Spoilers are ahead from School Spirits season 3 episode 5!
In the fourth episode of School Spirits season 3, we find out that the abandoned house in Mr. Martin's scar is actually a church. Many years back, nine people died there after a flood. Now, their spirits just roam there. They're called "the forgotten," and they're trapped there unlike Wally and the others.
At the end of the episode, Simon encounters one of the forgotten while in the abandoned church. The creepy-looking man approaches him and grabs his face before the episode cuts to the credits. Is he going to harm Simon? Let's move on to episode 5 of School Spirits season 3 to see what happens next!
More details are revealed about the forgotten
The fifth episode picks up where the fourth episode left off. After the creepy-looking man grabs Simon's face, he somehow shows Simon a memory of the day of the flood. The eight kids who died are shown singing in the church, while a mysterious man quickly walks up the stairs to lock them inside. The episode then cuts to black, and all that can be heard are the children's screams and the breaking of glass.
We're then taken to the Split River High library, where Simon shares what he saw with the others. They all suspect that the mysterious man who trapped the kids in the church might be a man named Alfred Vanheight, but they realize they’ll have to return there to get the answers they’re seeking. Rhonda, Mr. Martin, Wally, Yuri, and Quinn decide to go while the others stay back. Simon appears to be shaken up by what he saw.
Elsewhere, Xavier finally gets in contact with Tracy. Remember, Tracy is Kyle's old friend that he asked Xavier to look for in the real world. However, Tracy shuts down after the mention of Kyle on the phone. Now, Xavier needs to get more information out of Kyle that will hopefully help him get through to Tracy. Meanwhile, Claire packs a bag of clothes at Nicole's house. She's hoping to get information out of her stepfather about when Split River High will be torn down, but she needs to make it seem like she's coming back home so that he'll listen. She's going to talk to him later at the Harvest Festival.
Back at the Split River High library, Quinn tries to speak to Rhonda about their almost-kiss the other day when they were under the influence. Rhonda plays it off like it was nothing, though. Later on, Xavier heads into the local hospital to speak with Kyle while Maddie stays back in his truck. Maddie is still struggling with bad nightmares and daydreams, but keeps them to herself. While sitting in Xavier's truck, Maddie is approached by a doctor who asks her how she's been doing since leaving the hospital.
The conversation ultimately ends with the doctor giving Maddie unsolicited advice on how to deal with intrusive thoughts and similar issues. She tells her about another client of hers who uses a rubber band to snap against their wrist as a grounding technique, meant to redirect their focus and interrupt spiraling thoughts. However, Maddie makes it seem like she's okay. After the doctor leaves, Maddie looks at Simon's iPad, which has just received a new message from his parents. They want to see him on FaceTime. Uh oh!
Meanwhile in the hospital, Xavier learns from Kyle that he asked Tracy to the prom right before getting on the bus. Xavier is now going to try to use that memory to break through to Tracy. Before leaving the hospital, Xavier is stopped by Maddie's dad, Dave. He shares some disturbing information with him, and Xavier then passes it along to Maddie.
What is the disturbing information? Apparently, there used to be a foundry where the hospital currently stands. However, it collapsed. Spirits already roamed there, but once the building was destroyed, they lost their ability to cross over. These spirits are the forgotten. Xavier tells Maddie that this is likely what happens to spirits when the place where they were living goes away. This can't be good! Split River High is in the process of being bulldozed down, which means Simon and the spirits could end up trapped there forever if they don't cross over soon.
Although this is bad news, Maddie isn't ready to tell the others yet. She wants to focus on rescuing Simon. She and Xavier then head back to Split River High. Back in the Split River High library, Simon shares with Charley more of what he saw when the creepy-looking man, aka Alfred Vanheight, showed him the tragic memory of the flood. He tells Charley that Alfred had rosary beads in his hand, which belonged to his birth mom. When Simon's mom died after he was born, the hospital gave the rosary beads to his adoptive parents, who then gave them to him.
Simon doesn't understand how Alfred had them. He believes he has his memories, but he doesn't understand why or why Alfred has him trapped in the spirit world. After breaking everything down to Charley, Simon then storms off.
We're then taken to the abandoned church scar where Wally, Mr. Martin, Yuri, Rhonda, and Quinn look around. Shortly after Yuri finds a pamphlet on the ground, a strong gust of wind blows through, and the piano starts playing by itself. Everyone quickly leaves except Mr. Martin. He lingers behind, staring at the wall covered in stick-figure drawings painted in blood.
The Harvest Festival
It's finally time for the Harvest Festival, which takes place on the grounds of Split River High. It's an event to celebrate the town's history and how far it's come. Festivalgoers can visit various booths and learn more about the town's past. Dr. Hunter-Price even has a booth where she breaks down the town's history. Maddie, Nicole, and Claire decide to attend this one.
During her presentation, Dr. Hunter-Price mentions how Alfred was the town's first great statesman. However, not much else is shared about him. An older woman walks off during the presentation, muttering something under her breath.
