Peyton List and Milo Manheim are back for School Spirits Season 3 on Paramount+, which opens with Maddie confronting the aftermath of Janet’s time in her body. While she knows the truth, the people around her, especially her mother, are dealing with a different version of events.
At the same time, Simon and Wally begin a new working dynamic now that Simon can communicate with spirits, forcing them into unexpected collaboration.
Maddie navigates mistrust at home
In the early episodes of the new season, Maddie faces resistance from her mother, Sandra (Maria Dizzia), who still believes what she saw when Janet was controlling Maddie’s body. That leaves Maddie in a difficult position — trying to move forward while dealing with suspicion from the person closest to her.
“Yeah, it’s difficult because Maddie doesn’t want to have to prove herself to the world, or to her world,” List told Blavity’s Shadow and Act during our interview. “And even when the video is taken of her talking to herself, she doesn’t want to have to prove anything to anyone else, but her mom is one of the people that she needs to save face with.”
Her mother’s view of the situation hasn’t shifted, even as Maddie tries to explain what happened.
“She’s definitely untrusting and not wanting her to go back to school because in her mind, Maddie hit someone with a car and was running away and was not okay,” List added. “So it’s definitely a really difficult situation for her to navigate.”
Wally and Simon find unexpected common ground
Elsewhere, the relationship between Simon (Kristian Ventura) and Wally shifts as they’re forced to work together in the spirit world. For Manheim, that new dynamic was one of the season’s most compelling developments.
“This is one of the things that I was most excited about this season, as well, even though Wally doesn’t appear excited about it,” he said. “But also, I just think Kristian is such a talented actor and we haven’t really been able to share much time on screen together in the show. So I was just excited for a new dynamic in general, but so happy that it was with him.”
Though Wally starts off with resentment toward Simon, Manheim said that feeling is more emotional than rational.
“To be fair, Wally, unrightfully so, doesn’t like Simon. He’s done nothing wrong,” he said. “All he’s done really is love Maddie as hard as he does, which I think he comes to terms with eventually.”
Initially, Wally is motivated by loyalty to Maddie.
“I think what drives him at first is Maddie, and this is just what’s right. And I know that she loves him, as well, and I want to do her proud and make her happy,” Manheim continued. “Obviously, this is a crazy situation we’re in, but then as time goes on, I think very quietly, Wally realizes that he’s being unfair about that.”
By spending time with Simon, Wally begins to see the similarities between them.
“Him and Simon are very similar, actually,” Manheim said. “And we are not only much different characters, but really different actors and different people. And I feel like we both learned so much from each other. I can’t speak for him, but I learned a lot from him.”
School Spirits Season 3 is now streaming on Paramount+.
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