#mr. martin and janet theory

[lavishtine]

//grooming mention

Anyway, I finished School Spirits in two days and the ending absolutely raised more questions than it answered.

So, I have a running theory about Mr. Martin and Janet, but I think it's a lot.

Firstly, I think there's a high likelihood that there was an inappropriate relationship between them, because we already know that Rhonda's counselor groomed her and ended up killing her in response to her getting into Berkeley. And there's something weird about their relationship, because Janet lied about a lot to the group and it seems like they had been the oldest ones, which is why they could so easily lie about being dead for five years before Rhonda.

I believe it's clear that Mr. Martin killed them both, but I don't know why.

Mr. Martin definitely had something over Janet, which is why she lied about when she died - she died two years earlier than the group knew [which is another thing, because if she did die in 1960, then Rhonda should have known her before she herself died since it seems like she died in Spring/Summer 1963] - the question is what exactly did he have over her? Personally, I think going off my theory of them having an inappropriate relationship, the most obvious answer is she was pregnant and she wasn't gonna keep it. You know, I don't think the writers are gonna make it the same as Rhonda's, so I feel like this would be different enough to be the reason she was killed And if she told him the truth, then it would be easy for him to resort to anger and kill them as a means of keeping them together forever.

Even if that's not true, he has something over her that he used to his advantage until she escaped and took over Maddie's body.

I also think Mr. Martin is more sinister than we think, even with the ending. I'm almost convinced that he is the one trapping them there as a means of experimenting on them, using them as test subjects [cannon], but I mean like he's trapping them there. He's the reason they reset and he's forcing them to relive their trauma to see what happens and he trapped himself and Janet there - again, as a means of keeping them together forever initially - and continues to trap any student who has died after them. The groups are canonically him running tests on them, not helping, so it would make since that someone from outside the group could eventually crossover given the right words to break that cycle. [He probably knows those words too]. And so far we haven't seen anyone before 1958, so that does make sense.

I have so much more to say, but I'm just rambling now and need sleep, so gonna do that instead.

[wallyclarksnewmom]

I was so caught up in finding out what happened to Maddie that I never even thought about what Mr. Martin and Janet are talking about until just now - Maddie finds the door to the fallout shelter because Janet was screaming for help. She was saying "help, I don't want to," and as Maddie opens the door we hear Mr. Martin say "we have to find out exactly what happened, what did you feel? You have to tell me-"

The article Wally and Charley find says that Mr. Martin started the fire, and revealed that they had been told the wrong year for her death (Wally and Charley both believed Janet died in 1960, not '58). But for whatever reason both Janet and Mr. Martin lied about this, and I wonder if Janet was going along with it under threat. Basically, they had to have been the first ghosts, because otherwise they wouldn't have been able to lie about when Janet died. Rhonda didn't die until at least 1963 (the year "He's So Fine" by the Chiffons came out), so Janet and Mr. Martin were alone together for 5+ years.

Anyways I don't really have a solid point here beyond just the fact that I think we might have missed how much of a victim Janet is in all this. I might even posit that her possession of Maddie was unintentional - she was just trying to get away from Mr. Martin and whatever he was yelling at her about, and the door opening gave her a shot.

I also wonder about their relationship prior to their deaths, if Mr. Martin starting the fire was purposeful, if Janet was targeted, etc. Since they were the first ghosts I imagine Mr. Martin may have done something then which triggered the weird ghost curse the school has going on. Maybe the rest of the ghosts had to do with Janet not wanting to be trapped alone with Mr. Martin, seeking some form of help. OH and what happened to Janet that Mr. Martin wanted to know but which Janet was so desperate not to share? We know he was recording findings on all the kids, was he outright experimenting on Janet because she knew about him already? I need to go to bed I'm sorry this is like 10 theories in one lol

[wallymaddieandcharley]

Dawn.

I’ve really enjoyed her character. This episode showed us a lot more about her, got to see her more as just how she was first portrayed. I’m so glad she was able to heal in the way she needed to in order to cross over. She was never going to be able to hear what she needed to hear from her old “friends” but she heard them from Maddie. Maddie, who’s taken time to get to know the ghosts NOT involved in Mr. Martin’s group, like Mina and Dawn, despite her focus on solving her murder. You could tell how healing those words were to Dawn. To be taken seriously, to be accepted, to be told she’s a good friend.

