Spoilers for the Season 2 finale of School Spirits are ahead! To stream Seasons 1 and 2 in full, all you need is a Paramount+ subscription.
Well, School Spirits has come to a close on the 2025 TV schedule, and while we got some answers and satisfaction, we were also left with a ton of questions. Thankfully, I had the chance to chat with the team behind the great Paramount+ show, and I asked them some of my burning questions, including two about the doors that appeared for two key characters.
So, as we wait for news about Season 3 of School Spirits, here’s what the show’s co-creators and Janet actress Jess Gabor had to say about why Janet didn’t pass through her door and why Wally’s door appeared for him.
Why Didn’t Janet Go Through Her Door?
From the jump, Janet was set up as an antagonist of this series, because she was the one who took over Maddie’s body. However, by the end of Season 2, we learned Mr. Martin really is the singular villain in the school, and the ghosts forgave Janet for what she’s been through. After that happened, her door appeared, but she didn't walk through it.
It turns out that wasn’t always the game plan, as the show’s co-creator, Megan Trinrud, told me during an interview for CinemaBlend:
To be perfectly frank with you, we went into production thinking she would cross over. We thought, ‘You know, she's been through so much. This character deserves closure, and she deserves to be at peace.’ But then Jess is amazing. You know, Jess brought such a fascinating character to life and helped us kind of see these nuances about Janet.
She’s right. Janet did have a full arc this season, and now she’s in a place to really live in her afterlife.
Janet actress Jess Gabor made that clear as she told me that her character finally “found friends” and she wants to help them and not go at it alone, explaining:
I don't think that she trusts people, and I think that she's always had a hard time being empathetic to other people's situations. And then she comes back to this school, and not only is she forgiven for this horrendous act that she did, but she's befriended through it. And I think she chooses in that moment when the door opens, ‘No, I'm going to help my friends through this, because I don't want to be alone anymore.’
As we learned at the very end of the episode, what’s haunting the high school is seemingly haunting the whole town. What lies ahead for these spirits and the living kids is much bigger and scarier than they anticipated, and I think Janet knows that.
Alluding to that idea, Megan Trinrud told me they decided to have Janet stay because she can play a pivotal role in all this, and this mystery is something she’s been trying to solve for decades. Basically, she has unfinished business:
We decided she should stay, and a big part of that is because she does hold a lot of answers. She can help the ghosts. She finally can put some of these pieces together for them. And honestly, more than crossing over, I almost feel like she deserves to get closure on this mystery, this problem she's been trying to solve for so many years. She wants to finish her work.
Honestly, I love this for Janet. Gabor is wonderful in the role, and now that she’s not attached to Maddie, it would be fun to see her play the character full-time. Plus, I love the new lease on the afterlife she has, and I can’t wait to see her use her powers for good!
So, for now, the door can wait.
Why Did Wally’s Door Appear For Him?
Now, while we know Janet’s choice regarding her door, we don’t know what Wally did with his…
One of my biggest theories about the School Spirits finale was that Milo Manheim’s character could pass on. As Megan Trinrud told me, we’ve watched him “really grow up in a lot of ways,” and his passing would provide closure for his love story with Maddie. However, we don’t know if he went through.
Why the door appeared felt a bit ambiguous too. However, the co-creators told me why it showed up in this pivotal episode.
Megan Trinrud started by explaining that Wally has grown up a lot and he’s gotten much better at questioning himself and “opening himself up to people around him” who make him ask said questions. He’s done the work, and he’s evolved into a much better man in the afterlife. That’s part of the reason why his door appeared, as the co-creator told me:
I think that he earned that to a certain extent where it's like, wow, he really did work on himself and become a better person and let people in in a way that he wasn't always able to in life. So I think that's a part of a part of that moment that sort of opened him up to it.
Along with that explanation, co-creator Nate Trinrud told me that Wally has grown past his people-pleasing tendencies and his relationship with his mom, and he’s gotten better at making choices for himself. We saw that specifically when he asked Maddie to stay in Episode 7.
He knows what he wants, he’s sure of himself, and he’s a great person, which led to this “breakthrough,” as Nate Trinrud explained:
I think what we see in his scar in Episode 8 are these moments where, like, he's starting to have a realization – but even though his mom was harder and maybe she didn't hate him, you know, she did love him and mourn him. Is Wally ready to let Maddie go with these big questions that really, I think, help to show how much he's changed and grown? He's had a breakthrough.
While I desperately don’t want Wally to go, it’s so wonderful to know that he’s in a place where he can pass on if he’d like to. He’s put in the work, he’s grown so much as a person (or ghost, I guess), and he deserves peace.
However, remember, we didn’t see what choice he made, and Megan Trinrud noted that too, saying:
And now that he sees that door, he really has to decide what does he want?
Will he stay? Can Wally and Maddie have a relationship with her being human? Has he found enough closure to pass on? All these questions came out of the answers here, and I cannot wait to see how they’re addressed if the show gets renewed for Season 3.
As always, School Spirits left us with massive questions that need answers. However, I’m thrilled that the team behind the show was able to provide a few answers to some of my biggest queries about Season 2’s finale. Now, it’s time to cross our fingers and hope Season 3 happens so we can get even more answers about Janet, Wally and everyone else involved in this sweeping supernatural mystery.
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