S01E01 - The Weakest Lynx

"The Weakest Lynx" is the first episode of Season 1 and the series premiere of We Can Fix Pawbert. It takes place immediately after the events of Zootopia 2 and establishes the series' central premise: a mammal who became a monster in a desperate bid for his family's approval, now facing the consequences with no one left.

Synopsis

Pawbert Lynxley is arrested following his attempted murders during the Zootopia 2 finale. Abandoned by his family's lawyers and targeted for assassination by his own father, Pawbert accepts a cooperation agreement with the prosecution in exchange for protective custody. The episode traces his journey from arrest through processing, a brutal beating in holding, psychological evaluation, a professional hit attempt during transport, and finally to a safehouse where he must confront the reality that the family he nearly killed for never loved him at all.

Plot

At Agnes De'Snake's ancestral home, Pawbert Lynxley kneels in the snow in cuffs and a muzzle, the standard protocol for predators who have attempted lethal violence. He wears his mother's faded green sweater, his most treasured possession—the only thing he has left of her. His paws still smell like accelerant from his attempt to burn down the house that proved his family built their empire on lies. Judy Hopps reads him his charges while the bandage from his venom attack is still visible on her neck. As Pawbert is led away, Milton Lynxley's transport passes by. The window rolls down, and father and son lock eyes. Milton mouths the words that will haunt Pawbert: a final, cold disownment.

Pawbert is processed into ZPD Holding under harsh fluorescent lights. The Processing Officer handles him efficiently—not with abuse, but with the impersonal protocol applied to any mammal who nearly killed two cops. His mugshot captures dead eyes above metal restraints. During the strip search, his mother's green sweater is pulled over his head, bagged as evidence, tagged with a number, and taken away. Pawbert stands naked under the lights, shaking—the last piece of his mother, gone. He is given a rough jumpsuit and moved to a holding cell, where he counts the cinder blocks to keep his mind from the weight crushing his chest. Eventually, alone and muzzled, his shoulders begin to shake with the first of many breakdowns. A rhino in the next cell recognizes the Lynxley name—his sister lost everything when the family crashed the market, and she killed herself months ago. When a guard "accidentally" leaves a door unlocked, the rhino enters and beats Pawbert, who doesn't resist. Part of him believes this is what he deserves.

Nikki Bramble, an overworked badger public defender, finds Pawbert in the medical bay having his injuries treated. She informs him that his family's legal team has officially declined to represent him, filing to sever his case from the rest of the family's proceedings. The Lynxleys are positioning Pawbert as the scapegoat, the weak link to carry the blame. Nikki explains that she's been assigned to his case and that despite what he's done, everyone deserves a defense. Pawbert's first question is simply: why would anyone help him?

In the ZPD Evaluation Room, Dr. Fuzzby, a quokka therapist, conducts a court-ordered psychological evaluation. With his muzzle finally removed, Pawbert walks through what happened—how he prepared the venom ahead of time, how he chose to inject Judy, chose to leave Gary to freeze, chose to burn down the house. No one ordered him to do any of it. He made those choices because he thought protecting the family might finally earn his father's love. Fuzzby diagnoses dissociation, complex trauma, and passive suicidal ideation, noting that Pawbert was raised in an environment where love and approval were conditional on extreme performance. She makes clear that this context explains but does not excuse his choices—he is fully accountable for his actions, but within a framework of accountability, growth is possible.

The next morning, Pawbert is muzzled again for courthouse transport. Nick Wilde and Judy are assigned escort duty by Chief Bogo's decision, forcing them to face the mammal who nearly killed them. Luther, a gray wolf officer with an unusually efficient demeanor, takes shotgun. During the transport, Pawbert manages to apologize through the muzzle, and in the tense silence that follows, he explains why he did it—because he thought his family would finally accept him. Nick recognizes something in that desperation, the wanting of love you'll never get, but notes the critical difference: he never tried to kill anyone for it.

Halfway to the courthouse, Luther stiffens. The first bullet hits the windshield. Three professional shooters—a snow leopard, a wolf, and a hyena—execute a coordinated assault designed to eliminate Pawbert before he can testify. Luther moves with terrifying efficiency, far beyond what a standard precinct officer should demonstrate, drawing fire and returning it while Nick and Judy protect Pawbert. When a shooter wrenches open the transport door and aims at Pawbert, Judy tackles him from the side. The attackers are neutralized. Pawbert sits on the curb afterward, dissociated, finally understanding: his father didn't just abandon him. Milton tried to have him killed.