The rest of the ghosts never really seemed to want to get to know her. They probably tried at some point, but since most of them died after Dawn, she had already been labeled as the weird ghost girl who sits on the lockers. And yeah, they’re kids. They can be self centered, and high schoolers can really get wrapped up in rumors. So Dawn stayed the hippie girl on the lockers, and Mina stayed up in the catwalks of the theater.

Until Maddie. She was willing to listen to Dawn’s ideas, to acknowledge Mina trying to keep people safe. In return, she’s gathered valuable information about who might be behind her death, and about them as people.

I’m going to miss Dawn. But I’m glad she was able to heal and cross over.

[mostly-functional]

I know this isn’t (supposed to be) a School Spirits blog, but I just had to share this.

I don’t trust Rhonda. Why does she keep coming to the group if she’s not going to participate? Dawn only comes to events that interest her like the movie night and everyone seems fine with that, so why doesn’t Rhonda do the same?

And where did she get those pants? Girls weren’t allowed to wear pants in most American schools in the ‘60s.

And why doesn’t she know how Janet died? The fire was in 1958 and Rhonda died in the early ‘60s. She should have known about something as dramatic as a fire that killed a teacher and a student. It would’ve been all over the local news.

At the homecoming game, she asks Mr. Martin to do for her what he did for Janet. She doesn’t ask for help crossing over, she asks for help leaving. She wants a body of her own.

My theory is that she’s been working for Mr. Martin the whole time. Her job is to bring in the people who don’t trust Mr. Martin and Janet (like Maddie.) This could also explain why he wanted her to watch Maddie.

Keep in mind, her first words to Maddie were “how’d you die?” She was double checking that she didn’t remember what happened

[team--edward]

School Spirits Spoilers

——————//////——————

My remaining questions are

How does the blood and the crowbar come into play? Janet faking the death maybe?? But still

Why was Janet-Maddie sneaking around her house, or was it someone else

Who took the money? Janet? I assume with the big bills at the station but idk

Maddie’s “spirit died” in the fight with her mom which is why I think Janet was able to posses her and she could see her form, but why could she see Mr. Martin fully before it happened

My first thought is he’s actually human and can see the ghosts which is how he was seen and able to collect the items, but it doesn’t align with supposedly not being seen with the other ghosts when they are around a bunch of people

Why is the sheriff so adamant on framing the janitor? Just to protect his son??? But that doesn’t really make sense

Too much previously unknown knowledge has been given to Simon from Maddie for him to think she’s his imagination

Side note, Maddie shows literally zero romantic interest in Wally so idk where that’s going

Would love some thoughts and theories from yall

[bisexual-void]

School Spirits Theory (?)

PLEASE don't read on if you haven't watched the show and plan to, currently not finished, etc, this is such a solid piece of media I truly suggest watching it first :)

Okay, first off, wtf Mr. Martin, did NOT see that twist there and glad it was able to be pulled off like they did

Second, if it's confirmed through Maddie's final moments that ghosts CAN interact with the living.....Mr. Martin being the killer, does he have a role to play in everyone else's deaths?

Like if he was responsible for Janet's demise then maybe the other kids are stuck because he was responsible for them too?

With Wally's final play mapped out, who's to say that HE wasn't the one to snap Wally's neck, not some freak accident?

Or with Dawn, I need to get better at my pause and rewind skills, but it's totally possible Dawn isn't the one to knock over the coffee(?) cup that cause the electrical malfunction

And with Charley, theres so many things that could have been tampered with in the cafeteria kitchen to set off Charley's allergy, or alternativly, the lost epipen.

It just seems off these are all "freak accidents"

With the Simon-Maddie thing, I originally thought it might have something to do with her not being completely dead?

but it still doesn't explain why only Simon can see Maddie and only Maddie, not to mention Maddie seeing Mr.Matin and Janet(?) before her death

Lastly, matching places Simon can see Maddie mostly makes sense with the renovations pointed out already, but who died in the gym? Am I missing something?

