In the season 1 finale of Dead of Summer, “She Talks to Angels,” Garrett and the remaining counselors try to fend off the demon as several familiar faces return to join in on the fight. Before the episode is over, there is a life-changing kiss, a final showdown and two major casualties.
Dead of Summer Recap: Jessie Makes a Huge Sacrifice >>>
Jessie vs. Amy
When the episode begins, Jessie is watching Joel’s footage as Amy cleans herself up after murdering Deb and her old classmate. While they wait, Garrett tells Jessie that she should turn her mom in and go to college as she planned to, but Jessie doesn’t think that’s the right thing to do. Amy finally comes out, and they are none the wiser as to her true nature.
They all leave in Garrett’s car, but they don’t get far before the engine stalls. They all get out of the car, and Amy realizes what happened. Apparently, before Holyoke died, he sent the last piece of his soul into Jessie. Amy says she cannot leave until it’s destroyed, and they all finally realize how insane Amy is.
Jessie starts to run, but some kind of supernatural force knocks her back. Since she has the last of the light inside of her, she can’t leave camp. Neither can Amy. Amy tells Jessie that only one of them is getting out, but Garrett tells Amy that she’ll have to go through him and Alex to get to Jessie. Amy doesn’t have a problem with that because she’s got some friends of her own. The spirits of Joel and Cricket arrive to help Amy, and the others run for their lives.
Garrett Stays Behind
We get a flashback to how Garrett spent his morning on the day before the counselors arrived at camp. He had a dream about his father, and his father told him, “Nothing happens by accident.” (This comes back into play later on.)
Throughout the episode, we see flashbacks for most of the remaining counselors on the day before they came to camp. We see Blair and Cricket discussing their plans for taking a road trip after camp ends. We see Alex arguing with his mother about what it means to be strong. We see Jessie taking her mother’s clothes and telling her that she’s looking out for herself just like her mother taught her to do. (For some reason, Drew doesn’t get a flashback. I guess they ran out of time and decided that Blair’s comment about finding someone to love was close enough.)
In the present day, Garrett, Jessie and Alex make it into one of the cabins and bar the door. Jessie is freaking out because she realizes that if Amy kills her and escapes camp, the demon will be unleashed into the real world. Poor Jessie freaks out even more when they discover the bodies of Amy’s old classmate and Deb. Amy then crashes through one of the windows. They all manage to get away from her, but Garrett has been gravely injured.
Garrett tells Jessie to go, but she doesn’t want to leave him. Garrett reminds her, “If you die, everyone dies.” He tells Jessie that this is bigger than “us” and promises to meet up with her later. Jessie kisses Garrett before running off with Alex just as Amy tracks Garrett down. A badly bleeding Garrett reaches for his gun, but the shot pans over to Jessie before we see what happens. Jessie and Alex hear several gunshots and then nothing but silence.
Blair and Drew to the Rescue!
Away from camp, Blair and Drew have successfully gotten all of the campers back to safety. They are about to celebrate when little Anton informs them that it’s not over. He tells them to go back to camp because their friends need their help. Instead of ignoring Anton and saving themselves, they take action.
Anton’s cryptic warning has Blair and Drew calling the camp. Unfortunately, no one answers and they start to freak out. Drew proves to be one of the smartest characters on this show when he tells Blair to call the cops. Alas, since the cops will be facing off against a demon, that’s not going to work out so well for them. Off-screen, Blair and Drew must realize this and decide to head back to camp themselves.
Dead of Summer Recap: Jessie Experiences Haunting Visions and Someone Dies >>>
Amy Takes a Few More Lives
Jessie comes up with a plan to use the purified water in Holyoke’s cabin against the demon since it seemed to hurt the demon before. Alas, once they get to the cabin — and after a creepy run-in with Blotter’s talking head — they realize the water in the vat is no longer pure because they opened the door to the cabin before the demon was destroyed.
Meanwhile, the cops that Blair and Drew called arrive at the camp and discover some blood. They also discover a crying, cowering Amy who informs them that “they’re all dead.”
Off-screen, Amy murders the cops and uses one of their voices to call out to Jessie and Alex, posing as the police. Jessie and Alex leave Holyoke’s cabin, only to realize that the cops are dead and Amy is still after them.
Alex Sacrifices Himself
With Amy still chasing them, Alex and Jessie are blocked in by the spirits of Joel and a headless Blotter. Alex tells Jessie to run and asks her to tell his mom what he did. Jessie runs for her life as Alex faces off against Amy. Amy/the demon tells Alex that he’s weak, but Alex says he isn’t. He tries to fight Amy with his tiny knife, but Amy has an ax. You can guess how that one plays out. Yes, Alex dies with an ax in his chest.
Alex was my least favorite of the counselors, but he does redeem himself a bit by sacrificing his life so Jessie can get away. Still, if he and Blotter reunite in the afterlife, I hope Blotter makes Alex work for his forgiveness.
A Happy Ending?
Amy chases Jessie into the bathroom, but she manages to stay hidden until a noise outside prompts Amy into leaving. Once Amy is gone, Jessie sneaks out into the woods.
Jessie is then grabbed by someone, but it’s only Garrett. He kept his promise to find her again. The two are joined by Blair and Drew, who risked their lives to come back and help their friends. Together, they manage to trap Amy/the demon in one of the cabins by using the purified water left in one of the canteens.
With Amy trapped, Garrett goes to play the recording of Holyoke’s hymn, only it doesn’t work. Amy managed to erase the recording when she touched it earlier that night. The spirits of Joel, Cricket and Deb arrive to help Amy/the demon, but Garrett gets an idea in the nick of time. He remembers hearing Holyoke play the hymn on the footage Joel recorded. (Luckily for everyone, Joel had his camera with him when Holyoke took Joel and Jessie on that trip through time. I guess Garrett’s dad was right about nothing happening by accident.)
Garrett plays the recording of the hymn over the speaker, and it works to incapacitate the demon and the spirits. When Amy/the demon is down, Jessie grabs the ax and drives it through Amy’s head, killing her. (I’m not sure if the demon can ever truly be killed or if killing Amy simply prevents the demon from escaping the camp.) With the demon gone, the few remaining survivors watch as the spirits of their deceased friends disappear into the lake.
Unfortunately, there is still one more loss to come. As they prepare to leave camp, Garrett tells Jessie that he cannot go with her. He then shows Jessie to his body, and Jessie realizes he is a spirit. When she kissed him, she transferred the last of Holyoke’s light into Garrett, allowing him to assume Holyoke’s role as the camp’s protector. Garrett promises Jessie that no one will ever be able to kill the light, and they share one final kiss. As Jessie heads out with Drew and Blair, we see Garrett join his father’s ghost in the light of the lake.
As the episode ends, we learn that Jessie ended up going to Northwestern after all. She gets a postcard from Blair and Drew, who apparently settled down in Seattle. The final shot of the episode — and the season — is a “For Sale” sign on the closed camp.
What did you think of the season 1 finale of Dead of Summer? Do you think Jessie succeeded in killing the demon or is it still lurking around Camp Stillwater? Are you glad Jessie, Drew and Blair survived? Are you surprised Garrett became the protector of the lake in Holyoke’s place? What terrible thing(s) did Deb do during her days as a counselor in the ’70s that she later forgot all about? If the show is renewed for a second season, will you be tuning in? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
(Image courtesy of Freeform)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
