.
It seems that Janet uncovered new information, and when Mr. Martin learned she was withholding it, tensions between them grew. Feeling threatened by Janet, Mr. Martin used what he knew about her to trap her in the fallout shelter. This is what Maddie and the others believe.
Wally bursts into the room, telling everyone he just encountered Mr. Martin. He describes seeing a glowing red light coming from the room Mr. Martin had exited and mentions that he appeared frightened. Quinn then suggests that perhaps Mr. Martin locked Janet in the fallout shelter to protect them from her. Maddie and the others look at her in shock. Back at Janet's house, Janet sets it on fire, watching the flames consume everything around her. Simon and Xavier arrive just as the firefighters pull up. They get out of their vehicle and look at the scene unfolding before them. The episode then cuts to the credits.
What's going to happen to Janet? Will she leave the house before it completely burns to the ground? Let's move on to the third episode to find out!
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School Spirits season 2 is streaming on Paramount+.