Don't get me wrong, I am no expert in theories and JUST finished my binge, but I'd love to hear your thoughts 🩷🩷

[raviposting]

Absolutely out there theory - I know that Rhonda said that the guidance counselor’s name was Mr. Manfredo and that he died in prison after murdering her, but I just can’t help but feel like Mr. Martin seems very like. Uniquely set up to be the guidance counselor? 

Rhonda would have died in the 1960s, and Mr. Martin seems like he died at around the same time, and is acting as the group’s counselor. Maddie heard vaguely about Wally, and I think the band kids, but she didn’t know about a murder in the school - even if it was a long time ago, I feel like "guidance counselor murdered a student here” is something that comes up once in a blue moon (the way an accident, like Charlie’s death, wouldn’t). They both seem to be the oldest ghosts there (so far) and Rhonda kept calling her guidance counselor “Mr. M” and Mr. Martin tries to steer the conversation from Mr. M whenever Rhonda brings it up. He even kind of looks like the photo that we see, though it’s super blurry. What if they both died together, it was deemed an accident, and Rhonda tells Maddie what she wished would have happened? Or he and her have this deal to not tell the support group - we already know Rhonda is willing to keep secrets like Maddie’s, even if she doesn’t love to do so, so she could be calling him Mr. Martin and keep her stories limited to “Mr. M”, knowing the ghosts aren’t going to be questioning this story, because why would they? Even if it’s not him, I think there’s some definite parallels - Rhonda says that Mr. M was comforting and supportive until the moment she actually got accepted. Like @deadlydelicious said here there’s something so off about him and he may be trying to use the group, or there’s probably a deeper story with Janet, or what his actual goal is with support group, or how he’ll feel when he realizes Maddie can speak to a living person. 

There’s just something incredibly sketchy to Mr. Martin in general and the Mr. M thing feels like it’s going to lead up to something important with him, whether it be a direct parallel or a reveal.

[h3art2heart]

Omg so many new theories about school spirits. So when Janet supposedly crossed over, the lights didn't flash like they did for dawn?? Si what really happened to her? It has to be Mr. Martin. He wants Maddie so badly to be planted into the afterlife. He definitely has something to do why they're still there, and maybe why so many kids are dead at this school. And he must know Maddie can talk to Simon, he was pushing way too hard to not know

[hakuna-machete]

Ok so stream of consciousness... OH MY GOD the scene of Wally and his mom where he breaks down next to her and then lets go of the jersey and perfect son persona BROKE me Especially with the memory of her pushing him back into the game implied that that is how he DIED. TEARS streaming down my face I swear. Like the ACTING in that scene. You can see in his eyes when he looks up at her cheering and yelling that he realizes she is stuck in that fake memory of him loving football and football being his life because it is HER life and she is there to celebrate the game that KILLED her son because she won't recognize or doesn't see that it was her insistence that he go back into the game even when he was hurt, even when he didn't want to, that got him killed.

The scenes with him and Maddie at the game were really sweet and I loved the delivery of his "you want to go to the dance with me" and then immediately back tracks, it was so genuine. Maddie is definitely in no place emotionally to be in a relationship but they are very cute.

Now into the meat:

So I've watched a lot of supernatural shows and so far this is not giving me supernatural horror. I can't see a twist where Mr. Martin is suddenly evil and eating souls. Usually with that kind of genre there are SOME kind of hints throughout the show. Even small ones in the background but so far nothing. Not even in tone. Maybe they will come in the coming episodes? Maybe they will do a big switch reveal at the end and pull it off really well who knows? Like if I had to stretch it I could put together someone liking Nicole's photo with Maddie's account, Maddie's back pack/squatter situation, the video being sent to Maddie's friends as possibly Janet possessing Maddie's body theory. But why would Janet hang around town in the body of a missing girl or try to help that girl's friends solve her "murder/disappearance"?

