The Season 3 premiere of the supernatural drama, School Spirits, resolved two of the biggest cliffhangers from the Paramount+ show's second season Wednesday.
Spoilers ahead.
Maddie (Peyton List), who was presumed missing, but actually had been trapped unseen with the ghosts of teens who died in her high school in the first two seasons, was reunited with her body and able to return to her life, much to the relief of her mother Sandra (Maria Dizzia) and friends Xavier (Spencer McPherson), Nicole (Kiara Pichardo) and Claire (Rainbow Wedell).
Unfortunately, Simon (Kristian Ventura), the only person Maddie was able to communicate with when she was stuck between the worlds of the living and the dead, has taken her place in the ghost realm.
"She's going through so much. She's picking up the pieces from everything that's happened, from being away and this girl, Janet [Jess Gabor], taking over her body and living in her house with her mom," List, 27, told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.
"She's having to figure out where they left off and she's also trying to find out what happened to her best friend, Simon."
The first episode of the new season also reveals that Wally (Milo Manheim), Maddie's ghost boyfriend, chose not to move on because he is still hoping he and Maddie can find a way to be together.
"He was never going to go through that door [to the afterlife] without saying goodbye to his friends," Manheim, 24, said.
"I'm glad people were really worried about it," he added, referring to how he would no longer be on the show if his character had disappeared through a portal to another dimension.
ADVERTISEMENT
"He shortly after finds out there is a lot of unfinished business to handle, especially with Simon and Maddie," he added. "While the world and the afterlife might believe that he's ready to receive his door, I don't think he's ready to walk through it yet."
Not being on the same planes of existence is challenging for the young couple, but they continue to fight to be together.
"It just adds such a different layer to the whole show," Manheim said.
"I love that Wally and Maddie are putting such care into how they move forward in their relationship and they deeply love each other, but, also, these are very unique times they're in," he emphasized. "It's a situation that I couldn't imagine anybody's ever gone through and they're looking out for each other. They're looking out for themselves and they're also still solving this world."
Wally also is dealing with Simon in new and interesting ways.
"That changes things," Manheim said.
Addressing List, he added: "Every time you answer about what's going on in Maddie's life, I just laugh, because there are SO many things going on. We have to handle these things first, but I love that their love is stronger than ever and they're still there for each other."
Maddie continues to communicate with Wally, even though outsiders begin to question her sanity because they can't see him.
"She wouldn't give up on him and she wouldn't give up on their relationship," List said.
"It's one of those things where, 'Well, I can't control what people think about me, so I'm going to act crazier than I've ever acted before,'" she added.
ADVERTISEMENT
"That's a bit difficult because I feel like she just keeps digging the hole deeper and deeper. But I also really respect it and I understand it. I've seen friends do this exact thing. You can't control what other people think, so why try at all?" she said. "She is so strong and she has such a sense of self and she's so composed in so many situations."
Although Wally died in the 1980s, he has been in a state of arrested development until Maddie arrives.
"He's grown so much emotionally," Manheim said.
"He's really just grown into himself, but there's still just remnants of old Wally left in him that I think is what makes him so frustrated by Simon's being there," he added. "He's still a little bit insecure and he's still a little bit unreasonably furious at Simon's existence, but I think he realizes Simon loves Maddie just as hard as he does and is there for her."
Manheim said he was happy to get more screen time with Ventura in Season 3.
"Kristian and I are super different actors, so it was great to learn from him as we went through everything," he added. "The Wally Simon dynamic is one that I love, unexpectedly, and I was grateful to spend the whole season with him."
ADVERTISEMENT
"Maybe," Manheim quipped, careful not to spoil what might come later in the season.