First Look at School Spirits Finale: Ghosts Swirl Around Wally’s Departure

The spirits of Split River High School are caught up in a surprising — and emotional — exit in a first glimpse of the School Spirits season 3 finale.

In an exclusive sneak peek for Us Weekly of the episode airing on Wednesday, March 4, the teen spirits must deal with the aftermath of Wally (Milo Manheim) secretly abandoning the group in search of his girlfriend Maddie’s (Peyton List) best friend, Simon (Kristian Ventura), who has mysteriously disappeared.

Additionally, there’s the impending School Board meeting that will determine whether Split River High will continue to operate or be shut down forever, along with its ghostly inhabitants.

“Everything feels so wrong,” says Rhonda (Sarah Yarkin) as the spirits gather in the library, awaiting their fate. “More wrong than usual.”

Meanwhile, Charlie (Nick Pugliese) is fixated on Wally taking his door — which opens to an unknown realm from which no ghost has ever returned — without saying goodbye.

“Yeah, that’s a clear sign of betrayal,” he quips, prompting Mr. Martin (Josh Zuckerman) to remind him that Wally “didn’t really have a choice” since it’s the group’s “best lead to find Simon.”

“Sure, maybe he felt he had no choice in taking his door, but he could have chosen not to keep it a secret from us,” Charlie insists, though Rhonda interjects, saying she believes Wally “was doing his best to say goodbye.”

When Yuri (Miles Elliot) questions how they will know if it worked, Mr. Martin admits, “We don’t know; perhaps we can’t.”

As they continue to fret about Wally and their possible doom, Mr. Martin tries to instill hope that everything might still resolve positively.

“All may not be lost,” he states. “There’s still a chance for us and this place. Today’s meeting could go in our favor.”

Season 3, episode 7 of the Paramount+ series revealed that Simon — caught between the realms of the living and the dead — remains missing after being pulled into the mysterious pool beneath the school’s church only to seemingly vanish. (While the pool typically ejects ghosts to various locations around Split River High, Simon’s connection to the living realm led him elsewhere.)

With Maddie struggling to stay grounded in the living world while haunted by her experiences in the afterlife, Wally ultimately decides to cross over in hopes of locating Simon and alleviating Maddie’s escalating distress.

Though Wally did not say goodbye before stepping into the light, his departure caused the school’s lights to flicker — a signal to the ghosts that someone had moved on. The loss of Wally ultimately devastates everyone, particularly Maddie, who concludes the episode by confessing to her mother Sandra (Maria Dizzia), who has just returned from rehab, about her experiences as a spirit.

“Entering that energy consumes everything,” List, 27, shared in an interview with Collider earlier this month regarding the emotional scene between Maddie and her mother. “But it was such a crucial moment. So much honesty is needed in the relationship with a character that Maddie hasn’t been completely honest with, and the stakes felt incredibly high.”

When asked if fortunes will finally change in the finale, List admitted that it won’t be quite that simple.

“Oh, you’re going to feel so heartbroken,” she teased, adding, “Right when things start to improve …”

School Spirits’ season 3 finale airs on Paramount+ Wednesday, March 4.