With Nicole's random shady moment at Maddie's mom's trunk and talk about forgiveness I think the hazy memory Maddie had of a fight in the boiler room may be between her and Nicole. But I do not think Nicole killed her. Nicole definitely thinks Maddie is alive. Her reaction to the like from Maddie's account on her photo and her behavior at the horror festival point to her genuinely believing that Maddie isn't dead. I think in the fight Nicole may have hurt Maddie and thinks that's why she ran away and is desperate to get her back because she feels so guilty.

Claire.... With the info we got in 1x05 Claire is giving less killer vibes and more kid in an abusive/unstable home who became ruthless and hard to survive and will do whatever it takes. Her early childhood was clearly unstable and frightening for her and then her mother marries "that rich guy" clearly one of those "leader in the community" types where image means everything. So now she has this perfect autobot sort of outer shell that she uses on everybody and it actively freaks people out when it slips and they can see how angry and scared she is underneath. Like she genuinely looked and sounded like a robot in that early scene with the other contender for homecoming queen. Maybe she did kill Maddie because she thought Maddie knew about her blackmailing the teacher? Maybe she is so stressed out because with that teacher caught, her scam could possibly be exposed and whatever consequences from her mother and stepfather are terrifying to her?

I love that Maddie is pretty self centered. It's just so very true. It's annoying and frustrating and genuine. She is a seventeen year old girl who was just MURDERED and she doesn't remember why or how or who and she just learned that ghosts are REAL and she is one and she is stuck in her high school possibly for DECADES and she has an alcoholic mother who she takes care of and her boyfriend may have murdered her but maybe not but he DEFINITELY cheated on her and her teacher that she really looked up to and took care of her was shady and may have done something to her but maybe it was one of her former friends that she had to abandon because of her mom and she can talk to one of her friends but no one else and is SO reliant on him and the other ghosts want her to move on and sure, some of them are nice and cool and she likes them but she can't really bond with them because she is so angry and depressed but she is still a kind person and in between all the chaos and horror her life is now she reaches out to them in the way she can but she is still SO DETERMINED to find out who killed her and why because just because she is dead doesn't mean she is GONE and she will keep fighting no matter what. I love Maddie.

[donutcats]

theory for why the ghost gang got trapped in the fallout shelter when normally the metaphysical world resets;

mr. martin and janet are the oldest ghosts we’ve heard of so far, right? 1958 is the earliest date we’ve gotten for any deaths related to the school. so what if they’re the first ghosts ever in split river high history? the first deaths? the fallout shelter, which used to be the chemistry lab where they died, can be tampered with by the ghosts because it’s the origin point, the beginning of all hauntings.

on my rewatch I realized that charley noticed that a box had been moved because the dust was disturbed. but if the metaphysical world normally resets and no one ever goes down to the shelter… then why would the dust be disturbed? ghosts can’t normally make changes in the metaphysical world... but mr. martin was writing about thinning and access points. there’s gotta be some sort of connection there.

[esotericconsultingdetective]

my forever fixations (changes will be added.)

sitcoms (b99, modern family, bbt, himym, the office, friends, HOUSE MD)

benedict cucumberpatch and martin freeman (sherlock bbc, lord of the rings, the hobbit etc.)

ghosts&vampires&blood&sadists&gore&darkacademia&haunted places (frankenstein, jekyll and hyde)

english schoolgirls in the not creepy way (wild child, enid blyton boarding school books)

harry potter

neil gaiman (coraline)

true crime

granada holmes

LOCKWOOD AND CO. MY BABIES

star trek and star wars in no particular order

spock

taylor swift and old washed up rock bands

pheobe effing bridgers

gracie abrams

kill her, freak out - samia

therese dreaming and maya hawke

art

raft of medusa

travelling

nerdinators

nerf guns

spy kids

peppa pig and ben and holly and gaston and nanny plum

emma chamberlain's fashion choices

the grisly origins of fairy tales

101 dalmations' original cruella deville.

horrid henry, captain underpants and phineas and ferb

LEGOOOO

evermore and folklore

lore by aaron manke

neurosurgery

fashun

crime podcasts

the history of mad hatters

interesting things to research about

indian royalty history

transylvania

Elizabeth Báthory (the blood countess)

agatha christie and miss marple

puzzle solving but i'm terrible at it (i’m awesome, i’m trying to be humble)

a deepening disgust at mortal fascination with each other.

aliens

d&d

mathematics

Lockwood and Co.

