Eerie Indiana and the Secret of Sulphur Springs

[froodle]

I am obviously way out of the demographic age, but as a long fan of similar shows (Eerie Indiana and So Weird notably, and also newer things like Stranger Things), I had to at least give Secrets of Sulphur Springs a shot.

The plot begins simply enough: Griffin, a middle school aged kid is upset when his father uproots the family from Chicago and moves them to Sulphur Springs, Louisiana, where he plans to renovate and reopen an abandoned hotel. A hotel that the locals insist is cursed. Harper, a girl Griffin befriends at school tells him the rest of the story- 30 years ago a girl named Savannah Dillon went missing from a summer camp near the hotel and ever since then there have been sightings of her ghost.

The first episode comes to an end with Griffin and Harper exploring the hotel. They find a basement with a creepy hallway that leads to a fallout shelter. On the other end, is a hatch that the two climb through- and emerge in 1990, where they encounter not just Savannah, the missing girl before she disappeared, but also Griffin's father and Harper's mother, both campers at the same camp Savannah was. And neither of whom ever mentioned that they even knew her.

The plot's not exactly new ground, but it is well done. It's been a long time since a Disney Channel show has aired that's not a comedy, and I don't think I've ever seen a live action series on the network that was properly serialized, where stories weren't self-contained to each episode and each one led into the next. The acting's not going to win any awards, but the kids are a cut above your average Goosebumps episode. The adults do have a bit of a case of "Adults are Useless" and refusing the share relevant information in regards to the plot, but they get some scenes to themselves. And the lush scenery of Louisiana where it was filmed lends a lovely atmosphere (even if it is rather strange that NO ONE in the cast has any accent at all).

(And not to go into spoilers, but after 9 episode of the first season- the vibe I'm most getting from the overall plot is more Dark than Stranger Things)