Major spoilers are ahead from School Spirits season 3 episode 2!
The first episode of School Spirits season 3 was packed with major events. Janet crossed over, hoping to free Simon from the spirit world. Meanwhile, Dr. Hunter-Price, the district superintendent, informed the students at Split River High that the school would be closing and they’d be transferred elsewhere.
But the biggest shock came at the very end, when Simon reentered Mr. Martin's scar and snow suddenly began to fall. Clearly, some truly bizarre things are happening at Split River High. Now, let's move right along to episode 2 titled "Mean Ghouls."
Kyle is introduced
The second episode opens with Nicole and Claire at Nicole's house, watching the video of Maddie seemingly talking to herself on the Split River High football field. Claire explains that their next move is to track down whoever posted the video and make them take it down. She suspects that Livia, her former cheerleading teammate, is behind it.
Back at the hospital, Xavier talks with the mysterious figure who had been watching him. We find out later in the episode that his name is Kyle. Remember, we found out in the first episode that he's a spirit. During their conversation, we learn that Kyle was part of the Split River High marching band, which was involved in a crash back in 2004. Yes, this is the same fatal bus crash that involved Quinn. Unlike the other ghost students, Kyle isn’t wandering the halls of Split River High because he died in the hospital instead.
He asks Xavier for help locating someone named Tracy, who was also involved in the bus crash. He wants to know if she survived. During their conversation, it’s revealed that the crash wasn’t caused by ice as the news initially reported. Someone jumped in front of the bus, which caused the bus driver to swerve off the road and crash. Xavier agrees to help Kyle find Tracy, on the condition that he assists him in finding Maddie’s dad.
The episode then shifts to Mr. Martin in his scar, where a creepy young boy suddenly appears behind him. The boy calls out “Everett” and demands to know what happened to him, his face and arms covered in strange welts. That's weird! After the opening credits, we return to Split River High, where Simon tells Wally and the other ghosts about the mysterious snow in Mr. Martin’s scar. He wants to free Mr. Martin from his scar to try to get more answers from him, but the others oppose the idea.
Wally then comes up with another idea to get Simon out of the afterlife. He believes that maybe if they can get all the ghosts to enter their scars at the school, it will free Simon from the spirit world. The others agree with the plan, and Wally starts delegating who should speak to certain ghosts. But when Quinn is told to speak to the marching band, they freak out and walk away. That's strange! Meanwhile, Charley notices Yuri staring intensely at a student. Uh oh! Is relationship trouble coming?
Elsewhere at Split River High, Claire confronts Livia, hoping to get her to admit to posting the video of Maddie online. However, Livia denies any involvement. She insists she wasn’t the one who shared it. During their conversation, Livia reveals that she saw Maddie at a college party the week before. She tells Claire that the police should question the students who were there because maybe they had something to do with Maddie being injured at the school. As viewers, we know that it wasn't actually Maddie at the party. It was Janet who was in her body at the time.
The episode then takes us to Simon's car, where Maddie looks for his iPad. Remember, she needs to come up with a cover story for Simon's absence to his parents. While looking through Simon's text thread with his father, Maddie discovers that Simon had been talking to a woman named Sabrina. Who is this? We find out later that she's Simon's long-lost older sister, with whom he recently got in contact. The cover story Maddie and Simon come up with is that he is still staying with Sabrina.
We’re then taken back to Split River High, where Xavier fills Maddie in on Kyle and the new revelations surrounding the bus crash. Their conversation ends with Xavier telling Maddie that he’s applied as a volunteer at the hospital so he can continue searching for her dad. Meanwhile, Rhonda and Wally listen in on a conversation between Livia and her friends in the restroom. They learn that Livia was actually the one who posted the video online of Maddie on the football field.
Wally informs Maddie about what he discovered and urges her to report it to the principal, but Maddie insists she needs solid proof first.
Simon enters Quinn's scar
Elsewhere at Split River High, Charley notices Yuri fixated on the same teenage student once again. Back at the hospital, Xavier meets with Kyle for another conversation. Although Xavier admits he hasn’t uncovered any leads on Tracy, Kyle reveals that he still hasn’t been able to locate Maddie’s dad either.
When Xavier mentions Quinn's name and that they were in the marching band, Kyle says he doesn’t remember anyone by that name. He even suggests that Quinn may have been the person who jumped in front of the bus. Wait, what?! Could this explain why Quinn has been acting so strangely? She's been MIA as well.
Later, Simon and Maddie meet in the school's boiler room. During their conversation, Simon reveals to Maddie that Janet crossed over. However, their conversation is cut short when Principal Hartman shows up and takes Maddie to his office. While waiting to be called into his office, Maddie receives a phone call from Xavier. He warns her about trusting Quinn and the rest of the ghosts at Split River High. Charley listens in on this phone conversation and relays the information to the other spirits.