At the courthouse, Nikki presents the situation: multiple life sentences if Pawbert goes to trial, but the assassination attempt changes everything. She proposes a cooperation agreement—in exchange for full testimony against the Lynxley organization, Pawbert receives a reduced sentence and protective custody. When the judge asks how he pleads, Pawbert could fight, could claim coercion, could do what a Lynxley would do. But he's tired of being a Lynxley. He pleads guilty. Dr. Fuzzby takes the stand to provide context, emphasizing that Pawbert made deliberate criminal choices but within a paradigm of severe psychological conditioning—and that with appropriate support and accountability, rehabilitation is possible. Protective custody is granted.

At a nondescript safehouse, Nick, Judy, Luther, and Nikki establish the new reality. Luther removes Pawbert's muzzle with unexpected gentleness, checking where the straps have cut into his skin and applying a small bandage. It's the first gentle touch Pawbert has felt in days. Nikki leaves with a reminder that everyone deserves one person who fights for them. Nick has a terse conversation with Pawbert in the kitchen, acknowledging that while forgiveness isn't on the table, Pawbert is still breathing—which means there's time.

That night, Pawbert sits alone in his small safehouse bedroom. He takes out the crumpled photo of his mother, the only Lynxley who ever showed him warmth. Without the muzzle, without witnesses, he finally breaks down completely—deep, wracking sobs for years of suppression, for the love he'll never have, for the people he hurt, for the family that never existed. In the hallway outside his door, Luther stands listening. Nick approaches, hears it too, and leans against the opposite wall. Judy appears at the end of the hallway. None of them speak. None of them enter. But none of them walk away either. They stand vigil while Pawbert falls apart, and in that silent act of presence, something begins—not hope, not yet, but the space where hope might grow.

Key Moments

• Milton disowns Pawbert during the arrest, mouthing his final judgment as their transports pass
• Pawbert's green sweater is confiscated as evidence during processing
• A rhino prisoner recognizes the Lynxley name and beats Pawbert in his cell
• Nikki Bramble accepts Pawbert's case after his family's lawyers abandon him
• Dr. Fuzzby diagnoses dissociation, complex trauma, and passive suicidal ideation
• Three professional assassins ambush the transport van; Luther fights with unexpected skill
• Pawbert realizes his father ordered his death, not just his abandonment
• Pawbert pleads guilty and accepts a cooperation agreement
• Luther removes Pawbert's muzzle at the safehouse with unexpected gentleness
• Nick, Judy, and Luther stand vigil in the hallway while Pawbert breaks down alone

Key Lines

Characters Introduced

Locations

• Agnes De'Snake's ancestral home (arrest)
• Lynxley Manor (Milton's arrest)
• ZPD Holding (processing, cells)
• ZPD Medical Bay
• ZPD Evaluation Room
• Transport van
• Ambush site (side street en route to courthouse)
• Courthouse (arraignment)
• Safehouse

Items

• Green sweater — Confiscated as evidence during processing; Pawbert's most treasured possession, hand-knitted by his mother Lillian
• Muzzle — Placed on Pawbert at arrest as standard protocol for violent predators; removed by Luther at the safehouse
• Photo of mother — Crumpled wallet-sized photograph of Lillian; returned after processing; Pawbert's only image of her

End Credit Song

"Words Fail" (From 'Dear Evan Hansen'), Ben Platt

"Words Fail" captures the raw devastation of Pawbert's emotional state in the pilot episode with devastating precision. In the musical, Evan Hansen sings this song at his lowest moment, confessing that everything he did was driven by a desperate need to be loved, to feel like he belonged somewhere. Pawbert's journey in this episode mirrors this exactly: he attempted murder not because someone ordered him to, but because he believed that if he protected his family, they might finally see him, accept him, and say he was one of them. The song's central confession—"I never meant to make it such a mess"—echoes Pawbert's breakdown in the holding cell, his silent tears behind the muzzle, his whispered apology to his mother's photograph. This choice also establishes Dear Evan Hansen as the series' thematic touchstone—a show about a broken mammal learning he's worthy of love—which will bookend the entire five-season journey.

Notes

• This episode directly continues from the final scene of Zootopia 2.
• The episode establishes the TV-MA DLSV rating from its first scene.