The sisters grimm

Land of stories

middle grade horror and fantasy books

my instagram threads account

tumblr shitposts

tumblr in general

pjo (ex induced)

scarlet and ivy

THE WELLS AND WONG DETECTIVE SOCIETY (robin stevens ily)

young adult dark fantasy without romance (check point 46)

my goodreads account

ada lovelace

franz kafka, virginia woolf.

my spotify playlists (ethel cain i love u)

joan of arc

rosalind franklin

ted ed videos

witch hunts in scotland and salem.

zoroastrian burials

sherlock and watson

my pinterest

amrita shergill

CRISPR

old disney shows

cricket and india's victory in WC in '83

jhansi ki rani

my childhood tv shows

my yt history

video essays

shane and ryan (watcher or buzzfeed unsolved)

chronically online

jude bellingham

Carlos sainz

a dreaded feeling of separation.

Elsa Schiaparelli

the kelly

monaco

f1

aux en provence

ireland

my artemis fowl phase

harry potter

wales

ryan reynolds and john krasinski

adam sandler movies and similar genres of shitty comedy

cobra kai and the karate kid

superheroes

spiderman variants

bucky and the falcon

charlize theron

vintage watches

conde nast traveller

delhi

benedict cucumberpatch

kristy thompson from the bsc

anne with an e

mr brightside

mitski

podcasts

the sixties, thirties and twentys

maggie smith (downtown abbey and loewe campaigns)

jane birkin

youtube fan edits

stranger things

the irregulars and haunting of hill house

gossip girl (fallacies and legacies)

meryl streep (mammia mia and the devil wears prada)

julie andrews (the sound of music, the princess diaries)

vintage movies

youtube short films and billy joel

the prisoner of azkaban

fred and george weasley and kili and fili

gandalf > dumbledore

margaret - ldr and jack antanoff

alicia and janet (the enid blyton cinematic universe)

sharon tate

my halloween blog 'gore'

arch digest house tours

new york because i'm just a girl

BBC SHERLOCK

Star Trek

the matrix

kill bill, fight club, dr. evil, ocean’s 11

The KJO cinematic universe

Nepo babies

Tim Burton

The Addams Family

Science

Biology

Physics

Chemistry

Mathematics x 2

Nerds

Conspiracy theories

Ethical research

female serial killers

elizabeth bathory

my spotify playlists

billy joel - piano man

youtube edits

saltburn

peppa pig & ben and holly

horrid henry

lost childhood animated tv shows

enid blyton boarding school books

british sitcoms (outnumbered)

house md

characters most like me list on charactour/ openpyschometrics.

the 2 IT zoya akhtar movies

special certain bollywood

teams in red - man united, Ferrari and RCB.

Formula 1, Tennis, Football & Cricket

Batman&Alfred (Christopher Nolan version duh!)

Dark Knight’s aesthetic

old marvel and DC movies

Superhero Comics

Richard Feynman

Haunted castles

Halloween and Halloween costumes (the only right answer is switching between batman and darth Vader or my Pinterest board)

LEGO (lotr, Harry Potter, marvel and DC lego)

Batman, iron man, and dr strange

ford v ferrari

shang chi

fight club and kill bill

Zack and Cody and phineas and ferb captain underpants

Karate kid and kung fu panda

karen from outnumbered

philomena cunk

Mercedes, Sebastian Vettel being a nerd and super awesome with pit overtakes, Brocedes + 2019 rookies and Maxiel

2012 grid

2023 george russel t pose

twitch quartet

Good food and masterchef australia

LUCA

black swan

Cool nepo babies (case in point romy mars (director of the tiktok vodka pasta video & Gracie frikking abrams ily)

F2 and f3

Horror movies

SHITTY COMEDYYY movie genre I.e. the hangover, grown ups, etc.

