Secrets of Sulphur Springs S1 E1

## Plot

This show is already different from others on Disney Channel simply from the length alone. It actually varies between 21 to 25 minutes per episode. That being said, that includes the intro theme, the end credits, and the "Previously on X" and "Next time on X" recaps and promos. It was originally pitched to Disney+ before they passed it over, and it was also originally supposed to be an hour long show. I got hooked on it and other shows and video games because, let's be honest, we were and still are in the middle of a global pandemic, what else is there to do? It starts with a blond girl in a red shirt and dark blue shorts running away from someone or something in the woods. The cinematography is different too, at least in this first scene and a few others, probably because they filmed on location in Louisiana instead of on a sound stage, and because the first season only has 11 episodes, instead of 20 or more, so each individual episode should logically have a larger budget to work with. I also love that they use practical effects, at least most of the time, instead of the cheap and obviously fake CGI and other VFX work that you normally see on TV shows, especially cable sitcoms, and *especially* on Disney. That being said, sitcom stands for situational comedy, which this show is definitely not, though there are moments of levity thrown in that I tend to skip over to get to the mystery/drama/sci-fi/supernatural stuff. Still, this practically looks like a movie by comparison, albeit still a DCOM. There's also no laugh track. The show is rated TV-PG instead of the other animated Disney shows I've looked at in the past, which were rated TV-Y7 or TV-Y. I'm not sure what other live-action Disney shows are usually rated. Anyways, the girl runs towards the Tremont Hotel and summer camp. Many years later, the place is abandoned and rundown, and three kids go there during a storm. Two of them dare the other one, Topher, to go inside to see if the place is really haunted. He goes up to a window, and they all scream and run away when he sees a little girl, who also screams. It turns out that there's a family living in the hotel. They just moved in. The little girl, Zoey, screamed because of her twin brother Wyatt, who is filming her reaction. They run into their mother, Sarah, who takes her phone back. She decides to take them upstairs and finish unpacking their rooms. Their dad, Bennett "Ben" Campbell, talks to their older brother Griffin, who laughs at the video. He paid Wyatt to prank Zoey, and says there's nothing else to do. His dad tells him that when he was his age, he practically lived in the surrounding woods. He'd explore and play games with the other kids every summer. He tells Griffin that Sulphur Springs, Louisiana, might surprise him. He sees lightning strike. It turns out that it hit some kind of hatch or manhole, like one of the secret entrances to the factory in Code Lyoko. It has a symbol on it that's similar, but not exact, to the yellow and black radiation symbol. The intro is fine, and reveals that the girl from earlier went missing, and that the place connected to the hatch is a fallout shelter. The next morning is the kids' first day of school. Griffin misses his old school and the music program there, but his mom tells him that he'll find one just as good, but he's doubtful, given where they are. Sarah admits that she misses Chicago too and she'd move back in a second if she could, but it's not that simple. She shows him an old picture of his dad with a guitar, holding a trophy in front of the hotel. He won a talent show in 1990. It's been a long time since they've seen him smile. Griffin has never been the new kid before. His mom tells him to just be himself, because he's pretty great. Aw! The middle school mascot is a screaming eagle. Griffin's locker is at the very end of a row, it's at the bottom, and it's stuck… until a girl kicks it open for him. Her shoes have drawings of flowers on them. She tells him that it works every time. He's so stunned that he doesn't even notice the poster for the music club on the wall to his left. The three kids from the night before are in one of his classes. He sits in the very back. When he has to tell everyone something about himself, he says that his family just moved from Chicago, he's into music like rock and the blues, and his family came there because his dad quit his job and bought the Tremont Hotel, with plans to fix it up and reopen it for business. Everyone, even the teacher, is freaked out that he moved into the Tremont. It's rumored to be haunted by the ghost of a girl named Savannah, and the three kids from the previous night tell Griffin what they saw. At lunch, the girl who kicked his locker open, who is drawing in a book, invites him to sit with her. He jokingly calls her Locker Ninja, and comments on her shoes. He's good with faces, but he still doesn't know her name. It's Harper Marie Dunn. She learned that kick move from the janitor. She notices that people are staring at him, and is super excited to find out that he lives at the Tremont. He hasn't seen Savannah. It turns out that Harper is also a supernatural/paranormal nerd who knows everything about her. She's the girl from the first scene. Her name was Savannah Dillon, and she disappeared from the Tremont thirty years ago, never to be seen again. He tells her that the kids from the night before saw his little sister, not Savannah. She says that plenty of other people have seen her around the hotel before. On the way home, he gets distracted when he sees a flicker of red and crashes his bike. He thinks he sees Savannah, but it turns out that it was actually Harper in a red hoodie. She lives on the other side of the woods. She'd be stoked to actually see Savannah, but she's only ever been seen inside the Tremont. She tried breaking in once, but cut her knee when she tried crawling through a window, and her mom is still mad about it. He invites her over to give her a tour, and she decides to hold a seance. Ben tells Sarah and the twins that the hotel used to be a world famous resort, but it closed after the hot springs dried up. However, Griffin says it closed because Savannah disappeared and her ghost now haunts the hotel. He scares his siblings with the story. He introduces Harper. Sarah says the hotel isn't haunted, but then the lights flicker and turn off. Ben and Griffin head down into the basement. Griffin's flashlight turns off by itself. Ben says the battery must've died, and tells him to use his phone. Griffin asks his dad what he thinks happened to Savannah. Ben gets angry and says that whatever happened to her happened years ago. He doesn't want to hear another word about it, especially in front of the twins. The lights turn back on. Sarah invites Harper to stay for dinner, but Ben says she should check with her parents. She can text her mom. Griffin grabs her hand and takes her somewhere else so they can "finish the tour". In reality, he shows her the basement because he saw something earlier, and they find the door to the fallout shelter. When Harper turns on the flashlight, it works. They decide to explore the bunker. They go through a long hallway and enter a room with radiation suits, gas masks, a broken radio, etc. Griffin notices the hung up radiation suits moving. It turns out that there's an open door behind them. They go through a shorter hallway and up a spiral staircase, where they emerge through the hatch, which can only be opened by pulling on a chain. While Griffin hooks it, Harper goes through and screams. He asks her what happened. She felt a jolt. It was like electricity. He didn't feel anything. He wants to go back, but then Harper points out *Savannah* running through the woods. Harper goes after her, and Griffin follows her. Sarah talks to Ben. Because of the Tremont's reputation, no one will work for them to fix it up, and even if they were willing to, they can't afford to hire them anyway. They fought because he took out their savings, bought the hotel, and uprooted their lives instead of just talking to her about it first, and no one knows why, including her. He can't explain it. He just had to come back. Harper and Griffin see that the hot springs are still there. They see Savannah again and follow her. It turns out that she's just playing a game with some other kids. She has a bruise on her knee. Griffin thinks it was just some random kids playing a game, and while the girl looks just like Savannah, it can't be her, because ghosts don't get bruises. It doesn't explain water appearing out of nowhere though, or the flashlight working again. Harper points out the hotel, which is open for business. A kid bumps into Griffin, and apologizes to him when his father, who is on an old-fashioned phone, tells him to pay attention. His name is Bennett. Griffin sees him take out a guitar case and realizes that's his dad.