David Gets Hard

## Media

  Rooster Teeth YouTube

Ending theme"Tiny Glowing Screens, Pt. 3"

"**David Gets Hard**" is the 9th episode of the first season of Camp Camp and is the 9th episode overall. It aired August 19th, 2016 on the RT FIRST site, August 20th, 2016 on the Rooster Teeth Website, and August 26th, 2016 on YouTube.

## Plot

At the end of a week jam-packed with camper-specific activities (such as Ered's Extreme Sports Camp and Harrison's Magic Camp), David and Gwen come to realize that the final camper of the week to receive a spotlight is Nurf - whose parents had signed him up for Behavioral Corrections Camp. Thrilled at the prospect of being scared straight, Nurf threatens the counselors to give him definitive results or else he'll tell his parents they molested him.

David and Gwen regroup inside the Mess Hall, with David saying he isn't tough enough to run a boot camp. Gwen replies that they are contractually obligated to, bitterly adding a refusal to move back in with her parents. Max drags Quartermaster's hook across a blackboard to make an entrance, claiming he can teach David "how to be mean, how to be hard, how to keep kids like Nurf out there from walking all over you!" Gwen agrees to Max's demands in exchange for extra desserts and David's social security number. After making a delightfully double-entendre'd speech, David kicks open the door to start whipping e into shape (hurting himself in the process), leaving Max to wonder, "So, does he want to help Nerf or fuck him?"

Now sporting a drill sergeant hat and stern attitude, David comes upon Nerf repeatedly jabbing his knife into a tree, and tells him to hand it over. After a moment of pause, Nerf stabs right through David's left hand, landing him straight back in the Mess Hall, sobbing and wailing REALLY huge, loud, profusely and ridiculously as Gwen wraps him in bandages. David doubts that the "tough guy" facade will work, instead opting for hugs, as those always make him feel better. Max states he needs to change his perspective on life, using Gwen's behavior as an example. Despite David thinking of her as smart and helpful, Max interjects that she slacks off and has no idea what she's doing with her life, causing Gwen to run off in tears.

The previous demonstration still fresh in his mind, David marches over to Nerf, who's fishing from the edge of the dock , a kitten as bait. David's attempt at a stern speech starts off badly, and only descends into weaker and even complimentary language as Max's repeated attempts to coach him fall completely on deaf ears. Nurf states that the assumption he's always been a bad kid is narrow-minded: he explains that he once chewed a Pop-Tart into the shape of a gun, receiving a school suspension and labelled a problem child. He was then sent away to a place where the same negative mentality continued, thus warping his attitude permanently, and now only believes he can be what the world tells him he is, "A loser. A lost cause. A bully." Max and David listen in stunned silence, and David kneels down to apologize. Nurf promptly stabs through David's other hand and pushes him into the lake.

Back in the Mess Hall with more crying and bandages, Gwen informs the boys that "being tough isn't the same as being an asshole", and that they should take this from a more psychological approach, leaning into her (useless) dual-major in psychology for instruction.

Outside, Nikki and Neil are casually kicking a soccer ball around, musing about joining in for a potentially crazy adventure the next week, when Nurf rushes up to punt the ball across the activities field. He snidely claims he didn't see them, but in the same breath admits he was just acting out for attention. David calls him over to a nearby set-up meant to resemble a psychiatrist's office, saying they need to talk. Despite Nurf's immediate comparison to Freud making him wither, David gathers his resolve, explaining that, since the boy seems to have a relatively strong grasp on the events that led to his poor behavior, talking it through might be helpful. Nurf takes a seat, and begins by saying, "I think it all started when I joined the ballet."

A short montage follows, wherein Nurf re-enacts a scene of physical violence, looks at Rorschach-esque ink blots, and even swaps seats with David at one point (who gets a smack upside the head from his co-counselor). Nurf ultimately concludes that his behavioral problems seem to be stemming from a vast variety of issues, but that it's his choice to decide what labels he wants to go by, rather than those cast upon him by society. With tears in his eyes, David expresses his pride, and asks Nurf what he's going to do now. Of course, Nurf's idea is to stab his dad "to break the cycle", and when David inevitably decries that thought, the situation immediately escalates. Nurf throws a knife at David, narrowly missing him, flips over the couch, and beings swinging and slashing at the rest of the campers with another knife. Gwen and Max look on in horror, but David soon declares that he is going to try his way, "aggressive pacifism". As he runs off to deal with Nurf, Gwen rolls her eyes and leaves to go get more bandages.

Nurf has cornered a cowering Nerris, who swings a foam sword at him in self-defense, when David comes running up, yelling for him to stop. Nurf says he's done talking, but David opens his arms for a hug. He manages to step on the soccer ball that Nikki and Neil were playing with earlier, causing him to slip and fall forward, slapping Nurf hard in the face on his way down. Everyone gasps in shock, Nurf drops his knife and carefully touches his swollen cheek. David quickly gets up, apologizing and asking if he's okay. Nurf quietly replies that he can't believe he's subjected people to the same pain, and that he wants to go sit in his tent and think about his behavior. David is horrified when Nurf thanks him, and protests that they need to talk about the situation. The crowd disperses, and Max muses that "sometimes you just gotta hit kids", leaving David alone with his thoughts.