How to train your dragon (i had a dragon dinosaur phase so this is justified)

Lego ninjago

michelle mouton

derry girls

being an absolute effing genius

academia

saltburn aesthetic

letterboxd

Horror movies

Old marvel but deadpool revival

Minions

Breakfast at tiffany’s

Old movies (arsenic and old lace, wizard of oz)

Preminger and old Barbie movies

Old Disney movies (101 dalmations)

Merida and brave and Elsa and frozen

the one dance scene from the sleeping beauty

Movies with julie andrews and audrey hepburn and meryl streep

[wallyclarksnewmom]

Okay there are a few people I'm suspicious of but none more so than Mr. Martin, who I have a full blown theory about. I'm thinking he may have some sort of ability the others don't have, like Maddie does with Simon. he acts very suspicious of her so I think he at least suspects she's special. And they way he's been with Rhonda has me 👀 so here's the theory:

I think Janet had something to do with Maddie' death - the timing of her 'crossing over' or whatever, as well as none of the other's knowing how she did it, would seem to fit this idea. The earliest death we're aware of is of Rhonda, in the 60's, and I think Mr. Martin may have died shortly before her (late 1950's/early 1960's - a car from 1949 when he was maybe 10 makes him 20 in '59, and I think teaching had less requirements back then so maybe he died as a pretty new teacher, or even a student teacher). So Mr. Martin dies and there's one other dead person, who has crossed over by the time Rhonda dies. Or rather, who crosses over when Rhonda dies. Rhonda is the only one who was murdered besides Maddie (that we know of - Wally's surprise at it being a murder implies to me she's the only one).

So basically, Mr. Martin dies and somehow has the ability to cross others over by way of another death, does so for the only other ghost at the time using the death of Rhonda, and then did so with the death of Maddie for Janet. The fact that he would keep it such a secret how Janet did it when he claims to want to help the kids is weird to me, he obviously knows how, so there must be a reason he can't just tell them. And the introduction of the Rhonda crossing over plot with her now acting all suspicious on behalf of Mr. Martin just makes me question the process even more.

I've seen it suggested a few times that it was Mr. Martin, maybe possessing Simon (hence why he can see Maddie), but I haven't really seen a suggestion as to why. I think the trick is is that this power isn't unique to Mr. Martin, which is how he found out about it (from the other person there when he died), but he doesn't want the others to know about it because he craves power or meaning or just doesn't want to be alone or cross over himself (not that I think any of the kids would kill someone if they did know, but surely Mr. Martin believes they would, having now done it twice himself). It also explains how Maddie might have been sidetracked by someone she trusted to go into the boiler room instead of finding her mom, as well as the sudden change in behavior from Mr. Manfredo that nobody saw coming, as well as why he's pushing so hard for Maddie to give up on trying to solve the mystery with Simon, because with investigation on both sides they might actually figure it out.

[angelamoores]

my school spirits theories so far:

I don’t think her mom did it. I’ve been so onboard with some of the suspects we get introduced to at the end of each episode but I think there’s more to it and I’m not sure that the hooded figure was her

I don’t think janet ever crossed over. I think mr martin did something to her and lied about it. I don’t think he wants anyone to cross over and I think the club of ghosts holds them back because they need to no longer have any attachments or things tying them to the school like dawn

the light flickering is the signal of a severe ghost emotion that happens when they develop further. this is why the lights went crazy when dawn crossed

still don’t massively understand nicole going to the effort to burn those pictures of maddie that she set out like a shrine and then watched them burn. I’d understand if it was her whole portfolio but that was weird and it could still mean something

I know it’s obvious something big is gonna happen about mr martin but it is so weird how little information we have about him. like he’s the one I always had the most questions about because as a teacher he’s the outlier and we don’t know anything about when and how he died. also where is he half the time because he has still yet to see maddie and simon and they’re not subtle and they talk a lot. it’s weird how insistent he is about maddie not finding out how she died. like I get not letting the others dwell on their deaths but how can you move on from something when you don’t know what you’re moving on from. plus it’s only been two weeks!! I would not be surprised if he’s something other than a ghost

I don’t know what any of you are on about!! I don’t think simon did it at all!! what!!

