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Warning: SPOILERS ahead for School Spirits season 3, episodes 1-3!School Spirits just confirmed Mr. Martin's biggest secret.
The cast of School Spirits have explained how Mr. Martin's shocking reveal in season 3, episode 2 will change the supernatural drama for good. School Spirits season 3 has continued to deepen the mysteries of the story, including providing answers to some long-standing questions. This includes more context about Mr. Martin's past.
In season 3, episode 2, it was revealed that Mr. Martin was spat out in front of the bus that crashed and killed eight students. However, a spiritual force living under Split River High School was involved in influencing him, particularly having played a song his dying friend had sung when he was a child. It made the accident technically not his fault.
In an interview with ScreenRant's Tatiana Hullender for School Spirits season 3, Nick Pugliese, who plays Charley, and Sarah Yarkin, who portrays Rhonda, unpacked the revelation of Mr. Martin's involvement with the bus crash. They explain how it opens up more questions about the spirits under the school and how much the main characters truly don't know yet:
ScreenRant: Episode 2 gives us the big reveal of the bus crash, where Mr. Martin turns out to be the one who jumped in front of the bus. He's once again making everyone's lives worse all the time. How does that change your perception of what is happening underground?
Nick Pugliese: I think it makes us even more confused. There are so many more questions. We sort of get backed into one corner, and then we realize, "Wait, actually that is not where we need to go. We need to go all the way over here." It definitely allows us some insight into Mr. Martin's backstory and his truth.
Sarah Yarkin: It's crazy. I think it opens up this whole new world.
Nick Pugliese: Literally!
Sarah Yarkin: Now we see there's so much more that we have to deal with and figure out than I think we ever knew.
ScreenRant also spoke with Josh Zuckerman, who portrays Mr. Martin, and Jennifer Tilly, who plays Dr. Deborah Hunter-Price, about the revelation. Zuckerman explained how there's a tug-of-war going on between how good and evil his character really is, especially given the backstory reveal, while Tilly offers sympathy for the story arc he's currently undergoing. See what they said below:
ScreenRant: With everything new we’ve learned about Mr. Martin in the first 3 episodes, how does he rate on your villain-to-victim scale?
Josh Zuckerman: I think that's exactly where we want the viewer to be, on that line of, "Is he good? Is he bad? Do I like him? Do I hate him?" It's really fun to play because I just have to follow his justifications for doing the things he does. People can interpret them however they want, but everything is justified in his mind.
I think the writing does an incredible job explaining the decisions that he's made. Specifically, when it comes to the beginning of the third season, and we learn a big secret from Mr. Martin's past that sheds a lot of light on things he's done in the previous two seasons and really what's happened [at the school].
It's super fun to learn more and more about the mythology of what's going on at this school, and it's nice to be at the epicenter of that for your character's emotional journey.
Jennifer Tilly: You actually feel sorry for him. Did you ever think that you were going to feel sorry for his character? But you do! He's in such a terrible place in season 3, and we don't know where it's going to go.
School Spirits season 3 still featuring Milo Manheim as Wally Clark in front of the gym doorsParamount Press Express
School Spirits season 2 ended with multiple revelations about Mr. Martin as well, including that he was accidentally responsible for Janet's death. However, the bus accident is one that killed many more students, and appears to be tied to the scar more heavily. For both instances, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, paying dearly for it.
However, that doesn't mean the characters in School Spirits can fully trust him. He was previously experimenting on ghosts to try and weaken the energy fence around the high school, helping them to get out. Yet his motivations didn't necessarily reflect his actions, making him not the most trustworthy of figures to be around.
With School Spirits season 3 continuing to air weekly, more development for Mr. Martin seems inevitable. Now that there's been added context to what's going on underneath the school, though, it seems like the core characters will have plenty of new problems to deal with. Perhaps Mr. Martin's deeper involvement will continue to widen as the show progresses.
New episodes of School Spirits season 3 air Wednesdays on Paramount+.
Release Date March 9, 2023
Network Paramount+
Directors Hannah Macpherson, Brian Dannelly, Max Winkler, Oran Zegman
Writers Nate Trinrud, Megan Trinrud, Oliver Goldstick, Nandita Seshadri
Arvind Johal
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