## Features

### **Major Characters**

* David
* Gwen
* Max
* Nurf

### **Supporting Characters**

* Neil
* Nikki
* Nerris
* Harrison

### **Minor Characters**

* Ered
* Preston Goodplay
* Dolph
* Scotty (first appearance)
* Space Kid
* Quartermaster
* Mrs. Nurfington (mentioned)
* Louis (mentioned)
* Gwen's mom (mentioned)

### **Locations**

* Camp Campbell
	+ Visual Comedy Camp (mentioned)
	+ Farm Camp
* Mess Hall

### **Music**

* "Camp Camp Song Song" (Opening Theme)
* "Tiny Glowing Screens Part 3" (Ending Theme)

## Trivia

* Nurf is shown to have a large amount of concealed knives and impressive aim with them as well.
* As revealed in "Reigny Day", this episode also hints at a sadder side to Nurf; the other side of the tree he repeatedly stabs appears to have "CRY FOR HELP" scratched into it. He also tells David a sad story about being pigeonholed as a "problem child", but stabs David in the hand when he tries to show sympathy. He later bullies Neil and Nikki, but is very openly self-aware and acknowledges that he's just acting out for attention. When Nurf finally opens up, he mentions that his problem behavior started around the time he joined the ballet earlier in childhood.
	+ Nurf mimes out a scene where he is choked by someone taller then him during the musical interlude, then later says he wants to stab his dad to "break the cycle", which all but outright confirms he's been physically abused by his dad. There is also the fact that his mom is in jail (for assault with a weapon), as confirmed in a future episode "Parents' Day", but at least their relationship dynamic is very loving.

### **Cultural References**

* Yet another Nazi-related visual gag is made about Dolph: he is seen painting an image of a Superman-like superhero with blond hair, blue eyes, and a "Ü" on his chest (presumably short for "Übermensch").
* The same set of props from the episode "Romeo & Juliet II: Love Resurrected" (containing a trumpet, a plunger, a bowling ball, and what appears to be ORF from X-Ray and Vav) reappears in this episode in front of Scotty when the Visual Comedy Camp is mentioned.
	+ Scotty himself is a caricature of comedian Carrot Top, who is known for prop comedy, whose given name is Scott Thompson.
* A crude drawing of Nurf is seen in the scene where Max drags Quartermaster's hook across the chalkboard, with the words "Chris Browns" pointing towards his fist, which is referencing Chris Brown's domestic abuse of Rihanna.
	+ Max getting people's attention by scraping a chalkboard might also be a reference to the film "Jaws"), where Quint does the same.
* Max telling Gwen, "There's no time-traveling doctor coming to save you!" is a direct reference to Doctor Who, of which Gwen is obviously an avid fan.
* Nurf alludes to the infamous 2014 incident of a child in Maryland eating a pop tart into the shape of a gun and being suspended for it.
* When being approached by David to start a therapy session, Nurf directly mentions both Sigmund Freud and his infamous theory of the Oedipus complex.
	+ David later shows Nurf a Rorschach test (that arguably looks like a man having sex with someone or something else).
* Nerris being cornered and stammering "You shall not pass!" is a very well-known quote from the film The "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring".
* After Gwen declares that she'll go get the bandages, she comes back with a kit labeled "Second Aid", which is a nod to the real-world term "First Aid".

### **Continuity**

* Camp Campbell having to cut costs on provisions once more to find props "IN "BUDGET" for Scotty's Visual Comedy Camp.
* Gwen reveals that she dual-majored in Psychology in this episode, and that fact is later mentioned again in "Gwen Gets a Job" and "Camp Corp.".
* Gwen also reveals that if she were ever to go jobless, she'd have to move back in with her parents, which she greatly despises.
	+ Gwen's father makes an appearance in "Party Pooper", and her mother is also mentioned to be alive and well.
* Nurf is gifted a knife from his mom in "Anti-Social Network", stating she's in jail, which is later confirmed in "Parents' Day". This *could* explain the endless supply of knives he had in this episode.
* Gwen telling David that he got blood on her boots is referenced again when Erin tells Tabii the same in the episode "Bonjour Bonquisha".
* The wide-stance confident march that David does while approaching Nurf fishing out on the dock is seen again at the end of "Cult Camp", just before David attempts to fire Daniel.
* The Nurf-centric nature of the episode, as well as the overall low screen time of the main cast, is lampshaded by Neil and Nikki. Nikki also stated that they will probably do something crazy next week anyway, a reference to the fact that they have much more prominent roles in the next episode.

## Errors

* After Nurf pushes David into the lake after stabbing him a second time, David doesn't seem to show any signs that he's been underwater during the scene where Gwen was patching him up a second time.
* The bandage roll that Gwen was using to patch up David's other hand went missing after she dropped it after Max tells David that she's the worst.
* When David held up the Rorschach card to Nurf, the bandages around his hands disappear. They reappear again on the next scene.
* The clipboard David was holding disappears after Nurf says that he's going to stab his dad.
* The knife that Nurf was holding disappears after he drops it when David accidentally slaps him on the face.

## Transcript

*The transcript for "David Gets Hard" may be edited here.*