Trolled

### Actors

Jonathan Blake, Maximus Evans, Anya Lawrence, Rachel McGuinness, Phil Corbitt, Andrew Readman, Marcus Taylor

### Next

Marti

**Trolled** is the third episode of *Creeped Out*'s first seasonand the third episode of the series overall. It first aired on 14 November 2017.

## Synopsis

When Sam starts posting cruel messages anonymously on his boarding school social media site about his friends, he soon understands the true meaning of being a troll.

## Plot

### Prologue

The Curious takes a chalk rubbing of the moss-covered brickwork of a school building. The Narrator speculates that The Curious could be a boy, girl or not even human, as their mask makes them completely anonymous. The Narrator asks how far you would push it if you had the chance to do something anonymously.

### Episode

Sam and his friends Fitzy and Naini are students at St. Augustine's Choir School. It is an expensive boarding school that cost lots of money, and most students come from rich backgrounds. Sam looks on enviously as Fitzy and Naini mess around during a performance. Afterwards, he asks his mum for some money, but she can't afford to give him anything. Sam and his mother are quite snobby and Sam’s mother used to be very rich, but recently she and Sam’s father have lost most of their wealth. Their conversation is interrupted by another student, who walks out of the room crying. The headmaster, Mr. Herabius, says this is probably the work of an online troll called NoFace, who is 'the scourge of the school'. After the parents leave, Fitzy and Naini plan to go for a meal at Zucco’s Pizza Hut. They offer to give him some of their money and let him come to Zucco’s with them, but he declines. Sam compliments Naini's new hairstyle, which charms her.

In his room, Sam logs on to the school's online forum; it's revealed that he is NoFace. He posts insulting comments about Naini's hair, then starts a rumour that Fitzy is only dating her because of a bet. He receives a private message from a user called BillyGoat356 which says: 'That's not very nice. Do it again and pay the price.' He ignores the message.

The next day, Sam speaks to Naini, who shows him the posts from NoFace. He comforts her, although secretly finds it funny. He asks if she'd like to have lunch with him the next day. She says yes before they're interrupted by Fitzy. Then Sam hears an announcement calling him to the headmaster's office, to which he laughs with Fitzy.

He finds his mum in conversation with Mr. Herabius. She is unable to pay the school fees, along with Sam’s uniforms and his sports kits, as Sam plays on the schools cricket, rugby and lacrosse teams. Sam is in danger of being kicked out. Sam spots a poster for the Riseborough Scholarship, which is awarded to a student who gives the best performance of a difficult treble solo. Although Sam is a baritone and the recital is in just two days' time, he is determined to sing the solo, and Mr. Herabius reluctantly agrees to the suggestion.

As NoFace, Sam posts insults about Mr. Herabius on the forum, as he is angry at him. He receives another message from BillyGoat356 with an image of a troll and some text in Norwegian. The next day, he wakes to find his eyebrows have grown into a monobrow. At choir practice, he performs the solo brilliantly, but afterwards notices his feet have swollen and his toenails have turned black.

Sam posts about Fitzy and Naini again, saying she spread the rumours herself as an excuse to dump him. He notices his stomach has swollen and is making gurgling sounds. Later, Sam and Naini talk; she tells him she wanted to give Fitzy another chance, but he refused after reading the latest NoFace post. Naini appears to be possibly falling in love with Sam. Sam's stomach starts rumbling again, and he has to rush off. By the time he gets back to his room, his physical transformation into a literal troll is complete – he has a huge, hooked nose, shaggy hair, bulbous hands and feet, a bloated stomach and stooped posture.

Sam translates the Norwegian message and finds it is an ancient curse. He messages BillyGoat356 to ask how he can undo the curse. BillyGoat356 gives him two options: he can either hide until sunrise and the curse will wear off, or he can announce in front of the whole school that he is NoFace and BillyGoat356 will turn him back to normal. But if he refuses both, he will stay a troll forever. Sam can't hide, as he needs to perform the solo that evening, and refuses to out himself as NoFace as he fears losing all his friends, but believes he has found a loophole – he can sing while completely concealed by his robes, thus staying 'hidden'.

Sam begins his performance, claiming he needs to keep his hood up due to crippling stage fright. At first he sings well, but midway through the song he loses his voice and descends into croaking. Mr. Herabius orders him to remove his hood, which he does, revealing his hideous troll form to the audience. BillyGoat356's voice is heard, ordering Sam to 'admit your deeds', but he flees the stage instead. As he runs into the school yard, he turns to stone in the sunlight. That night, the 'statue' is hoisted onto the roof of the school, where several others stand.

Later, Fitzy and Naini discuss different theories about what happened to Sam. They have gotten back together, as Sam has been discovered as NoFace as someone looked on his laptop following his disappearance. As they walk into the school, they pass the caretaker, whose staff ID reveals him to be Bill Goat, employee #356.

### Epilogue

The Curious puts the chalk rubbing into his bag and slowly walks away. The Narrator warns that anonymity goes both ways and you'll never know who's going to be your BillyGoat.

## Cast

* Sam Sanford (Jonathan Blake)
* BillyGoat356 (Marcus Taylor)
* Fitzy Fitzgerald (Maximus Evans)
* Naini (Anya Lawrence)
* Mr. Herabius (Andrew Readman)
* The Curious (William Romain)
* The Narrator (Aurora Aksnes)

## Trivia

* **Trolled** is the first *Creeped Out* episode to reference Zucco's Pizza, which is also mentioned in **Marti** and **Kindlesticks** and No Filter.
* Originally, Sam was not going to become a statue, but instead would run outside before quickly realising that he would turn to stone and run into a shadow. He would then reside in the shadows and never come out while BillyGoat356 stares at him with disappointment. But it was eventually decided that this ending was a bit too scary and instead he simply ran out into the sunlight and turned to stone.