Secrets of Sulphur Springs

Secrets of Sulphur Springs is a Disney-produced family series that delves into the worlds of mystery and time travel. The series focuses on two families, the Campbell family, father Ben (Josh Braaten), mother Sarah (Kelly Frye), and their three children, Griffin (Preston Oliver), age twelve and two younger twins, Zoey (Madeleine McGraw) and Wyatt (Landon Gordon). The other family involved in the series is the Dunn family consisting of widowed mom Jess (Diandra Lyle), twelve-year-old daughter Harper (Kyliegh Curran), and younger brother Topher (Bryant Tardy). As the series opens, the Campbell family has just relocated from Chicago to the Louisiana town of Sulphur Springs, where Ben Campbell grew up. Ben has taken over The Tremont Hotel, a once prosperous but now rundown property near the town, with the intention of renovating the property and returning it to the days of its former glory, when it was a successful and thriving resort. One of the reasons that the resort went out of business was due to the mysterious disappearance of a young girl, Savannah Dillon (Elle Graham), that was never solved, causing the locals to believe that the ghost of Savannah now haunts the hotel building.

As the series opens, we meet Griffin Campbell, one of the two main lead characters in the series. Like his younger two twin siblings, he is not happy about leaving his world of friends and music instruction in the Chicago area to come down to a rundown property in a Louisiana small town. Music is his main interest, and like many young boys fancies himself becoming a rock star. Part of his look includes wearing black high and low top chucks all through the series. Griffin is hesitant to go to his new school on the first day because he doesn’t know anyone and is not used to being the new kid on the block. He meets Harper on the first day, who helps him with his locker when it is stuck, and makes some effort to be friendly. But she, all his classmates, and his teacher are horrified to find out that he is actually living in the Tremont. The town of Sulphur Springs seems to uniformly believe that the hotel is haunted by Savannah.

Although Griffin and his siblings have experienced some ghostly moments, like doors opening and slamming shut, objects falling down, or strange sounds, Griffin’s mom and dad constantly assure their kids that there are no such things as ghosts, but the the twins Zoey and Wyatt are especially suspicious that there is indeed the ghost of Savannah haunting the third floor where they have their bedrooms. With that in mind, and to allay her suspicions, Griffin tells Harper that the hotel is not haunted, and offers to give her a tour so that she can see for herself.

During that tour after school one day, the two go inside the basement where they discover a fall out shelter hidden underneath the property. They check it out, walking down a long corridor to room with old hazmat equipment. Beyond that is another old room with an exit hatch to the outside. When they go through the hatch, Harper feels an electric shock. Outside things aren’t quite the same. They see a young girl running through the woods who appears to be Savannah, they discover that the sulphur springs, which had dried up in the 1990s are active again, a summer camp with kids, and to their surprise find the Tremont Hotel fully operational. Even more shocking is when Griffin meets his father Ben (Jake Melrose) as a boy his age. And later Harper meets her mom (Izabela Rose) as a girl.

Griffin, Zoey, and Wyatt observing a chair that rocks by itself.

Back in modern times, Harper and Griffin are now convinced that time travel is the only explanation for what they just experienced. Now the question is how do they try and explain this to their parents and others in the local community? When they try, their parents misunderstand what they are saying and reject their attempts. Plus during those moments when Griffin and Harper are in the past, they are not able to communicate with their cell phones. This, and for other reasons you find out later, Jess doesn’t want Harper to go over to the hotel anymore, and orders her to stay away from Griffin. She is especially hostile toward Ben Campbell, who she knew from the old days. But Harper and Griffin are determined to save Savannah from whatever caused her to disappear, and so Harper makes a deal with her younger brother Topher not to tell on her when she sneaks out of the house to continue time traveling with Griffin.

Griffin meets up with his dad as a kid.

The storyline also lightly deals with the issue of racial segregation, as in the days of its operation, the Tremont only allowed white guests inside, although they had black employees. So Griffin could go inside the hotel but Harper was unwelcome there. But with the date of the dance approaching when Savannah went missing, Harper and Griffin continue going back in time to do what they can to help Savannah avoid whatever fate caused her to go missing. Can they do this, and if they are successful will it affect the future somehow? These are a few of the main storyline issues of Secrets of Sulphur Springs, an interesting take on time travel and solving a cold case mystery.

Griffin and Savannah seated in her tree house.

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