A dwarf, Humphrey, is tied upside down from a pole in the middle of the swamp outside of Houma. Jim Kipp is out on a rowboat, filming video of the swamp for his documentary. He sees Humphrey The boy drops his camera in the water, and then rows over to Humphrey and frees him. Humphrey asks if Jim is friend or foe, and Jim cuts him free. Once he's freed, Humphrey orders Jim to row him to shore and get him some food. Jim suggests that they go to his grandmother's house, but Humphrey doesn't want to risk it. He warns about the monster who hung him up and what he'll do if he finds out that Humphrey survived.
Arcane drives through Houma and offers Savanna Langford a ride home as she leaves the grocery store. As Arcane helps her into the car, he says that he hasn't meet a special someone yet. Savanna says that her daughter Tressa only came to Houma to spend quality time with her son Jim, and she had hoped to invite Tressa to tea to show her how the town had changed. When Arcane asks if Tressa would go out with him, Savanna warns that she wouldn't.
Jim returns home and loads up some food. Tressa arrives home. He tells his mother that he found a dwarf in the swamp who claimed that a monster hung him up to die. Tressa figures that Jim is lying like he did before they came to Houma. Arcane rings the doorbell, and Jim runs off when Tressa goes to answer the door. Plucking a flower from a nearby pot, Arcane offers it to Tressa.
Jim rows back to where Humphrey is hiding. A figure puts video camera on a nearby stump. Jim finds it and take it with him, and the figure--Swamp Thing--watches from the brush. Meanwhile, a man, Hurd Fitch, grabs Humphrey and drags him off.
A young boy, a mutant half-human and half toad, jumps down in front of Jim. He throws the sack of food on the ground and touches Jim's hair, and then runs off when he realizes that Swamp Thing is behind Jim. Jim turns and sees Swamp Thing, and thanks him for saving him from Toad Boy. The boy asks him what he is, and Swamp Thing says that he'll explain in time. He says that Toad Boy stole Jim's boat and offers to take Jim home by land.
Hurd beats Humphrey and says that it's compliment of Arcane.
As they walk back to Jim's home, Swamp Thing explains that there are strange things in the swamp. Jim explains that he sneaks out after Tressa goes to bed and he sees strange things. The boy explains that Tressa brought him there hoping things would be different between them in her home town. Hurd hears them coming and runs off. Jim and Swamp Thing find Humphrey unconscious on the ground, and Swamp Thing heals Humphrey's wounds with a touch. Humphrey wakes up and runs in terror, and Swamp Thing tells Jim to continue on to town and Humphrey will make it. When Jim worries that Humphrey might not make it, Swamp Thing tells the boy that he is the swamp.
Hurd watches from hiding and then runs. Swamp Thing senses him and pursues, confronting the man. Swamp Thing accuses him of trying to kill something in the swamp, and Hurd says that it was just a dwarf. He throws a punch at Swamp Thing, who effortlessly stops it and says that Hurd will never try to kill anyone again. The creature shoves Hurd against a tree, and in a few second the tree grows around the man, leaving him imprisoned but still alive.
Arcane is escorting his date Heather Jo to his car when he sees Humphrey eating on a step. The scientist calls to Humphrey by name, and Humphrey runs. Arcane corners Humphrey in an alleyway and advances on him.
Tressa is sitting on the porch of her house waiting for the taxi to take her and Jim back to Philadelphia. Savanna comes out and suggests that she let Jim stay there that summer while Tressa goes back to work on her psychological research. Tressa says that Jim has no friends because he lies, just like his father. Savanna points out that Tressa lied when she was Jim's age, and reminds her of the heart-shaped amulet that she and her husband gave Tressa for her 12th birthday and Tressa lied about losing it by saying someone stole it. Tressa asks her mother to help her back to Jim, and Savanna says that he needs time off from Tressa.
Walking out into the swamp, Tressa looks at some flowers. She sits down and sees the amulet hanging from a nearby branch. It glows briefly and Tressa smiles before walking away. Swamp Thing then picks up the amulet.
Arcane takes Heather Jo to the caves where he keeps his mutant experiments. He says that he is showing her the cave because he wants her to be more afraid of him, and shows him his human-animal mutate "failures." Arcane explains that he's used genetic mutation to create them, and wheels out Humphrey strapped to a gurney. The scientist claims that he was going to turn Humphrey into a normal-sized man but Humphrey escaped twice. Arcane wonders how Humphrey survived Hurd, and Humphrey says that Swamp Thing brought him back to life. He insists that he doesn't want to be a normal-sized man and glances at Heather Jo. She tells Arcane to make it quick, and Arcane says that what Humphrey needs pain instead of pleasure. When Heather Jo objects, Arcane slaps her and tells Humphrey to go to it. He then turns on music and orders Heather Jo to dance, and she does. As Humphrey looks away, Arcane tells him that he's outlived his usefulness, takes out a gun, and shoots him in the head.
Jim goes out on the porch where his bags are, and Savanna takes him to the taxi boat. Savanna introduces her grandson to the driver, Obo Hartison, just as Tressa runs up. She says that Jim is staying and Jim hugs her. Jim runs into the swamp and Tressa admits to Savanna that she lost the emerald heart but found it again. She gets into the taxi boat and Obo takes her to the airport. Meanwhile, Swamp Thing watches from the brush as Jim yells that Tressa is letting him stay.
Written by Gadfly on May 23, 2017