Now, they're all suspicious of Quinn except Rhonda. The episode then shifts to Principal Hartman’s office, where Maddie lies and claims she recorded and posted the video of herself on the football field. She explains that she did it to get back at classmates who didn’t believe her. Unbeknownst to both Maddie and the principal, a student overhears their conversation and quickly sends a text to someone on his phone.
Meanwhile, Yuri, Charley, and Rhonda discover that Quinn is nowhere in the school yearbook. Wally then enters the room with Quinn's instrument case. What's strange is that the name tag was pulled off. Now, we're taken to the bus stop outside Split River High. Simon uses Mr. Martin's watch to enter Quinn's scar. He thinks she might be hiding in there.
Naturally, being inside the scar completely unsettles him. Although Simon doesn’t find Quinn, he does come face-to-face with a creepy young girl wearing a majorette uniform. After venturing deeper into the scar and discovering a dead student in the back of the bus, Simon realizes it’s time to get out.
Back inside Split River High's library, Maddie gets ready to take her senior yearbook photo. But a student pulls a prank, and blood suddenly sprays on her. Rather than rushing to the restroom to clean up, she tells the photographer to keep snapping her picture. Poor Maddie! Meanwhile, Sandra uses the tracker on her phone while at home and looks through Maddie's text threads with her friends. This is how she finds out about the fake blood prank.
Back at Split River High, Nicole tells Claire that she's going to infiltrate Livia's friend group to see what they have on Maddie. Claire doesn't think it's a good idea, but Nicole basically insists it’s the only way. Elsewhere, in one of the school's restrooms, Maddie and Wally have a heartfelt conversation. Maddie expresses how hard it is for her to adjust after being back in her body, and Wally comforts her.
Quinn comes clean
The episode then shifts to the hallways of Split River High, where Rhonda tells Charley and Yuri that Simon has asked everyone to meet in the auto shop for an update. Before heading there, Charley and Yuri have an intense conversation where Yuri confesses that the teen student he's been staring at could be his grandson. This confuses Charley, but he doesn't get to ask any questions because Yuri walks away. Elsewhere, Simon enters Mr. Martin's scar and frees him. He brings him to the auto shop.
In the Split River High auto shop, Quinn finally comes clean about everything. The reason they have been acting so strangely is because they didn't want the other spirits to know about the old them. Quinn explains to the others that back when they were in school, they went by the name of Jacqueline. That was their former real name. The reason they couldn't be found in the yearbook is because they pretended to be sick on picture day for three years in a row. Quinn wasn't comfortable with themselves and their identity back then. Remember, Quinn is nonbinary.
When the other spirits found them in the marching band, Quinn took that as their opportunity to go by a different name. They felt like they could finally be themselves without anyone knowing about their past. After Quinn finishes their story, the other spirits aren't able to really say much because Simon walks in with Mr. Martin. Elsewhere, Nicole manages to successfully infiltrate Livia's friend group by pretending to take their yearbook photos on the football field.
Back at the auto shop, Mr. Martin reveals shocking details about the 2004 bus accident. It turns out Quinn wasn't the person who jumped in front of the bus. It was Mr. Martin. Mr. Martin starts off by recounting a tragic accident from his childhood. When he was a young boy, Mr. Martin and his two friends, Joe and Ralph, would spend their summers hanging out together.
That's until one day, when a storm hit and Ralph was fatally struck by lightning. Joe told Mr. Martin to stay by Ralph's side while he goes to get help, but Mr. Martin ended up leaving after Ralph didn't wake up. Later on when Ralph's parents and the doctor went to search for him, Ralph was nowhere to be found. Mr. Martin explains to the other spirits that perhaps Ralph might have gotten up and wandered to the river, but he was never found.
Mr. Martin then shares with the others that after he passed away in the chemistry lab fire, he heard a familiar song playing while in his scar. It's a song that Ralph used to sing when they were kids. He followed the song, which led him to a secret passageway under the floor. At this moment, Mr. Martin tells the others that there are other spirits at the school. However, they're not like them.
Mr. Martin then shares that after he went through the underground passageway, something grabbed him by the ankle and pulled him underwater. The next thing he knew, he was standing in front of the bus. Somehow, the bus driver was able to see him and swerved out of the way.
After finishing his story, Mr. Martin apologizes to Quinn. Maddie then asks him if he thinks the force that pulled him underwater could be the reason so many people died at Split River High and why Simon is trapped in the afterlife. He confirms that it is. The second episode then concludes with Simon asking Mr. Martin how he can access that secret passageway.
You can stream School Spirits season 3 right now on Paramount+.