“As Time Goes By,” the ninth episode of Secrets of Sulphur Springs, picks up right where the last episode left off. Now streaming on DisneyNow and airing tonight (February 26th) on Disney Channel, police are searching for Griffin and Harper in the present as they get separated from Savannah by a fallen tree in 1960. Are you ready for another detailed recap? Here we go!
(Disney/Brian Roedel)
Picking up right where we left off, Sarah is looking at the mirror that fogged up with the word “Stay” written in it. She probably expected another word like “Away” to appear, but all it says is “Stay.” A chair rocks behind her and a lamp falls over as Wyatt and Zoey enter to find their mom terrified. “You look like you saw a ghost,” Zoey says as Sarah ushers them into the hallway and down the stairs as the lights flicker.
Ben is still outside Jess’ house waiting for Topher to bring a piece of clothing of Harper’s for the K-9 search. “What did you do to Savannah?,” Jess asks him as he apologizes for blaming her for the camper’s disappearance. She doesn’t accept his apology and Topher interrupts their cold stares by bringing Ben one of Harper’s jackets. Just then, Ben gets a call from Sarah who tells him something strange is going on before letting out a blood curdling scream. It turns out a police officer entered the house when nobody answered the door, which is what scared her.
Back in 1960, Griffin is pushing on the hatch while Harper tries to pull the cord to get it to open. Harper accepts defeat, convincing Griffin that the tree must have fallen on the hatch and they won’t be able to open it. She suggests they go back to the present and check records for 1960 to see if a girl was found after a big storm. Needing to go backwards through the portal twice to return, on their way out of The Tremont in 1990, Harper sees Jess standing out front with her caboodle in hand talking to a boy holding a big duffel bag.
Back in the present, Jess joins Ben and Sarah with the police in the woods where a footprint was found in the dirt. Jess admits it could be from Harper’s shoe, but when the German Shepherd sniffs Harper’s sweatshirt, the police dog leads them right to the hatch. Just as they approach, Jess gets a text from Harper and they head back to The Tremont, never trying to open it.
Harper starts a new lie to cover for her disappearance with Griffin, saying they were running away together and walked to a bus stop in Rayville. Harper takes the blame, explaining that it was Griffin who talked her into coming back. Harper tells her mom she wants to go home, telling another lie about an assignment she needs to finish.
(Disney/Brian Roedel)
In the car, Jess tells Harper she needs to make a stop first. Harper uses her phone to search for storms in 1960 and doesn’t realize that Jess has brought her to the cemetery, leading her and Topher to their father’s grave. It reveals that Harper’s dad’s name was Christopher James Dunn, born in 1977 and died in 2011. Harper and Jess bond as Jess shares the story of how she first met their dad. It turns out she met Chris at Camp Tremont when he offered to help her with her duffel bag on the last day of camp, meaning the boy Harper saw Jess with on her way back to the present was her father.
At The Tremont, Griffin has started his own online search for a “Great storm of 1960” when he hears his parents fighting. Sneaking into the hallway to eavesdrop, he hears his mom say she and the kids are moving back to Chicago, revealing that she believes the hotel is haunted. “You lied to me about knowing Savannah. What else are you hiding?,” he hears Sarah ask as Ben storms out of the room and down the stairs. Griffin asks his mom if his dad really just admitted he knew Savannah, but Sarah dismisses Griffin, sending him back to his room.
The next morning, Harper gets caught by the school librarian trying to get in two-hours early. The librarian tells her about the library’s extensive collection of microfilm, which includes slides from old Sulphur Springs newspapers. The librarian also reveals that she’s an expert on local history.
Griffin comes downstairs to find his mom setting the table for breakfast, learning that his dad hasn’t returned after his fight with Sarah the night before. “Everything will be fine once we’re back in Chicago,” she reassures Griffin, who says he doesn’t want to move. Sarah reveals that she’s already called school and the kids won’t be going this week, with plans to resume classes in Chicago when they get back. She sends Griffin upstairs to pack his room.
In the school library, Harper expands her search to 1962 and comes across a photo taken of The Tremont where a girl is on the porch who looks just like Savannah. Harper video calls Griffin to show him and learns that he’s in the process of moving. When Zoey and Wyatt come into his room, he tells Harper he has to go.
(Disney/Brian Roedel)
Jess is on her way out of her house when she gets a call from Sarah asking if she knows where Ben is. Jess reveals that she may know of a place he could be.
Wyatt and Zoey share with Griffin that they don’t want to move either, having discovered a love of ghost hunting. They tell Griffin about hearing music from the unplugged radio in the secret room and how it freaked their dad out. Harper appears behind them and asking for privacy, the twins make fun of them with kissing noises as they exit. Harper suggests that there might be a way to alter the hatch so that they can go to 1962 to find Savannah. Griffin proposes another question that if Savannah is alive in 1962, why does The Tremont seem to be haunted?
Just like Jess suggested, Sarah finds Ben sitting in his truck in the woods looking at the abandoned treehouse that he and Savannah used to hang out in. He apologizes for walking out and she reaffirms her love for him, saying he can tell her anything. Ben opens up and we see a flashback that reveals that he followed Savannah to the basement of The Tremont and stayed with her. A sudden noise scared him and he ran upstairs thinking Savannah would follow him, but she didn’t. “I didn’t know until the next morning,” he says about Savannah’s disappearance. Having the police search for Griffin and Harper brought back bad memories of the search for Savannah and we find that he still blames himself for what happened. “Savannah is gone because I ran away.”
Investigating the secret room, Harper and Griffin notice an old radio on a shelf that looks just like one that’s down in the bunker leading to the hatch. Turning it around, they find that it’s missing it’s back and contains rotating dials with numbers on them like a lock combination. The numbers are set to 27165 and when Griffin touches them, he can’t get any of the dials to turn. As soon as Harper touches them, they automatically spin and land on a new combination: 34537.
(Disney/Brian Roedel)
Back down in the basement bunker, they find the matching radio and use a screwdriver to open the back. Inside is another dial just like the one upstairs. Harper matches the numbers and a button on the front pops out. Harper says she thinks it’s Savannah trying to help them get back to her.
That’s the end of another exciting episode that raises even more questions about how the time traveling hatch works. Before the credits, we get to learn a little bit about what’s in store in the next episode. When Harper pushes the button on the radio, a panel opens up to reveal a 4-numbered dial. Griffin and Harper end up in 1961 and find Savannah, who is once again reluctant to go with them, saying she could get stuck somewhere else in time. Zoey and Wyatt notice a change in the cold spots at The Tremont. Lastly, we find Harper running to get help from Ben, telling him Griffin fell.
The next episode is called “No Time Like the Present.” Here’s the official episode description:
“Griffin and Harper successfully travel to the past, where they find Savannah working at The Tremont.”
What do the number codes from the radio mean? What’s really causing the hauntings at The Tremont? Who set up the time traveling hatch? Hopefully we’ll find out on March 7th when Secrets of Sulphur Springs returns.
BONUS: Check out our interview with Landon Gordon, who plays Wyatt on Secrets of Sulphur Springs.
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