Secrets of Sulphur Springs S1 E11

## Plot

Picking up where the last episode left off, Harper claims that she got into an accident while riding her bike by the creek, and she needs a ride back into town. Chris tells her that she shouldn't get in a stranger's car, but she knows who he is, and says that her mom knows his wife. She says her name is Marie Granger. It's revealed that her middle name is her paternal grandmother's name. She says Chris should take Sugar Hill instead of Bayou Road, claiming that it's closed up ahead, and the other way is faster too. He drives around the Tremont every Sunday. In fact, he's planning to buy it. His family owned it even before it was a hotel. When it was a farm, it mostly grew sugarcane. A truck is suddenly in their lane, they narrowly avoid crashing, and Chris turns onto Sugar Hill Road. While playing guitar with his dad, Griffin hears him play the same song that he did at the talent show. He still has no idea how he won. Griffin says they might've stuffed the ballot box, and Ben thought the exact same thing. He had a dream about it the other night. Everything was the same, except Griffin was there. So maybe everything with Savannah and time travel wasn't a stable time loop after all, and Ben's original memories from that time are being slowly overwritten by the new ones with Griffin and Harper? After all, we never learned who the figure in the shadows was, unless they just put that there as a stupid and poorly thought out red herring/cliffhanger. We also never found out how Savannah's sleeping bag wound up in the lake. Before Jess owned the Dunn Cafe, it was called Jiffy Coffee. Chris's other Sunday tradition is going out to the lake by the Tremont with his family and having a picnic when the weather's nice. He's going to tell them about his plan to buy the Tremont. Harper was four years old back then and was always an amazing artist. Topher, despite being only three, was the family comedian. Chris used to work summers at the hotel when he was a kid. It's where he met Jess. He doesn't believe in ghosts, or at least he doesn't believe that Savannah's ghost haunts the hotel. He's been through the whole place, and never found any ghost. Apparently he never found a secret room or a bunker either. He plans on selling his '67 GTO for the money needed for the down payment. Harper claims that her dad is going to pick her up, and when he starts to leave, she hugs him. Wyatt has discovered the self-rocking chair and tells Zoey about it. They see it rock again, and Zoey asks the ghost if it's Savannah. It writes another message on the mirror: NO. As Harper is running back to the hatch, she runs into Griffin. He was looking for her to tell her that his family isn't moving after all, and when he got to the bunker, he saw that the tumblers in the radio were set to 2011, the year her dad died, and realized what she did. He doesn't mention it, but she never even considered that her actions could cause a paradox or some sort of cascading catastrophe domino effect. After all, if Chris buys the hotel in 2011, then Ben can't buy it in 2020 and move his family to Sulphur Springs, Griffin and Harper might never meet and become friends, and it's possible that Harper never discovers the bunker and the portal, which is the only reason that any of this is even possible in the first place. She tells Griffin what her dad told her about the Tremont. She knows he's worried because he thinks she messed with destiny, but she tells him that her dad will still be alive and waiting at home for her. When they leave the bunker, the dials on the radio start spinning. The Tremont looks the same, but Harper is in denial and assumes that her dad just decided not to buy it and bought the coffee shop instead. He'll be waiting at home for her. She asks Griffin why he's doubting this. For once, why can't he just be happy for her? Chris isn't at the house though. Topher hears her saying "Dad", but he assumes she's just thinking about him too, because today is still the anniversary of the accident. Harper heads into her room. She looks at her shoes and all of her artwork, which are mostly of water and lily pads with flowers, and basically has a *Tangled* moment. She recovers repressed memories from the day her dad died, and starts sobbing when she remembers the truth. He didn't actually die in a car accident. Or, maybe he did die that way originally, but then when she changed it, fate was all like, "Sorry, but he has to die today" and the only thing that changed was the exact time and way that he died. Then when she remembers "what really happened", it's possible that her original memories of that day were overwritten like what may or may not be going on with Ben, but it didn't take as long with her because it was just one day, and she was already really young when it happened, or because she blocked it out that time too. Either way, this is easily the most tragic scene I've seen in probably any Disney Channel show, and that's saying something when you remember some of the characters' backstories or the PTS inducing events that happen to them. Elena, Rapunzel, Pascal, Kion, possibly Rani, I'm including Cass under protest, and so on. Also, Kyleigh's acting is amazing during this scene. The twins brought the rocking chair into Griffin's room. It was originally in their parents' room. They tell Griffin what they saw. They think that the chair is being rocked by a ghost, and it's not Savannah. Griffin watches it with them. When Jess gets home, Harper leaves the house and tells her that she remembered. It all came back. Their dad didn't die on Bayou