Madison's Body

**Madison's Body** is the eighth and final episode of the first season and the 8th overall episode of **School Spirits**.

## Short Summary

Questioning their existence, the spirits seek Mr. Martin for answers. Maddie must confront the latest suspect which challenges everything she thought she knew before. Xavier, Claire and Nicole look for answers at an abandoned house. When the truth is finally revealed, Maddie must face unexpected and devastating consequences.

## Full Summary

Maddie sits on the roof of the school.

Simon searches Maddie's house for the money, following Maddie's directions for where Sandra might have hidden it. Simon finds an envelope in Maddie's dresser. As he goes to leave, Sandra asks him if he found the notebook he said he needed. He says he found it and needs to get back to school. Sandra watches him leave.

Simon shows Maddie the necklace he found. It's hers and she was wearing it before she disappeared. He thinks there might be a logical explanation. She asks him to get Sandra to the school because she always knows when her mom is lying. If he gets her there, they'll know the truth. Maddie says she doesn't know if them figuring out who killed her means she'll have to move on. He says he was just being selfish, but she doesn't think that's true. Simon asks if she wants to know, if her mother killed her.

Nicole thinks it's a bad idea for them to go to Sheriff Baxter and have Nicole admit to blackmailing Mr. Anderson for money. Claire is also worried about the personal consequences for them. Xavier asks what about Mr. South. They see someone has spray painted "Clean this up killer" on the ground. Nicole says there has to be another way. They can't confess without proof or it'll be all over.

Mr. Martin fiddles with a button on his jacket as Wally, Rhonda, and Charley discuss Dawn crossing over. Everyone in the group experienced it and nothing like that happened when Janet left. Wally asks Mr. Martin what they're missing. He says maybe there's no correlation between what happened with Janet and what happened with Dawn. They ask him if there was anything weird about the day she left. He says no, there was nothing weird. She was just there one moment and gone the next. It doesn't make sense to the other. Charley asks how Mr. Martin can still be so clueless. He wonders if looking back is the key to getting out of there. He asks why they can't try that. Mr. Martin yells that it's painful to think about it constantly. Rhonda asks how it's painful. Mr. Martin says the day he died, he made a mistake. He turned his back on a student for a split second and there was a fatal error. It caused a fire. He saved his class but not himself. Rhonda says that makes him a hero. It's not even his fault. He blames himself because he should have been paying attention. Then his students had to live with the memory of seeing all that. He failed them and doesn't want to fail this group. He's spent 60 years trying to help them. He's trying to make the time count, to make things better for them. Rhonda admits he has done a lot over the years, but Charley's not convinced. Mr. Martin knows it's disappointing not to have all the answers. He wishes he could be more help, but he doesn't have any more answers for them. The group gets up and walks out one by one.

Wally finds Maddie in the hallway. He finds it weird not to have Dawn around all the time. Everyone is upset and confused. He knows Maddie talked to Dawn right before she crossed over. Maddie says she's sorry for how Dawn was treated and that she didn't deserve it. Wally admits they weren't always so great to Dawn. Maddie thinks Dawn finally just heard what she needed to hear. Maddie asks what Wally would do if the one person who was supposed to protect you hurt you. She's scared of the truth for the first time. Wally tells her she's the one who taught him to face his fears. They hug.

Ms. Fields asks Simon how is Northwestern interview went. He says it was fine, but he doesn't think he wants to go there anymore. She asks what Maddie would think about that. She tells him she found out last week that Maddie was selected to receive the fall English award. She asks if Simon would accept it on her behalf. Simon thinks her mom should accept it instead. He says he'll let her know.

Sheriff Baxter writes down an address as Xavier walks into the station. When Sheriff Baxter hangs up the phone, Xavier asks if the call was about Mr. South. He doesn't believe Mr. South had anything to do with Maddie's disappearance. He was with Mr. South the day she disappeared. He also couldn't have been in the houses. The person he saw there jumped out a window. Mr. South can barely make it up stairs without a knee brace. Sheriff Baxter closes his office door and berates Xavier for admitting to being at the abandoned house. He threatens to arrested Xavier. Xavier tells him to do his job and arrest the actual criminal. He tells Xavier to go home. On his way out, Xavier takes a picture of the address Sheriff Baxter wrote down.

Charley asks Rhonda why she's not asking more questions. Dawn crossed over. Rhonda says it has nothing to do with her. Charley says Dawn must have unlocked something in the anti-séance. They all felt her cross over, even though they didn't see it. She conjured her memories and made it out. Charley doesn't understand why Rhonda doesn't care when she was in such a rush to cross over. Rhonda says Charley is out of her depth. Charley says they're friends and she can talk to him, but she brushes him off.

Sandra asks if they're early because the school is empty. Simon says he thought they could go over what she should say. She doesn't want to give a speech, but he says she only has to say a few words. They can just write a few things so she doesn't have to think on the fly. He leads her into an empty classroom. Sandra asks which desk was Maddie's and he gestures to where Maddie is sitting, though Sandra can't see her. Sandra wants to get started.

