Upload Date: 2/26/2022
Fixer's trauma grows severe enough that he seems to begin hallucinating. Luckily, his new Cleaning Duty job with Jumpsuit begins today, so he gets to take his mind off of things by learning the ropes and mingling with his coworkers. Meanwhile, Heavy Guy and KIA participate in a fragging match heavily skewed in Heavy's team's favor, thanks to a cocky, cheating Scout. This Scout turns out to be more than he seems when the two warriors confront him for his actions.
- Ambiguous Situation: Miraculously, P-Rick is able to respawn after being killed by Jumpsuit. The Medic manning the respawn station lets him know that this shouldn't have been the case; when Fragging matches are inactive, the respawn machines are turned off. The Medic implies Janitor would've been responsible, but even he doesn't know why he would do this; the narrative, in general, deliberately leaves the reasoning vague. There are enough details to imply that Janitor deliberately left the machine on for Fixer and Jumpsuit, as an act of accommodation for their first day on the job. However, it's also just as likely that he left the machine on by mistake; he fell asleep at some point during the shift and only wakes up after Fixer and Jumpsuit complete their work.
- Bloody Hallucinations of Guilt: Fixer still feels some guilt over the Railway United incident, as he felt his inaction led to his coworkers' deaths, including Hotrod. The morning before he and Jumpsuit start work, that guilt manifests as a hallucination of Hotrod's undead corpse, who weaponizes Fixer's guilt in his rants against him. However, the way Hotrod threatens Fixer at the end of the conversation hints that his appearance may be more than a mere hallucination.[A hallucinating Fixer notices only Hot Rod's corpse in the room with him, and he drops his spoon in shock. A few seconds pass, and the corpse slowly leans up from its slump and raises its welding mask, looking at Fixer dead in the eyes.]
Hot Rod: Fixer... Why did you fall asleep? During your damn job!
[Fixer can't speak.]
Hot Rod: ... Y'know. I saw you asleep. But... I left you there. That was my mistake! Y'know why? I liked you, kid. You always were a great kid. And a great worker! Perhaps, too great... I felt pity.
[Hot Rod looks down and away from Fixer as if his pity were genuine.]
Hot Rod: Of all things... a man can die from. I died... Because of you. If you didn't slack off, I woulda' been here with y'all. Alive, and well... Maybe not well... But my point still stands!
[Fixer still says nothing.]
Hot Rod: I was really hoping we would all... make it out alive. To see all of you again!
[This strikes a nerve; Fixer clutches his chest and scrunches his face, fighting back tears. He glances up to see Hot Rod flashing a devilish smile.]
Hot Rod: Maybe... Maybe I will. Hope... is the last thing to die... Right...? I'm coming for you.
[Suddenly, Hot Rod's eyes pop out of his goggles, and he smiles even wider. He bursts into loud, maniacal laughter, his voice distorting and his face morphing into something that defies description. Thankfully, Jumpsuit snaps Fixer out of his daydream, leaving him and everyone else processing what the hell just happened.] - Double-Meaning Title: The episode's title, "Kicking Against Pricks," is an idiom referring to useless protest. This ties into P-Rick's struggle to fight off KIA and Heavy Guy's punishment for his cheating. It can also be read another way: fighting against unlikable people as payback for their misdeeds—an apt description of the confrontation itself.
- Fantastic Racism: One of Fixer and Jumpsuit's new coworkers is Terge, a Demoman who isn't keen on having Scouts like them as coworkers. He's especially suspicious of Jumpsuit due to his mask. He doesn't act on his prejudices yet, though; he only confides in his coworker, Skimmer, about his concerns, and he's kind enough to exchange a friendly handshake with Jumpsuit upon meeting him face to face. This is contrasted by his boss, a fellow Demoman named Janitor, who treats Fixer and Jumpsuit as equals. He even assists Jumpsuit with his inability to speak by offering a pen and paper for him to use when needed.
- Foreshadowing: The episode drops hints about P-Rick's suspicious behavior until he's revealed to be a Stand-User. Some of the hints also imply that Fixer and Jumpsuit's first Cleaning Duty shift takes place on the same Dustbowl server in which P-Rick fights KIA and Heavy Guy.
- Terge's suspicions about Scouts subtly prime the viewer for P-Rick, whose personality is caustic enough to give someone like Terge a bad impression of Scouts as a whole.
- As RED team sets up for BLU's final push in Dustbowl Stage 3, a RED Medic explains to an Engineer that he's suspicious of a particular Scout lounging behind the spawn gate. The scene cuts over to that Scout, and his outfit and body language immediately paint him as shady.Engineer: Doc, we have good defense here. If we lose this point, the chokepoints will help us funnel them in for easy pickings!
Demoman: [In the distance] Yah!!
Medic: I do not doubt that. I am worried about that Scout... Somehow... he has always been a step ahead. - Just after Fixer and Jumpsuit finish cleaning up Dustbowl Stage 1, Janitor notifies them by radio that Stage 2 is ready for cleansing. Fixer's surprised by this; he was expecting a much longer wait between stages. It's a detail that rewards those knowledgeable in TF2's gameplay and community opinions; Dustbowl's design is infamous for encouraging lengthy stalemates, to the point where quick matches are out of the ordinary.
- KIA and Heavy Guy are about to have a rematch over the final point, this time to determine the match's outcome. But their duel is cut off when they suddenly find they've shifted several feet away from the point, and not under their own power... and the point itself was somehow instantly captured by P-Rick, who kills KIA temporarily just before the match ends. This is the most explicit hint that P-Rick's cheating is anything but ordinary; it spurs KIA into confronting him about what he's been doing.
- Unfortunate Names: Upon learning P-Rick's name, KIA immediately pokes fun at it, as it's barely separated from a profanity way too fitting for its owner. P-Rick reacts as if he'd never considered this happening.KIA: What's your name?
P-Rick: P-Rick's the name.
Heavy Guy: P... Rick...
KIA: [smiling] "Prick!"
[P-Rick sneers as Heavy Guy guffaws.]
Heavy Guy: PFFFFT-HA-HA-HA! Ohhhh, that slaps me on the knee.
KIA: I'm proud of you, kid. You are self-aware.
[P-Rick loses his cool and slaps KIA across the face. KIA, no worse for wear, redirects his gaze back to P-Rick, flashing him an amused smile again.]
KIA: Alright then.
P-Rick: [seething] Don't you EVER call me that again.