Elsewhere at the festival, Charley finally catches up with Simon. Simon shares with Charley that he lied to Maddie about contacting his biological sister, Sabrina. He never actually emailed her back when she reached out. Why? Well, he felt bad that his sister might resent him because he was the reason their mom died. Charley tries his best to comfort him, and Simon then walks away to go speak with Maddie.
Back in the Split River High library, Wally, Rhonda, Yuri, and Quinn look over the pamphlet they found in the church scar. It's in Finnish, but Yuri is able to make out that it's a final offer proposal. Rhonda walks off to get a magnifying glass, and Quinn follows her. During their conversation, Quinn thanks Rhonda for helping them out of the church scar. They then mention to Rhonda how they wanted to kiss her the other day. However, a nervous Rhonda is unable to respond since Charley bursts through the door.
Charley explains to the others that Simon didn't tell them everything that happened during his encounter with Alfred. Wally, Rhonda, and Charley then leave to search for Simon, while Yuri and Quinn stay behind to continue to decode the final offer proposal. Meanwhile, Mr. Martin relives a disturbing memory in the church scar.
In the memory, a mysterious woman yells at someone, asking if they killed eight innocent children. Mr. Martin then steps back and almost bumps into a man with a top hat and a glass in his hand. But again, this is a memory so he wouldn't actually run into him. The man is talking to someone. He gives a toast to another man. Could it be Alfred? It appears so. The man mentions to the other man that all it took was a family heirloom and that perhaps there is still enough time for the other man to get their bride back. However, he tells him that he had better hurry before the dam breaks. Huh? The memory ends here.
Back in the present time, Maddie tries to find out from Dr. Hunter-Price at the Harvest Festival when Split River High will be torn down. The district superintendent doesn't answer her, though. Maddie then walks over to Nicole and talks to her. During their conversation, Maddie mentions to Nicole the whole issue of spirits not being able to cross over once the place they're living in is gone. Rhonda, Wally, and Charley overhear their conversation.
Claire then walks up to Maddie and Nicole, and Nicole mentions that a woman who attended Dr. Hunter-Price’s presentation earlier abruptly left while quietly muttering something to herself. Claire reveals that the word the woman said translates to “devil” in Finnish. That's strange! The woman walks by, and Claire, Maddie, and Nicole follow after her. The woman is a tarot reader, and they decide to pretend to get their readings to speak with her.
Who is Alfred Vanheight?
Meanwhile, Simon secretly slips into the school library and takes Mr. Martin’s watch. He later makes his way into the church scar, where he discovers Mr. Martin already inside. Mr. Martin points out a blood-drawn stick figure on the wall that appears to represent Simon, along with a message written beneath it in Finnish that translates to, “Do you know who I am?” Mr. Martin explains that he believes Alfred intentionally singled Simon out for a reason. Just as Simon presses him about Alfred’s whereabouts, they’re interrupted by a sudden noise.
Simon looks around the church and finds a ring on the floor. He takes it back to Mr. Martin, who observes it. Mr. Martin thinks the ring might have been the family heirloom that the man with the top hat was talking about. Suddenly, Alfred appears.
Back at the Split River High library, Wally, Rhonda, and Charley break the bad news to Quinn and Yuri that they might be trapped at the school forever if it gets torn down. Quinn and Yuri also tell them about their new discovery. They discovered from the final offer proposal that someone was trying to buy the land under the church, but it was never signed by anyone. In other words, someone didn't want to give it up. During this scene, the spirits also find out that Simon took Mr. Martin's watch and is most likely in the church scar. They head there next.
Meanwhile at the Harvest Festival, Maddie, Nicole, and Claire learn from the tarot reader that Alfred was a really bad man. That's who the woman was calling a devil. According to her, Alfred viewed the townspeople as nothing more than vermin and was a cruel, power-hungry man obsessed with wealth and control.
Despite the town being small and close-knit, Alfred was determined to claim all of their land for himself. When the townspeople refused to sell, he allegedly trapped their children inside the church as floodwaters approached. He thought that perhaps if their kids died, then they'd give up the land and leave. That didn't happen, though, and Alfred and eight kids lost their lives.
Back in the church scar, Alfred grabs Simon's face again and makes him relive the tragic flood memory. Wally and the other spirits finally show up and yell for Alfred to let Simon go. As Quinn approaches with a wooden plank, Simon yells for them to stop. It's too late, though. Quinn swings at Alfred and accidentally knocks out Simon instead.
Later on, Rhonda and Quinn finally have a heart-to-heart conversation about their feelings for each other before having their first kiss. The fifth episode then cuts back to the Harvest Festival. Xavier learns some shocking information about Kyle from Tracy.
Apparently, Kyle did survive the bus crash and Tracy did go with him to prom. However, the Kyle who went to prom wasn't the same Kyle. After the bus crash, a spirit at the hospital swapped bodies with the real Kyle. In other words, a spirit is somewhere in Split River, walking around in Kyle's body while the real Kyle is forced to roam the hospital. The fifth episode ends here.
School Spirits season 3 can be streamed on Paramount+ right now.