[phantomoftheorpheum]

Just finished 1x07 of School Spirits, here are my (currently disorganized) thoughts-

*as usual, thoughts below a cut to avoid a massively long post.

Okay, well, first of all, glad that the Nicole stuff has come out now. It's pretty much exactly like I expected, though she has really muddled up the evidence (for the audience) by actively planting Maddie's bootprints. Is she behind any of the other "evidence?" I don't think so, but I'm going to have to consider that for a minute. I know that she and Simon were focused on the money, but it would have been nice if they'd talked at all about the fact that someone liked Nicole's social media post & since Nicole now also believes that Maddie is dead, they should be on the same page that it wasn't her.

It was immediately a red flag when Mr. Martin said his line about enjoying power & control. Obviously he's become actively more threatening throughout the episode. He's also in the fallout shelter when Dawn crosses over, so is he the one who died there? I have some somewhat vague theories about Mr. Martin, but I'll save those for the end.

Xavier called out that his own alibi relies on Mr. South, which does make him less suspicious to me again. Though I did think it was weird that he mentioned Mr. South whistling "the Titanic song" the whole time because he doesn't mention that he actually saw Mr. South the whole time. While Mr. South does feel like a red herring kind of character, I can't help but wonder if that will come back around in some way. Maybe it's something as simple as when we see what happened to Maddie, we hear him whistling that when she walks past the boy's bathroom, or something?

I know we needed to have various characters look suspicious and so Claire had a role to play throughout most of the season, but I really enjoyed her this ep & I wish we could have had more of this version of her throughout the season. I guess here's hoping for season 2!

I don't love that it seems like Claire & Mr. Anderson assumed the blackmail was coming from Maddie just because he hadn't given his number to any other students. It seems weird. Why would they even assume it's a student? What did Nicole say? But I think that's just the way it is, because I don't see how another twist fits in there well. It was a really bad and poorly supported assumption on Mr. Anderson & Claire's part, but okay.

Don't think I've forgotten that Mr. Anderson's alibi makes no sense, still. At least the alibi he told Claire. He said he spent the night with his father, Maddie was killed during the day & Xavier's alibi is for 8th period. Why would Mr. Anderson not be at school for 8th? That's never been mentioned/explained. The Sheriff claims he has a good alibi, but what is it?

Dawn mentions that people can be possessed by spirits. She is the perfect character to use to give the audience important information without them necessarily taking it too seriously. Plus, we later see that she's a lot "more" than anyone thought, and being taken seriously and appreciated seems to be what she needed to cross over. I think we need to take her concerns of possession pretty seriously.

Okay, I guess now is the time to talk about the fact that it seems like Janet didn't actually cross over & Mr. Martin clearly has something to do with that/is lying about it. I have about 12 different half-baked theories with this whole situation, so I don't even know which way to turn. Is Janet still around, or can he somehow absorb the energy of other ghosts and has basically killed her? Maybe through hypnosis? Perhaps hypnosis (or maybe any mentally altered state) on a living person leaves them vulnerable to possession, but on a ghost leaves them vulnerable to being absorbed or controlled? Does he have the ability to impact the real world? Is it possible that he can influence the actions of the living? Maybe not fully control them, but heighten emotion/anger etc.? Could he have had a hand in Maddie's death? Either by being powerful enough to hurt her, or by being powerful enough to influence someone else to hurt her? Maybe he can't make someone do something completely out of character, but he can push them past their normal limits? He was down in the fallout shelter and that may be his reset point, so it doesn't seem out of the question that he was nearby when Maddie died. Or maybe he didn't have anything to do with what happened to Maddie & he's just being set up as a season 2 antagonist. See what I mean about all the theories/thoughts?

