Dead of Summer: Top 5 Twists from ‘Townie’ (Season 1 Episode 7)

With only three episodes left this season, Dead of Summer is almost certainly pulling a fast one on us. At the end of “Townie,” Amy is rescued by Garrett before she can be claimed by the camp’s friendly neighborhood lake demon, after the group of satanists sacrifice themselves for the cause. In the closing moments, Garrett also kills his former uncle-figure the Sheriff, who is revealed to be the previously-unseen Teacher who had been guiding the satanists in their evil quest.

Of course, we’re not through with this mystery yet, though it certainly appears (from the characters’ perspectives at least) that everything is now hunky-dory – they’ve stopped the satanists and put an end to the ritual designed to use Amy as a conduit to unleash the demon.

Or have they?

Here are the five biggest and most shocking twists uncovered during “Townie.”

 Satanist Damon and Garrett Were Once Friends

During the stand-off – while Amy is dangling like meat on a hook over a creepy lake of blood, waiting to be sacrificed to the demon – Garrett holds his gun on Damon, and Damon reveals that the two were once friends. As we see in the flashback sequences dedicated to Garrett’s childhood as the “Townie,” Garrett’s first summer at Camp Stillwater (prior to his father’s death) changed him – as Damon puts it, Garrett didn’t want anything to do with him once he got back.

This is a neat twist and actually works well to humanize Damon a bit. He is (or was?) still a fairly flat character, but this betrayal by his close friend puts his turn to the dark side in a new perspective.

Of course, Damon is now (apparently) dead, by his own hand. It’s unclear what the satanists were hoping to achieve with their ritualistic self-sacrifice, mixing their own blood with “Chosen One” Amy’s. I’m guessing it’s immortality, since all of the demon’s followers yammer on about the demon granting them “great power” throughout “Townie.” If that’s the case, did their ritual work, partially at least? Are we going to see the Satanists rise again?

The Sheriff is the Teacher…

I’ll be totally honest here – I didn’t suspect the Sheriff until “Townie.” He’s just been sort of around all season, hanging out and offering advice to Garrett. While it quickly becomes obvious that the Sheriff is up to something during “Townie” before the actual reveal – seriously, his mysterious vanishing just as Amy is taken is a dead giveaway – the show does a great job of including him but not focusing on him too much earlier in the season. It makes the twist a strong one.

… And He Killed Garrett’s Father

Easily the most heart-wrenching twist of the hour is the reveal that, in addition to being the Teacher, the Sheriff killed Garrett’s father Jack Sykes, the then-Sheriff and his best friend, when Jack got to close to the truth about the camp and the demon.

I haven’t been too crazy about (or even interested in) Garrett this season, but the flashbacks to young Garrett certainly go a long way in forcing me to care about him, corny as it all is. The flashbacks to Garrett’s past are perfectly placed alongside the events of “Townie,” to cause maximum feels when Garrett confronts and ends up killing the Sheriff after discovering he’s both the Teacher and the killer of his dad.

I absolutely love the way the confrontation went down. It’s such a trope that when one character says “You won’t kill me!” with any degree of certainty, the gun-holding character will absolutely then kill the other. That trope is used perfectly here, as Garrett shocks the Teacher/Sheriff (and us) by squeezing off several bullets into the satanist leader’s chest.

If the goal of the ritual was indeed immortality, it appears that the Sheriff missed the boat on that one. He isn’t present during the ritual and self-sacrifice (Damon tells Garrett that he “just missed” the Teacher), so does that mean he’s for-real dead? Probably.

There is Still At Least One Bad Guy Out There…

We’d already found out that there was a mysterious “other person” lurking around at camp and helping the satanists out without revealing him/herself to them. In the closing moments, that unknown person appears and watches as Garrett kills the Sheriff – without intervening.

This is all kinds of strange. What is this mysterious new antagonist up to? Why does he not care that the Teacher was killed right in front of him? If his allegiance isn’t to the satanists/the Teacher, what is his game? Why does he want to conjure up the demon on his own? So many questions.

… And Said Unknown Bad Guy May Have Killed Cricket and Groundskeeper Dave. NOT the Satanists!

This is the most game-changing twist of all. Before Garrett shoots him, the Sheriff reveals that he and the other satanists didn’t kill Cricket and Groundskeeper Dave – someone else did. I’m not sure if this is a ruse or if the Sheriff was telling the truth – but the latter option is definitely more intriguing. If the satanists didn’t kill Cricket and Dave, was it the still yet-to-be-revealed person “helping” them along? What is their M.O.?

Stray thoughts:

• I’m a little confused about the age difference between Deputy Garrett and the counselors. During the flashback sequences, young Jessie and young Garrett very much appear to be the same age – actually, the actress playing younger Jessie looks even older than the actor playing young Garrett, though I assumed he’s several years older than them.
• The promo seems to suggest that Amy hooks up with Alex during next week’s. Girl, why? Is this a “possessed by the demon” thing?
• Speaking of the promo – did I spy a dead Cricket cameo?! Yes, please!
• Overall, “Townie” is not nearly as good as last week’s “The Dharma Bums,” but it is still leaps and bounds better than much of the earlier season. The counselors getting clued in to the actual mystery and working together definitely improved the quality of the show. It was very blah back when they were all just sitting ducks.
• Why is Amy the chosen one? Is she somehow linked to this demon, or is it just a random thing? I hope there is a greater design and reasoning in place. That would be a fun twist.
• I’m all kinds of heart eye emojis over the Blair/Drew reunion. They’re still the only couple I truly care about.

What did you think of this episode of Dead of Summer? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Dead of Summer airs Tuesday at 9/8c on Freeform.

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