Secrets of Sulphur Springs S1 E8

## Plot

Griffin wonders why his dad would hurt Savannah if they were friends. Harper suggests that they might have been playing another prank and it went wrong. If he really did do something to her, then why would he return to Sulphur Springs? They still don't know what happened to Savannah. They never will, since Bennett made sure he and his son left town before anyone could question him and find out the truth. No one else notices them, or if they do, they don't help them out. The twins suddenly hear the recording device in the secret room turn on, and it starts playing Savannah's song. It's been temporarily boarded up again, but Zoey rips off part of it. However, it's not plugged in, so it shouldn't be able to work. Yes, it turns out that something truly paranormal/supernatural is actually happening. Another cop, Officer Derrick, finally noticed Harper and Griffin and opened the door for them. They claim that another cop was on their way to take them to their parents when they stopped here to help search the lake. It's been awhile, so he probably forgot about them. However, the officer refuses to just let them leave, since it's against protocol. They say it's an emergency, and Harper claims that she has to use the bathroom because she's on her period. Wait, is that what every girl in fiction means when she mentions "girl stuff"? The term period is already used as a euphemism for menstruating! Seriously, there have been so many different phrases and words used as euphemisms for both this and death, you'd think they were related. Derrick lets Harper leave, but not Griffin. They can go one at a time. Sarah decides to call the parents of Griffin's old friends to see if they've heard from him. He might be heading back to Chicago. His old friends, his aunt, and his grandpa are there. It makes sense that he'd go someplace familiar. She blows up at the twins when they try to tell her about Savannah haunting the hotel. Their brother is missing. This is serious. She leaves to let Ben deal with them. They're not making this up. First there were cold spots, then the glare on the camera, and the creepy song. Ben freaks out about the song again when they describe it to him, but he tells them that Griffin was messing around with an old recording. Zoey pretends to buy the explanation that he left it on, and she takes Wyatt upstairs. Jess and Topher go through Harper's stuff to help the police narrow the search. She keeps a journal under her mattress. Jess finds her bag under her bed with a 90s dress in it, and a list of the performers for the Camp Tremont talent show. She asks Topher if Harper has been going through the boxes in the garage. He admits that she wanted a picture of their dad. When he says this, he realizes where she might be and tells his mom to grab her keys. When Officer Derrick enters the employee restroom after Harper doesn't answer him, he sees that she snuck out through the window. She frees Griffin. He wants to go back to the present to confront his dad about his confession. There's no reason for him to tell the truth though, and even if they tell their parents everything, they won't believe them, especially after last night. They can't just go back to their normal lives and pretend that Ben doesn't know what happened to Savannah. It turns out that they saw Jess run out of the hotel right before they heard Ben confess. She might've seen something, and they head to the girls' bunkhouse to talk to her. They tell her that Ben's dad took him back to Chicago, and figured she'd want to know. Her opinion of Ben has done a complete 180º. Now she thinks that he was a jerk, and says she doesn't care. She tells Griffin that he's just like him when he assumes it was because he spent more time with Savannah than her. Griffin says he's nothing like him. Jess points out that he's accusing her just like Ben blamed her for what happened to Savannah. Harper asks her why he'd do that. She tells them about the dare, and they leave before she can call Becky back and get them in trouble again. If Savannah spent the whole night in the basement, then she might have found the bunker and went back in time, just like them. Jess and Topher look for Harper at the cemetery. She visits her dad's grave a lot. Jess had no idea. Topher thinks it makes Harper feel closer to their dad. He's been here with her before, but it's not the same for him. He was too young to remember their dad. They were both so little when he died. Jess never talks about him because it makes her sad to think about the life and memories they could've had with him. Topher tells her that Harper remembers things about him, like trips to the zoo, painting on the porch, swimming in the lake, etc. He knows she'll be okay, because she's tough, like their mom. Jess thanks him, and he leaves to look around. Harper and Griffin check the hotel's basement and see the bunker. It explains why no one ever found Savannah, but it doesn't explain why Ben confessed. If she's okay, then why was he so upset? They don't know for sure that she came down here alone. It's possible that Ben knows about the bunker and the portal too. He does act weird every time he's in the basement. Maybe he decided to stay behind. Maybe he was just upset because camp was ending and he wouldn't see Savannah again. As a kid though, he would've totally been up for a time traveling adventure. Maybe he thought he'd make things harder for Savannah. Their parents may be overprotective, but Ben's dad is super intense. If he thought his son was sneaking off, he'd want answers, and he wouldn't stop until he found the portal. It's possible that Ben only confessed to keep Savannah's secret and make sure his father never came back to Sulphur Springs. As for buying the hotel, he could've made a pact with Savannah to come back one day. In the present, he opens up the secret room and messes with the recording device, but it doesn't do anything. He asks Savannah what she's trying to tell him. Sarah finds him and is upset with him. She thinks they should be out there searching for Griffin, not looking for ghosts. Ben doesn't like making calls and checking social media either, and he'd rather be looking too, but the police told them to stay put. Sarah begs him to talk to her. Wyatt thinks he was curious and freaked about the haunting, but Zoey tells him that they shouldn't give their parents more to worry about right now. Wyatt wonders if Griffin was taken by Savannah because she got fed up that they didn't understand what she was trying to tell them. Zoey says they have to try harder then, and Wyatt finally gets over his fear of being possessed in order to save him. Ben takes Sarah to the campgrounds to finally explain to her why he had to come back to Sulphur Springs. Griffin and Harper are walking through the woods, but everything looks the same. The portal must've worked though, since Harper felt the jolt. If they can bring Savannah back to her proper time, then she'll need a cover story about where she's been so the police won't get suspicious. It's revealed that they went back to 1960, before Camp Tremont even existed. Ben tells Sarah that he was good friends with Savannah, and she realizes that Griffin was right. He should've been honest with him when he first started asking questions. Sarah is mad at him for lying, and asks him why he'd talk to Harper's mom when he mentions her. They knew each other too. That's why Jess told Sarah to go back to Chicago. She knew that Ben was lying to them. He says they lost touch after that summer, and he never thought she'd still be living in Sulphur Springs or that one day their kids would be close. A police officer shows up and tells them that a canine unit just arrived. They're asking for some of Griffin's clothes to try and pick up his scent. Sarah tells Ben that he doesn't know that it's going to be okay. The Tremont is deserted, and Harper wonders if the hotel hasn't opened yet either, but Griffin says it's been in business since 1944. A man tells them that no one is there because there's a big storm coming. He's only staying long enough to board up the windows. Griffin thinks they should leave. Maybe Savannah never found the portal. He still wants answers, but it's not worth getting stuck in the past. However, Harper sees a shadow go past a window. They enter the hotel and find Savannah. However, she thinks that it's a final prank by Ben before camp ends. They tell her about time travel, but she doesn't believe them. They convince her to least come with them. Back at her house, Jess is looking at photos of Harper and Chris, her husband. I couldn't remember his name and only bothered to look it up just now, especially since his name is hardly ever mentioned in the dialogue, and he doesn't appear until the penultimate episode of season 1. Ben shows up and tells her and Topher that the police are asking for clothes. Topher leaves to go get them. Ben tells Jess that he told Sarah that they knew Savannah. She's replayed that day in her head over and over again, and she keeps coming back to how weird he was acting. He says he was upset, but she knows it was more than that, and asks him what really happened that night. While on the phone with her sister, Sarah tells her that as soon as the police find Griffin, she's going back to Chicago with him and the twins. The call is suddenly cut off. A message is written on a mirror: STAY. The kids make it to the hatch as the storm arrives. However, before Savannah can go through, a tree falls on the hatch and closes it.