Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Secrets Of Sulphur Springs’ On Disney Channel, Where Two Teens Try To Solve A 30-Year Mystery At An Abandoned Resort

Mystery series on channels like Nickelodeon or the Disney Channel are always tricky propositions; they’re either really smart mysteries that kids and adults can get into, or they’re too goofy for adults to like. From it’s first moments, Disney’s Secrets Of Sulphur Springs demonstrates that it’s a pretty smart mystery. But can it sustain that intelligence?

SECRETS OF SULPHUR SPRINGS: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A preteen girl runs through the woods, looking behind her with fear in her eyes. She stops at a hot spring, then runs past a sign directing people to parts of the resort at the Tremont Hotel.

The Gist: The same sign is seen again, falling apart. Some years have passed since that scene — 30, in fact — and the Tremont has fallen into disrepair. The Campbell family has moved in — Ben Campbell (Josh Braaten) basically quit his job and moved his family to Sulphur Springs, where he spent his summers, to reopen the Tremont. His wife Sarah (Kelly Frye) and their kids — oldest son Griffin (Preston Oliver) and twins Zoey (Madeleine McGraw) and Wyatt (Landon Gordon) — are trying to adjust. But the place is old and creepy, and local kids like going there all the time, looking for a ghost of a girl named Savannah (Ellie Graham).

On his first day of middle school, Griffin meets a girl named Harper Dunn (Kyliegh Curran), who takes a liking to Griffin and, when he mentions that he’s getting undue attention over the fact that he lives at The Tremont, she tells him about how Savannah, a camper at the resort’s summer camp, disappeared 30 years ago and has been haunting the hotel ever since.

Some electrical problems lead Ben and Griffin to the basement, and Griffin sees enough weirdness going on that he asks Harper if she wants to come over and explore. They find a fallout shelter in the basement, with a long hallway that leads to a hatch. When they come out of the hatch, they’re jolted by a bang. What they find is that the hot springs, which dried up, are bubbling again. They soon realize that they’ve traveled back in time — 30 years, to be exact — when they see Savannah running through the woods.

Not only do they see Savannah, though, they also see Griffin’s dad Ben (Jake Oliver) as a prank-pulling kid their age. When they come back, though, they’re back in the present, and they see Harper’s family — mom Jess (Diandra Lyle) and brother Topher (Bryant Tardy) — at the hotel, wondering where Harper wandered off to. Jess bans Harper from going to the Tremont or talking to Griffin, but that doesn’t stop her, especially when she sees Jess and Ben talking as if they know each other, when Jess expressly said they didn’t.

As they go back through the tunnel and out to the past in an effort to try to save Savannah, Griffin gets to know the kid version of his dad, who has issues with his strict father (Jim Gleason). Harper also gets to know Savannah, who is a foster kid. But then she meets a girl named Jess (Izabela Rose), who is most definitely a young version of Harper’s mother, who has expressly told her that she didn’t know Ben or Savannah and never went to the camp at the Tremont.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Secrets Of Sulphur Springs feels like an expanded episode of Are You Afraid Of The Dark?

Our Take: We do enjoy shows that are aimed towards teens but take pains to make sure that any adults who are watching are entertained. Secrets Of Sulphur Springs is that kind of show. Yes, Griffin and Harper are precocious teens with an insatiable curiosity. But showrunner Tracey Thomson and her writing staff make sure that whatever they’re exploring is rooted in some sort of reality, such as it is (“Time travel is real!” says one of them after going back through the hatch to the present).

Yes, it’s basically a ghost story with time travel involved, but it also is a story about something that has happened in the past that has been burdening both Ben and Jess for 30 years. We’re not sure how they are involved in Savannah’s disappearance, but we know they’re involved in some way or another. And we also know that Griffin and Harper are going to finds the answers at that camp back in 1990, especially from the young versions of their respective parents.

We know, for instance, that young Ben pulled pranks with Savannah, like dumping fruit punch in the hot springs to freak out the visitors. We also know that young Jess was not a fan of Savannah’s, and that she may have some not-so-pure thoughts about how to get rid of this annoyance of hers. The fact that Ben felt the need to come back to the Tremont as a means of closure will be fun to explore.

It helps that Oliver and Curran do such a good job as Griffin and Harper. They have a good chemistry with each other, and play their roles like relatively realistic smart teens. Braaten also does a good job as Ben, who has a secret that he wants to keep from his kids, but is barely able to contain his feelings about what happened 30 years ago.

The extra-long first episode sets the rest of the story up very well, and while this likely won’t lead to some sort of grisly conclusion, Secrets Of Sulphur Springs is dark and foreboding enough to keep both parents and kids interested.

What Age Group Is This For?: Given some of the scary moments, we’re thinking this is more for the 9-and-up crowd.

Parting Shot: Harper comes to visit Griffin late at night to tell her about her mother’s lies. The door opens to Griffin’s room, and the two of them grab each other’s hands, anticipating a visit from Savannah’s ghost.

Sleeper Star: Another smart thing is making Zoey and Wyatt (Madeline McGraw and Landon Gordon) smart but prone to things that younger kids are prone to… like Wyatt wearing a hat to hide his red hair, just because Zoey told him that Savannah attacks redheads.

Most Pilot-y Line: Because 1990 is so long ago (at least to Griffin and Harper), Harper brings Griffin a stonewashed denim jacket, and she dons a yellow-and-black checkered shirt, in order to “fit in.” Jeez, it was 1990, not 1960. They could have fit in wearing the clothes they had on. They also smartly left their smartphones behind.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Secrets Of Sulphur Springs is a smart mystery thriller that just happens to star teenagers. But it doesn’t try to insult the intelligence of the parents who are watching, which is always a plus.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.

Stream Secrets Of Sulphur Springs On DisneyNow.com