Takedown

### Actors

Imogen Tear, D'Pharoah McKay Woon-A-Tai, Cameron Roberts, Patrick Gallagher, Paulino Nunes, Colton Clause, Phoenix Gatchalian

### Next

Tilly Bone

**Takedown** is the eighth episode of *Creeped Out*'s second season, and the 21st episode of the series overall. It first aired on 30 October 2019 on CBBC.

## Synopsis

Alexa is the only girl on the wrestling team. Despite her skill, there are days where she doesn't feel good enough. So, when a mysterious chain text offers her anything she wants, she is tempted to ask for brute strength. But she is about to find there is more to this deal. As she gets stronger, it comes at a price.

## Plot

### Prologue

The Curious sits among a crowd, watching old black-and-white footage of a wrestling match on his phone. The Narrator asks if you've ever felt like you weren't good enough, and whether you'd take the chance to succeed if it meant others would fail.

### Episode

At wrestling practice, Alexa successfully beats a male teammate. She and her friend Lucky, the Captain of the cheerleading squad, celebrate. Another teammate, Lincoln, says Alexa just got lucky, but their coach tells her she's now good enough to compete against the boys and can try out for a spot in the regional championships.

While hanging out with Lucky, Alexa begins to doubt herself, feeling she just isn't strong enough to compete. Suddenly, she gets a text from someone called 'IAmTRuDI' which reads:

U hV BeEN ChOSeN. U CAnT EsCaPE. TxT mE BACk tHE GIfT U WAnT. I WiLL TAkeE IT FrOM SoMeONE ELsE. IF u dONt, i'LL HIdE UnDER UR BEd AND TaKE sOMEThING AnYWaY.

Alexa blocks the number, but immediately gets the text again. Lucky says he's heard about this before – it's a chain text and there's an urban legend about a boy who wished for perfect eyesight and got it, but another kid went blind.

That night, Alexa replies to IAmTRuDI saying 'I want physical strength'. She gets a reply saying a gift has been given to her. The next morning, she shatters a glass bottle while trying to open it.

At wrestling practice, she watches Lincoln struggle with a weight. When he challenges her, she lifts the same weight easily and raises it above her head. Lucky is amazed that the text seems to have worked.

Alexa receives another text saying a gift has been taken from her, but can't figure out what this could be. She texts IAmTRuDI again saying she needs more strength. At an elimination match for the regionals, she defeats a teammate, George. Lincoln sits on the sidelines, and Lucky notices that he looks weak.

While Alexa helps her dad fix their car, it almost collapses on him. She grabs it and manages to free him. Later, she fights George again, and he forfeits, saying Alexa is too rough for him. Lucky points out that Lincoln looks ill and suggests that's where Alexa's strength is coming from, but she brushes it off. She texts IAmTRuDI again to ask for more strength.

Lucky tells Alexa that she has to stop. He asks her to text IAmTRuDI and give her 'gift' back, but she's reluctant to do it before her dad sees her win. As they talk, she messages IAmTRuDI, but again just asks for more strength. Lucky tries to take her phone, but she grabs and crushes his hand.

At the final elimination match, Lincoln is back to full health, and Alexa realizes she couldn't have been getting her strength from him. Lincoln reveals that he is in fact also in league with Trudi.

The cheerleading squad enter the gym, but they all look sick and weak, with grey skin and clumps of hair falling out. Alexa realizes she has been drawing her strength from them. She texts IAmTRuDI, saying 'take it back'. The reply says she will break the chain for everyone. She agrees, and IAmTRuDI responds 'it is done'. Lucky and his teammates regain some strength, and Alexa leaves, upset.

Alexa's dad says he's proud of her. She admits she always thought he wanted a son, but he says he only ever wanted a girl and even 'asked' for one. When she questions what he means by 'asked', he describes a chain letter he received when her mom was pregnant, and how he replied asking for a little girl. Alexa reads IAmTRuDI's last message again. When her dad looks back at her, he is shocked to see a boy sitting in her seat, which is actually Alexa, who’s gender was switched because the chain was 'broken'.

### Epilogue

The Curious wanders into Alexa's gym. He receives the chain text and replies 'I Am The Curious'. The Narrator suggests it is better to believe in yourself than make bad choices through a fear of failure. The Curious picks up a whistle and blows it.

## Cast

* Alexa (Imogen Tear)
* Lucky (D'Pharoah McKay Woon-A-Tai)
* Lincoln (Cameron Roberts)
* Coach Carter (Patrick Gallagher)
* Bruce (Paulino Nunes)
* George (Colton Clause)
* Phoenix (Phoenix Gatchalian)
* The Curious (Lukas Engel)
* The Narrator (Hedvig Becke)

## Trivia

Alexa’s mother was pregnant with a son, not a daughter. However, as Trudi gave a chain to Alexa’s father who asked for a girl, this switched the son’s gender turning her into a girl before her parents saw her sonogram. When she became a boy again he would have had to start a new life.

It is possible that Alexa’s family have been given chain letters and that they run in the family, possibly meaning Trudi held a grudge against them. This is possible because Alexa’s father received a chain letter to. This could mean the boy from the urban legend who hated his glasses and asked for 20 20 vision was Alexa and her father’s ancestor.

Alexa’s parents appear to be separated.

It is never revealed who Trudi is, so it remains unknown if she was an evil supernatural spirit or demon with the power to steal or give things like vision or strength or a certain gender for a child or if she was an empowered human, but what is known is that Lincoln was in league with Trudi, but it is not known if he ever actually met her or knew who or what she was.