Xavier, Claire, and Nicole arrive at the address. It's one block from the last one and the door is open. Claire wants to watch and wait, like a stakeout.

Wally searches through the school archives. He and Charley are looking into the past to figure out what Janet and Dawn might have found to explain everything. Wally's in 1959 and he's working backward, but he hasn't seen Janet's name. Janet died in 1960. Charley hasn't found anything in Dawn's student file either. Charley feels awful that they didn't get to say goodbye to her. Wally doesn't want it to happen like that for him. He didn't get a goodbye last time and he doesn't just want to disappear. Charley doesn't want that either. That's even more reason for them to understand what's going on. Wally calls Charley to see an article about the construction of the fallout shelter. It was built below the east wing, where fire destroyed the old chemistry lab on January 14, 1958. They realize that must be Mr. Martin's fire. It was deemed accidental. Two people died: Mr. Martin and Janet Hamilton. They wonder why Mr. Martin and Janet lied to them.

Simon makes suggestions for what Sandra should say. Sandra says Maddie found find the award silly. Maddie prompts Simon to ask what Sandra remembers about that last day, when she came to school to look for Maddie. Sandra asks why he's asking. He thinks if she remembers something meaningful, it might help with the speech. Sandra tries to leave. Simon stops her by asking about the necklace. He shows her that he found it. He knows she came to the school that day, but she said she didn't see Maddie. He knows that's a lie, because she was wearing the necklace when she left study hall. He asks why she came to school that day. Maddie had said she was in a program. Sandra realizes that's why he was really at the house. He asks her again why she has it. Sandra starts crying and Maddie suddenly remembers what happened.

*Maddie watches her mom drive on the curb and leaves class to find her. The light flickers as she walks in the hall. She meets her mom at the front of the school.*

Through Simon, Maddie asks why Sandra lied about seeing Maddie that day. Sandra says she was ashamed of what happened that day.

*Maddie asks Sandra why she's there. Sandra says she doesn't need to be in rehab. She's sober. She has something to tell Maddie.*

*Sandra tells Maddie about a cabin she just bought. Maddie says they don't have any money. They had to borrow money to put her in rehab. Sandra says she used the money they put away when Maddie's dad died. Maddie says that money was for her college. Sandra says they'll figure it out. Maddie reminds her she's going to school in Chicago. Sandra asks why she would do that because Chicago is really far away. Maddie says she doesn't want to stay with Sandra. As class lets out, Maddie leads her mom downstairs to the boiler room. She says she's going to call Sandra's friend right now and fix things. Sandra says Maddie is ruining the moment. Maddie asks for the friend's number. Sandra says she wrote him a cashier's check already. Maddie just needs to get over it and realize Sandra's the adult. Maddie says adults are supposed to take care of things. They're supposed to be responsible for things. No one has taken care of Maddie since her dad died. Sandra can't even take care of herself. That money for for Maddie from her dad. It wasn't Sandra's to spend. It's like Sandra wakes up every day and finds a new way to hurt Maddie. She has to lie to her friends and pretend everything's okay. She's spent so much time just trying to survive this life. She tells Sandra to go ahead and take everything her dad gave her. She takes off her necklace and throws it at Sandra, saying she could probably get $40 for it if she pawns it. She tells Sandra to leave her alone. Sandra picks up the necklace and leaves. Maddie sits down and cries.*

Sandra says she left Maddie there and went home. She was never trying to be a bad mom but she was one. Ms. Fields comes in and says they're about to get started. Simon tells Sandra he'll catch up with her. Maddie says Sandra killed her spirit, but she didn't murder her. Simon asks who did.

Nicole leaves Simon a message to call her. They're still waiting outside the house. Nicole and Claire start to bicker. Xavier tries to make peace between them. Then he gets out of the car. He says they're past the point of no return. They've all screwed up and they all owe something to Maddie. He's not waiting anymore. Nicole comes with him, but tells Claire to wait in the car in case they need a getaway driver.

Wally and Charley find the fallout shelter. It looks like it hasn't been touched in years. The article says it was built after the fire. Charley sees something that has been touched recently. Wally pulls a box of the shelf and opens it. Behind the box on the shelf are notebooks. While Wally finds their obituaries, Charley finds notes on all of them in Mr. Martin's handwriting.

Maddie watches from the risers as the Split River Quartet plays to start the awards ceremony. Ms. Fields presents the award for Maddie and introduces Sandra to accept it on Maddie's behalf. Sandra introduces herself and talks about Maddie and their strained relationship. Sandra says even if it didn't seem like it, Maddie cared so much about everything. She took care of Sandra more than she should have had to. Sandra hopes everyone there knows that Maddie would have stood up for them and helped them if they needed it. She was that kind of person. She wishes someone had been there to stand up for Maddie. She wishes she had been there for Maddie. Principal Hartman thanks her and goes to announce the next award.

Mr. Martin comes to Maddie and tells her she's lucky she got this goodbye. Maddie doesn't know if any of it will ever make sense, but if her mom is ready to say goodbye, maybe Maddie can too. She thinks she's ready to write her obituary.

