For the majority of “School Spirits” Season 1, Janet Hamilton (Jess Gabor) is an enigmatic — and generally absent — figure. We first learn about her in the first episode when Charley (Nick Pugliese) reveals Janet apparently crossed over a while back after existing as a school spirit since 1960. When it is eventually revealed that Janet threw herself into Madison’s (Peyton List) body in the boiler room and made off with it, leaving Maddie not dead but disembodied, Janet appears to be the villain of the story. However, we come to learn that there’s a lot more to her story.

Despite Janet’s apparent villain status and notable absence through most “School Spirit” Season 1 episodes, Season 2 paints a more complicated picture of the mid-century ghost, ultimately revealing Mr. Martin (Josh Zuckerman) to be the true bad guy, one who spent years manipulating and tormenting Janet. While all of the spirits are emotionally damaged, Janet’s damage is far more extensive. To pull off the major plot twist, Gabor leaned into the audience misdirect, doing her utmost to make sure people hated her before pulling the rug out from under them with the truth.

Janet’s tragic story begins with the events leading up to her death and follows her into the afterlife. In Season 2, Episode 1, we catch a glimpse of Janet’s home life and learn that she once dreamed of becoming a chemical engineering scientist after high school, despite her strict parents’ being against the idea. Those dreams were encouraged by two people she trusted dearly: Her grandmother Ruth (Beverley Elliott), and her chemistry teacher Mr. Martin. Her trust in Mr. Martin both in life and in her afterlife makes the truth behind her death even more tragic.

After Janet’s old-fashioned and abusive reverend father Joseph (David James Lewis) discovers a University of Chicago college catalog among Janet’s belongings, he tells her to focus on finding a husband and having some children before pressuring the school to fire Mr. Martin for promoting unorthodox attitudes toward women in science. Caught up in his anger at the firing, Mr. Martin planned to use the school’s gas lines to fill up the lab, ending his life, but he ended up changing his mind.

Unfortunately, the gas that he freed was still hanging around in the chemistry lab when Janet showed up, leading to both of their deaths in an explosion when she struck the flint to start an experiment. Unaware of the gas and of Mr. Martin’s plans, Janet spent decades believing she was the one who caused the fire, and Mr. Martin was more than happy to let her live out eternity wracked with guilt. Never has the term gaslighting been more appropriate. 

After their deaths, Mr. Martin and Janet continued to be close, a closeness made possible in part by Martin’s manipulation of Janet: She was extremely grateful that he was so forgiving about her (apparently) causing their deaths. They eventually came to realize that spirits have a connection to their “scars,” energy imprints of the moment they died that allow them to relive that moment again and again. After “School Spirits” fan favorite Rhonda (Sarah Yarkin) died, Rhonda’s acceptance letter from Berkeley caused Janet to realize that objects relating to their deaths are important.

Janet and her teacher decided to manipulate the energy contained within the spirits’ scars and keys. To harness that energy, they hid all of the spirits’ keys for their own use. However, after years of experiments and spending more and more time in her scar, Janet’s mental health began to deteriorate, while at the same time the veil between the spirit world and the living one was getting thin. 

Eventually, Mr. Martin went full villain and trapped Janet in the fallout shelter, telling the others that she had crossed over. She spent around six months imprisoned before Maddie opened the door. Desperate for release from the shelter and her former trusted mentor’s control, Janet threw herself into Maddie’s body, leading to the events of the series. Once we understand everything she’s been through, it’s hard to see Janet as a villain, even if she did steal the body of an innocent girl.