Critic Reviews

School Spirits season 3 upends itself and establishes an entirely new baseline. A refresh that the series didn't necessarily need, it feels great to see a new normal explored within the world of the series.

For a YA series, it pulls off these types of emotional themes without seeming forced or insincere. School Spirits will reel you in with its overarching mystery, but it will keep you hooked with its heart.

Without losing sight of the sorrow of Maddie’s story, “School Spirits” manages to be surprisingly sparky and fun — proof positive that there are new stories to tell about the institution no one would ever want to be stuck in for their entire afterlife.

We were pleasantly surprised by how mature of a show School Spirits was, not just because of List’s steady lead performance, but because it doesn’t delve in the current cliches that drag down most high-school dramas. In other words, no house parties and no sex scenes (yet); it’s just a fun, ghostly mystery to watch.

Even though we now know what happened to Maddie’s body, there is still plenty of mysteries to unravel in the second season of School Spirits, and the season is off to a fast start with an action-filled first episode.

For a series that prioritized teenage stories through a supernatural lens, it's a bold move to strike out into more overt horror, but it's working in the show's favor. If the series continues down this path, Season 3 could potentially become the strongest and scariest installment yet.

It’s addictive, it’s funny, it’s charming, and it’s heartwarming, all the elements that make a teen drama worth watching.

With three episodes screened out of Season 2's eight total, it's fair to admit that we don't advance too far with the characters' individual growth or dive too deep into unraveling every strand of the numerous interconnecting mysteries. That said, the first three episodes are a solid, satisfying indicator of how the rest of the season will unfold.

"School Spirits," which recalls "The Lovely Bones," albeit with a far less dreadful tone, is entertaining and Ms. List ("Cobra Kai") is magnetic. But her advantage is having only one role to play. ... Those around Ms. List are walking actorly tightropes. ... You'd like to know the filmmakers' philosophy about immortality, because there seems a very fine line between the physical world and that of the deceased, who are actually a lot more fun.

Season 3 of School Spirits feels like the show is struggling to figure out where to take its story after two pretty well-defined arcs in the first two seasons.