Road. There wasn't a car accident. He drowned in the lake by the Tremont, after his and Harper's canoe tipped over. She blocked it all out. Her mom confirms that it's true. The doctors told Jess not to tell her the truth and force things. They said that it would all come back on its own, eventually. Harper woke up one morning and said it was a car accident. She finally seemed at peace with what happened, so her mom went along with it. It seemed like the closure she needed. That's why Jess always said that the Tremont was cursed, because that's where Chris died. And after that, she never wanted her kids anywhere near that place. Harper tells her it was his dream to buy the Tremont. She knew it had been in his family and that they used to go out there, but he never told her that he was going to buy it. He was planning to fix it up and move in, and when Jess asks Harper how she could possibly know that, she says she might've made that up too. If he wasn't actually in a car accident though, then something else must've happened to his car. Jess sold it and used the money for a down payment on the coffee shop. It's where they had their first date, and a lot of dates after that. Harper tells her that she's okay now. It finally all makes sense. So, that's a point against the new timeline theory, unless Jess used Chris's life insurance to buy the coffee shop after he died in the car accident in the "original" timeline. When the twins head to the kitchen to make food for themselves and Griffin, the rocking chair finally moves. The ghost gets up and leaves footprints on the ground, although they disappear soon afterwards. Griffin follows them into the basement, but he forgets about them when he sees Harper there. She tells him about her dad. It's too late in the day for her to try saving him again. She admits that Griffin was right. I mean, she could always try again next year, but that's still a possible paradox in the making. She doesn't want to go back anymore though. They can't change things, and they shouldn't try to. Her dad died saving her, which means that if she did save his life, she would definitely cause a paradox, since she obviously can't save him when she's 12 or 13 if she dies when she's 4, but if she can't save him because she's not supposed to be alive, then he dies and she lives, and so on. Unless someone else saves young Harper. Also, I guess this confirms that someone can exist in two places at different ages in the same moment in time. Maybe they should close up the bunker. It gets cold, and Harper notices the footprints. Griffin tells her about them. They're wet footprints, and her dad died in a lake. They're heading towards the bunker. All of a sudden, *Savannah* shows up. She time traveled to the future (from her perspective) to find them and show them a photo she found. It's of Harper in 1930, which means she's not done time traveling either. Caroline and Ray had Savannah clear out the storage room, and she found the photo sealed in an envelope in a crack in the wall, probably by Harper herself. It's just like what they did with the letter and the coffee can. The only question is, why would Harper do that? And why would she go back to 1930? Griffin suggests that it could be because the Tremont is in her family. There's only one way to find out for sure, and that's by going back to 1930. They'll pick up clothes on the other side so they don't stick out. Savannah learns about the radio, and they tell her how they figured it out. This means that a ghost really is at the Tremont, but whoever it is wants to help them. They explore the farm. Aw! So many animals! There's music coming from what looks like a record player, also known as a phonograph. Or it's coming from a radio identical to the one from the bunker. It might even be the same one. On the second floor, they see a man in the rocking chair. They run when he starts to turn towards them, but before they can leave the house, they run into Harper herself, in a 1930 dress. And that's where the episode and the season ends. As the credits roll, we finally hear the full version of the camp song, sung by Savannah. *There's a place in Louisiana Under sugar maple shade Full of fun and games and laughter Where our best friendships are made Our hearts and minds will always stay Here at dear Camp Tremont* As the trailer for season 2 revealed, the final scene with two Harpers isn't actually a future self situation, but a way for them to save money by using an identical ancestor instead of hiring another actor, similar to Best Friends Whenever or *Back to the Future*. The woman is Daisy, Harper's paternal great grandmother. Okay, here's what I think. Someone in Harper's family, possibly the rocking chair man, built the radio, the hatch, maybe even the portal, etc., and sometime after the Tremont was turned into a hotel and World War Two ended, the bunker was added and the radio was put down there at some point. Also, the radio appears to be powered by some sort of crystal, and it's stolen at one point. Also squared, someone has visions of the future, also known as precognition, like the superhero Dreamer/Nia Nal from *Supergirl*, an ancestor of the comic book superhero and member of the Legion of Super-Heroes from the 30th and 31st centuries, Dream Girl/Nura Nal. There has to be a reason why only Harper, and probably also Topher and the rest of their paternal family, can use the radio. Nope, it turns out that anyone can use it. It also looks like the supernatural/paranormal stuff will be much more explicit this time around. I just hope I'll be able to watch the show as it airs this time.