Drama
Paradise
The storyline here (and content) has far greater stakes than your typical whodunnit. And certainly, nobody who watches this series will think it’s paradise.
When you’re a teenager, sometimes high school can feel like an eternity. But for Maddie Nears, high school just might be an eternity.
Maddie became a ghost after dying in the boiler room. And initially, she’s not exactly sure how.
All Maddie knew is that one minute she was ditching study hall, and the next she was … dead?
Luckily, she’s not the only ghost stuck between life and death looking for answers.
There’s a whole community of souls stranded at Split River High. One kid died from anaphylactic shock after ingesting peanut oil. Another guy died during a football game due to a tackle gone wrong. And there’s a whole group of teens who died when a bus crashed on campus during a terrible storm.
They’ve formed a sort of support group as a means of finding closure so that they can “move on.” But when Maddie joins their spectral crew, they change tacks and help her solve the mystery behind her death.
Turns out, Maddie didn’t die after all. She was body-snatched by Janet, a ghost who’s been roaming Split River’s halls since the ‘60s. Maddie, her new friends and a few of her still-living ones eventually track down Janet and return Maddie’s soul to its rightful place.
But there’s still a lot of mysteries to solve. Simon, Maddie’s best friend, has somehow landed himself trapped on the ghosts’ side of the veil without dying. Her once-boyfriend Xavier claims that while visiting Maddie in the hospital, he talked to Maddie’s dad, who’s been dead since Maddie was a little kid. And Mr. Martin—the ghost who was sort of partially (though accidentally) responsible for Janet’s death—says there’s an even great evil at play. After all, hasn’t anyone wondered why so many people have died at Split River High?
But as the support group once warned Maddie, these past and present students may not like what they discover.
For obvious reasons, School Spirits will probably not make some families’ watch lists. Dealing with ghosts and murder is just not pleasant. (And as all these murder mysteries unfold, we sometimes see the gritty details.)
But the show has other problems that will likely steer families away. Foul language (including uses of the f-word) and drug use both come into play. Maddie’s mom is an alcoholic, and Maddie takes it upon herself to be her mother’s caretaker.
The sexual encounters witnessed here aren’t as explicit as say, HBO Max’s Euphoria, but there’s still a lot going on. Charley, the ghost who died from a peanut allergy, is gay. In the show’s earlier episodes, he spent his free time spying on guys as they showered (we see exposed rear ends). Nowadays, he’s not quite the peeper anymore, but that’s mainly because he’s landed himself an afterlife boyfriend.
Maddie and Xavier, when they were dating, could get quite steamy around campus. During her time behind the veil, she started dating the late Wally Clark, and they had sex. Now that she’s back among the living, they’re navigating how to continue their relationship sans the ability to kiss or even hold hands.
So don’t be fooled by the show’s teenage characters. These content concerns take School Spirits firmly into the TV-MA territory. And parents would be advised not to let their own teens be haunted by its content.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at letters@pluggedin.com, or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
Maddie returns to her real-world body only to discover that Simon has somehow landed himself in the ghost world.
Weird, spiritually linked events occur throughout the episode. Lights in the school glow red. They flicker when a ghost “crosses over” into the afterlife. Wally rejects his opportunity to move on because he’s still in love with Maddie. One ghost is trapped in a “scar”—a sort of hellish recreation of the place and manner in which he died. Xavier sees and talks to some ghosts at the hospital.
Simon and the ghosts realize he can’t be dead, since he cuts open his hand (ghosts don’t bleed). But when he tries to leave campus—which the ghosts can’t do—he’s transported back, just like the ghosts, though in a much more painful manner, since he’s still alive.
We see a teen girl transported in an ambulance. Later, she wakes up in the hospital and a nurse calls it a miracle. Mr. Martin warns the other ghosts that something evil is coming for them all. When someone announces that Split River will be closing—and that a new high school will be built across town—the ghosts worry what will happen to them.
A gay ghost named Charley talks to his boyfriend about vulnerability, and they make jokes about having seen each other naked. Charley kisses his boyfriend’s hands. Maddie and Wally joke about the night that they had sex as they try to figure out where their relationship stands.
Xavier and his dad get into an argument after Xavier tells him that ghosts are real. Some girls at school talk rudely to and about Maddie, claiming she pretended to go missing to get attention. They suggest that perhaps she had a breast augmentation, and they joke that her ex-boyfriend cheated on her because of her smaller chest. Maddie’s friend defends her, making some rude comments about the girls’ own plastic surgery and sexual escapades. The school superintendent undermines the principal. Simon and Maddie collaborate to lie to his parents about his whereabouts so that they won’t worry he’s missing.
Maddie is disappointed to learn that her mom has relapsed into drinking again.
Seven uses of the f-word and six of the s-word. We also hear “d–n” and “h—.” God’s name is misused thrice.
A ghost redeems herself through a sacrificial act.
We see blood on the walls of the boiler room where Maddie died. Another ghost, Rhonda, says that she was murdered too—at the hands of her guidance counselor, no less. Other ghosts describe their own deaths (though most were accidental). Charley speculates how a ghost from the ‘70s died, referencing cults.
Two teenage boys get into a fistfight at school. One boy is accused of killing Maddie after he’s found with her missing phone. We hear a detailed description of the film Carrie.
Maddie’s classmates and teachers are often tactless about her death. Many of the ghosts warn Maddie that those who appear to mourn now will likely move on within a matter of weeks. Maddie is disturbed by how accepting the rest of the ghosts seem to be of their untimely deaths.
Charley takes Maddie to his “office,” which turns out to be the showers of the boys’ locker room, where many teen boys are currently bathing (and we see exposed rear ends). To avoid getting caught by a teacher, Maddie (still alive at that point) and Xavier hide in a locker-room shower. Xavier strips and covers his genitals with his hands so the teacher won’t come into the shower. Two teen boys hold hands and make out in the back of an assembly. Another couple heavily kisses in another scene. We see some exposed midriffs on teen girls. A teenage couple smooches a few times. We hear about an unfaithful boyfriend.
Maddie gets upset with her boyfriend for using drugs at school (via a vape pen). We hear that Maddie’s mom is “sobering up.” Later, when her mom shows up at school, it’s clear she’s still partially inebriated. There’s a reference to LSD.
People lie. We hear about bullying (and witness some on screen). There’s a mocking reference to God. God’s name is misused four times, and Christ’s name is abused once. The f-word is heard twice, the s-word 10 times. We also hear uses of “a–,” “b–ch,” “d–n,” “d–k” and “h—.”
Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.
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