Nicole and Xavier enter the house with flashlights. Nicole says this is her worst nightmare come true. Xavier says he has her back. They need to look for evidence someone was squatting there. They walk through the house. They decide to split up, which scares Nicole. Nicole goes upstairs.

Claire sees someone moving in the bushes and leaves the truck with the keys on the dash.

Nicole finds a bed. Claire comes up behind her and says she saw someone come inside. They call out to Xavier, who chases someone out. They watch as that person gets in Xavier's truck, then backs into Xavier before driving off. Nicole uses her phone to record a video of the person driving off before going to help Xavier.

Wally and Charley read through the notes. Wally finds a paper with the play that killed him on it. Mr. Martin has been documenting them and their deaths. Charley finds another article about the fire. Janet's family wanted the administration held accountable for her death because surviving students said Mr. Martin had started the fire, contradicting what he told them. Wally realizes the documentation doesn't mention Janet at all.

Xavier wakes up. Claire tells him the ambulance is on the way. Xavier asks if they saw them and Nicole looks at the video she took. She sees something that surprises her. She sends it to Simon and tells him to watch it right away. Xavier realizes he's bleeding from his head and collapses again.

Wally and Charley think Mr. Martin owes them an explanation. Rhonda comes in and says she told them to let it go. They're upset that she knew about all this. Rhonda says she had a feeling when Maddie arrived, so she started following Mr. Martin. She shows them a container where Mr. Martin has stored things like Wally's game ball, Charley's letter to Emilio, and Rhonda's acceptance letter from Berkeley. Mr. Martin's been hoarding the objects they had with them when they died. Wally feels sick. It has to be Mr. Martin because no one else knows everything about them like he does. They hear a noise and realize they're trapped. Rhonda goes to check the hatch.

Maddie works on her obituary. Simon comes in. He says he has to talk to her. She wants to go first. She tells him about the obituary she was finally able to write. She wants to read it for Simon. She tells him she was born. It was all really hard, but she had Simon. She knows that's why he's the only person who can see and her. He's the only person who never asked her for anything. He never took more than he gave. He's the only person she can trust. And he's the only person who loved her unconditionally. She needs him to know she loves him in a bigger than high school way, bigger than life and death. No one gets out of life alive, but she's grateful she didn't have to be alone. Simon says he wishes that were true. He pulls out his phone and shows her that Nicole's video captured Maddie driving Xavier's truck. That's who's been breaking into houses and who attacked Xavier. He doesn't know if what he's seeing is real. He thinks it's some coping mechanism he created to put off the pain of losing her. She's alive out there. Maddie says it's real and she's her, but he walks away.

Sheriff Baxter arrives as they load Xavier into an ambulance. He gets in to ride along. Nicole and Claire watch as he's taken away.

Simon leaves the school. Maddie tries to stop him at the bus stop, but he ignores her. She tries to chase him, but gets thrown back to the boiler room. She screams out. She hears someone calling for help.

*Maddie stops crying when she hears someone calling for help. She follows the sound to the fallout shelter, where she finds Mr. Martin fighting with Janet. Mr. Martin warns Janet not to move, but Janet runs into Maddie's body, throwing her back into the wall.*

Maddie follows the calls for help to find Charley, Wally, and Rhonda. She can't open the door and they tell her the back hatch is stuck, too. They warn her to be careful, that she can't trust him. She asks who, then sees Mr. Martin standing at the top of the stairs. She gasps.

Janet, in Maddie's body, buys a bus ticket. As she walks to the bus, she sees a missing person poster and pulls it down. She gets on the bus.

## Cast

### Main Cast

* Peyton List as Maddie Nears
* Kristian Flores as Simon Elroy
* Milo Manheim as Wally Clark
* Spencer Macpherson as Xavier Baxter
* Kiara Pichardo as Nicole Herrera
* Sarah Yarkin as Rhonda
* Nick Pugliese as Charley
* Rainbow Wedell as Claire Zomer

### Guest Stars

* Josh Zuckerman as Everett Martin
* Maria Dizzia as Sandra Nears
* Ian Tracey as Sheriff Baxter
* Kalyn Miles as Ms. Fields
* Alex Zahara as Principal Hartman

### Co-Starring

* Joanna Gaskell as EMT
* Janet Walmsley as Bus Station Attendant

## Music

 "Concrete"
 "doomsday"
* Maddie tries to stop him, but he ignores her.
* Maddie remembers how she died.
* The other ghosts warn Maddie.
* Janet, as Maddie, buys a bus ticket and leaves.

"The Wheel" - Sohn"Concrete" - Barrie"doomsday" - Lizzy McAlpine
## Notes and Trivia

* This episode's title is likely a reference to the movie *"Jennifer's Body."*
* The ending reveals that Maddie is not dead, but her spirit has merely taken Janet's place in the afterlife, and Janet has control of her body.
	+ This also shows spirits can effectively return to life by swapping spirits with an already-living human.

## See Also

 **#02** | "The Fault of Our Scars"
 **#03** | "Dead and Confused"
 **#04** | "Ghoul Intentions"