TV Show review
Review basis: 4 seasons, 24 episodes · through March 4, 2026
March 9, 2023 · TV-MA · Returning Series
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
School Spirits follows a teenage girl named Maddie who dies and becomes a ghost stuck at her high school. She teams up with other ghosts from different eras to solve mysteries about their deaths and uncover school secrets. Later seasons give significant time to gay and non-binary ghost characters who explore their identities and form romances. These identity storylines become noticeable in the group.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for School Spirits.
Woke representation / casting
Core ghosts are mostly white while living friends add some ethnic mix. Gay and non-binary ghosts receive focused storylines and authentic casting in later seasons.
Woke political dialogue
Conversations stay on personal mysteries, trauma, friendship, and relationships without activist speeches or ideology.
Identity-driven story themes
The main drive is solving deaths and processing trauma. Later seasons devote clear time to queer identity exploration, past bullying for being gay, biphobia, and non-binary self-discovery among ghosts.
Western institutional / cultural critique
A school guidance counselor is shown as a murderer and some authority figures fail students. One ghost came from a Christian home. These stay tied to the plot rather than modern activist framing.
Woke character or canon changes
Production
Not relevant
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
A few viewers noted season 3 as pushing woke elements around the non-binary character. No major public campaigns or widespread complaints appeared.
Creator track record context
Creators have sparse public activist histories but added prominent queer arcs with intentional casting. Some crew members show mild liberal past statements.