So. Maddie's mom. I'm glad we're finally starting to address what she was doing at the school on the day of Maddie's death. I've said before in a post that if she killed Maddie, it would have been a crime of passion, imo (could she have been influenced by Mr. Martin? Is she more susceptible to ghosts because of being under the influence?) But I'm not sure she's capable of this level of coverup, and I'm immediately suspicious of any "revelations" that happen before the final episode, since mysteries like to leave an element of surprise for the finale. At this point, I think it's likely she and Maddie argued & that she has Maddie's necklace, but she didn't kill her. I think the necklace is likely what's in the envelope that she's keeping in Maddie's dresser. In Maddie's flashback with her mom she yells either "that belongs to me" or "that belonged to me" which I'm guessing is about the necklace.

Which brings me to- The Sheriff. He's a loose thread. He could have followed Nicole from Maddie's house and dug up the money. The last we saw, she was there with Maddie's mom and the police. We were reminded, yet again, about his re-election campaign and money. He would have the ability to plant evidence pretty easily (the backpack, the "murder weapon," etc.). And he can steer the investigation. Simon mentions that when he was shown Maddie's file it didn't have the ticket with the boot print. Why would that be left out, unless the cops know that was faked and that he might realize that? And how could anyone know it was faked unless they knew Maddie's shoes, or they killed her & know she couldn't have left the prints? Did someone maybe call the police when Maddie's mom showed up drunk at the school, giving the Sheriff reason to be there? Did he encounter Maddie after her argument with her mom? The question is, what exactly would be his motive to kill Maddie? He's an asshole, and they made sure to show us how much in the scene with Xavier, but why would he want Maddie dead? He does seem motivated by money/re-election, but Maddie didn't actually have any money & how would be know anything about that situation?

Could Mr. Anderson and the Sheriff have been working together to steal money from Claire's stepdad? I feel like I'm missing a piece here in this theory, because Claire's stepdad was donating to the Sheriff's campaign, so I don't know why he would need to steal money, but- is it possible the Sheriff was in on Mr. Anderson's plan, so he knew that Mr. Anderson thought Maddie was blackmailing him & had been given some of the money? The police told Simon there was no money in Mr. Anderson's wall when they searched, but maybe it was there & the Sheriff was trying to protect him/the stolen money. At that point, there was no proof. Once Simon produces the proof that Mr. Anderson stole the money, the Sheriff can no longer pretend & Ms. Fields tells Maddie's mom that Mr. Anderson turned the money over, but maybe the Sheriff already had it & was just now forced to acknowledge this. Mr. Anderson's supposed alibi doesn't line up with the timeline, but the Sheriff says he has a good one. Did Anderson kill Maddie (maybe he was told to get the money back by the Sheriff, but ended up killing Maddie when he became frustrated that she was denying having it) and the Sheriff is helping cover it up? So many options.

Is the hooded figure that we saw in the house the same person as the hooded figure we saw at the end of 1x07? Seems likely, but we have no proof, so we can't rule out anyone whose location we don't know during both of those two events (so, anyone, really).

Okay, those are my immediate thoughts. I'm in the process of constructing a timeline with some added conjecture/theories, but I'm going to post it separately, since this is already so long. Speaking of, do you think we'll get to go through events chronologically (like watch Maddie's last day play out) in the final episode. That could be interesting! Not as the entire episode, since obviously we want to see progress with the characters in the current timeline, but I'd like to see some of the events we've already seen put into the context of the new information.

[sky-is-here]

Day 5 of Manifesting School Spirits Season 2 through theories and hopes:

Mr. Martin kinda sucks. After hearing Wally read the whole page on 'thinning', I think Mr. M was having group sessions as a means of helping the ghosts not recover from the trauma of dying, but forget it, suppress it. Make it a secondary thought to everything else. He was doing this so that one day he could force them into reliving it. It may be what he did to Janet the day Maddie died, and it may be why he's been collecting all this stuff on our ghost gang. He intends to recreate their deaths so that they'll "thin" and make for... well idk why he wants them to thin but yknow we'll need a season two to figure that out

[todaysgenderistherevengecrew]

Okay so obviously Janet didn't cross over thats not even a theory at this point its basically out right stated.

I know it's a pretty popular theory that she's in maddys body and I'd like to yes and that with how INSISTANT Mr Martin is that Maddy needs to have her feet planted in the after life. What if she has the ability to go back to her body somehow so he needs her to want to stay?