When we last visited Sulphur Springs, the power was out and Griffin and Harper were in serious trouble. The newest episode of the Disney Channel mystery series, Secrets of Sulphur Springs, is now streaming on Disney Now and airs on the network tonight (February 12th) at 8/7c. This detailed recap includes everything that happens in the 7th episode, “Long Time Gone,” so if you don’t want any spoilers, wait until you see the episode before you read any further. If you’re still here, let’s dive in.
(Disney/Brian Roedel)
This episode picks up right where the last one left off, with Griffin and Harper in trouble for sneaking off together. They’re reluctant to answer their parent’s questions because the truth is unbelievable. Harper eventually tells them it’s embarrassing, but they wanted “Private time.” When pressed further, she reveals that they had their first kiss, Griffin looks shocked. Their parents unite in grounding them both for a long time and Sarah adds that Zoey and Wyatt will also be grounded for finding out that Griffin wasn’t home and not saying something sooner. When Jess and Harper leave, Zoey and Wyatt jump out, revealing that they were eavesdropping. Zoey asks Griffin about the kiss as the kids head upstairs. Alone, Sarah asks Ben if he believes Harper’s story. “Not a word of it,” he says.
The next day, Topher is helping Jess throw away all of the sour milk and cream from the fridge at the Dunn Cafe, which went bad during the power outage. Harper is gloomily drawing at a table when Jess sits down for a talk. Harper tells her she doesn’t feel like she can trust her mom because she knows she’s lying about being at camp. Jess comes clean, telling Harper that she was there the night Savannah disappeared and that it was a terrible experience. Just then, the power comes back on. As Jess heads back into the cafe, she asks Harper to go check on Topher who took the trash around the corner. Jess gets a text from Griffin that the power is on and to come over because the portal should work now. She asks Topher to cover for her for 10-minutes and gives him a hug. “You’re a good little brother,” she tells him before running off.
Sneaking into The Tremont as Griffin’s family works to restore power to all the lights, Harper quietly gets Griffin’s attention and they sneak to the basement. As they head toward the portal, Harper tells him that her mother finally confessed to being at camp and that they only have 10-minutes. As they leave, a frantic knock at the door turns out to be Jess with Topher in tow. Topher felt like the hug from Harper was her way of saying goodbye before running away and got scared, alerting Jess. As the twins go off and search the house for Griffin, Jess suggests to Ben and Sarah that they call the police.
Harper and Griffin arrive in the past, going straight to Bennett’s cabin and waking him up. They ask him where Savannah is and he looks confused as a bell starts ringing to call all campers together.
In the present, Jess and Ben end up alone outside. Jess tells him that both Harper’s and Griffin’s phones are off and that she doesn’t think it’s a coincidence that the kids have gone missing on the anniversary of Savannah’s disappearance. She puts the blame on him, saying “All I know is they shut the doors on this place for a reason and then you opened them up again.” The police pull up in the background to break their tense moment.
Griffin and Harper hear a search party calling Savannah’s name through the woods and peek in on the scene where police officers are leading efforts to find the missing camper. The search includes the lake in case she drowned. Jess and Bennett stand next to each other and Jess says Savannah is clearly just playing another prank for attention. A police officer interrogates the same counselor who apprehended Griffin and Harper in the previous episode, who blames two kids who don’t go to the camp as the reason she wasn’t able to do her bunk check last night, which would’ve allowed her to discover that Savannah was missing sooner. She then sees them spying through the woods and points in their direction. Griffin and Harper turn to run, but another officer is right behind them to stop them.
In the present, a police officer tells Ben, Sarah and Jess that he’s called for more officers to help with the search since the woods around The Tremont are huge. Jess watches Ben hug Sarah and looks away.
Back in the past, Griffin and Harper are locked in the back of a police car being driven to child services. The officer driving them is interrupted by a radio call asking him to head back because something has been found in the lake. We see Jess and Bennett watching as something big gets reeled in. Jess says it can’t be Savannah because she’s a good swimmer. It ends up just being a sleeping bag. Bennettt seems upset and walks off, making Jess confused because he should be happy it wasn’t Savannah.
Topher and Jess are about to head home in case Harper returns there. With Topher in the car, Ben tells Jess not to worry and that they will find the kids. Jess gets confrontational with him about the way he acted the day Savannah disappeared. She asks him if he knows what happened to her and if that’s why he moved back. He refuses to answer, confirming that she should go home and to call him if she hears anything. As Ben walks away, Sarah walks over and hands Jess the phone number of the police officer leading the search for Griffin and Harper. Jess takes it coldly, not saying anything as she gets into her car.
Left alone in the back of the police car parked in front of The Tremont, Griffin and Harper hear over the radio that the reported finding in the lake was a false alarm. They see Ben run up the steps of The Tremont and yell for him, but he doesn’t hear them. Inside, Bennet runs to the basement and is followed by Jess, who says it’s ridiculous that Savannah would be down there, then realizes she dared her to spend the night there yesterday. As they stand in the stairwell, never going deeper into the basement, Bennet blames Jess and tells her that if Savannah is missing, it’s her fault. She begins to cry and runs off. He realizes he went too far and chases after her, but bumps into his dad who is upset that he had to drive back there from Chicago due to a missing camper. Taking his son outside, Bennet tells his dad that it’s his fault Savannah is missing. “Not another word,” his dad says as he escorts him to his car and they drive away. Griffin and Harper heard that last part of the conversation where Bennet says it’s his fault that Savannah is missing.
That’s the end of this week’s episode but as always, we get three brief clips from the next installment, titled “If I Could Turn Back Time,” a popular song by Cher from 1989 that was a big hit on the radio 30 years ago. First we see Griffin and Harper still in the police car debating if Bennett really is responsible for Savannah’s disappearance. Then we see present Jess looking at a list with Savannah’s name on it, asking Topher if Harper has gone through a box of her old stuff in the garage. Lastly, we see that the wall to the secret room has been broken again and Zoey and Wyatt peek inside as the tape recorder plays the Camp Tremont song that Savannah sang at the talent show. The camera pans down and we see that it’s not connected to electricity.
Here’s the description of the next episode, “If I Could Turn Back Time”:
“Harper and Griffin escape after being detained by the police and find young Jess, who reveals new details about her relationship with Savannah.”
Does Jess still have feelings for Ben in the present? What would Bennett have found if he went all the way into the basement? Why does he suddenly think Savannah’s disappearance is all his fault? Hopefully we’ll get answers to some of these questions next week when Secrets of Sulphur Springs returns with a new episode.
BONUS: Check out our interview with Landon Gordon, who plays Wyatt on the show.