School Spirits ending explained: Answering the big questions of the season
By Sabrina Reed
School Spirits episode 2 ending explained: “The Fault of Our Scars”
Can Simon really see Maddie?
Fortunately, he can. The ending of “My So-Called Death” was not a red herring or a trick meant to pull us into the plot of episode 2. His ability to see her allows Maddie to finally reach out to someone in the living world to help her solve her murder. Simon has to pull out his phone so it doesn’t look like grief has caused him to talk to himself, but they are able to work together to get closer to finding out what happened.
Why can Simon see Maddie?
A firm reason isn’t given in “The Fault in Our Scars,” but Charley theorizes that perhaps its possible that a ghost’s loved one could miss them so terribly that they’re unable to let go and that would create instances where they can see the person who’s died.
Unfortunately, none of the other ghosts of Split River High have experienced this, and he advises Maddie not to let anyone in the group know that her friend Simon can speak to her. It’s Charley’s belief that if they were to know, some of their ghost companions might try to use her to communicate with those they left behind.
When was Maddie killed?
While talking through how she got out of the boiler room, Maddie remembered that she woke up and wiped blood from the side of her face (not knowing it was her own) and entered the hallway at 3 p.m.
That’s led Simon to believe that she was killed somewhere between study hall when she went to see why her mom had come to the school and eighth period. He notes that Xavier wasn’t in Bio. While that could have been when Maddie’s boyfriend was trying to get into her phone, the show doesn’t reveal where he was only that he and Claire had walked off together when Maddie was in the hallway.
Something fishy did go down with Maddie, Xavier, and Claire, but it’s not the cheating. In a conversation at Xavier’s house, where his dad told him to lay low, he admits to Claire that he’s worried someone will find Maddie’s body. Claire tells him that if he needs to talk to someone, it can only be her. And we, the audience, know he’s been receiving calls from a number labeled ‘Do not pick up.’
Maddie, however, doesn’t think Claire killed her, she hasn’t ruled out Xavier though. She remembered when he killed a rat even though she’d asked him not to do that despite her being scared of the rodent. He’d laughed and it unnerved her.
We do have to note that Xavier was surprised to learn that the phone he’d been carrying around wasn’t Maddie’s. Turns out, it’d been swapped and there wasn’t anything on it. Simon and Maddie found a piece of her phone in Xavier’s abandoned auto shop hideout on school property. After some convincing, Maddie got Simon to show what he found to Mr. Anderson, their teacher.
By the end of “The Fault in Our Scars,” Simon and Maddie find another piece of her phone in the auto shop but then they’re both spooked by Mr. Anderson who appears and asks Simon what he’s doing at school after hours. He also impresses on Simon to let the authorities handle the case, but there’s something off about the whole exchange.