S02E07 - Collateral

"Collateral" is the seventh episode of Season 2 of We Can Fix Pawbert and features a crossover with 9-1-1.

Synopsis

An explosion at the Tundratown-Sahara Power Substation kills eight civilians and injures twelve. Station 118 responds to the disaster. Pawbert recognizes the attack pattern as reconnaissance -- testing response times rather than attempting to destroy the weather wall -- and Maddie Han reconnects with him at the hospital, offering counsel from one survivor to another.

Plot

The episode opens with a 9-1-1 dispatch call. Maddie Han takes a panicked report from a maintenance technician at the Tundratown-Sahara Power Substation—explosions, smoke, screaming, the ceiling coming down. The line goes to static mid-sentence. Maddie dispatches all available units as Station 118 rolls, with Bobby Nash directing his crew toward one of the largest power facilities in the city, the one feeding the weather wall between districts.

At Site Two, the pack is enjoying a quiet morning. Nick is attempting to cook hash browns with mixed results, Judy is reviewing files, and Luther is sharing coffee with Pawbert. Luther receives a call from Agent Corbin—explosion at the Tundratown-Sahara Power Substation, multiple casualties, ZSI wants Pawbert on scene as a consultant given his family's history with the infrastructure.

The pack arrives at the devastated substation. Half of it is on fire. Athena Grant coordinates the ZPD perimeter while Bobby runs rescue operations at the collapsed east wing. Hen and Chimney have established a triage station where survivors emerge—some walking, some carried, some on stretchers. Bobby recognizes the pack and tells them this was no accident. He has seen equipment failure. This is something else—three separate explosion points, sequential, timed, someone who knew exactly what they were doing.

Pawbert walks the blast site and identifies the pattern. The explosions were placed to cause maximum structural damage while preserving the weather wall interface. The primary controls feeding the climate barrier are damaged but functional. He recognizes his father's methodology—probe, assess, report, then hit during a major operation. This attack was not terrorism. It was reconnaissance. Someone wanted to see how fast emergency services respond when weather wall infrastructure is threatened.

At Zootopia General Hospital, the pack interviews survivors while their memories are fresh. A badger facilities manager named Brock describes the moments before the explosion—three pulses, then all three at once, like dominoes. The explosions hit the east wing—offices, break room, secondary monitoring—while the weather wall interface in the west wing remained standing. Luther reports to Corbin: this was reconnaissance for something bigger.

Maddie Han finds Pawbert in a hospital hallway. She came when she heard the scale of the incident—dispatch does not usually see the aftermath. She sees him differently now—broader shoulders, steadier stance, holding her gaze instead of looking away. When Pawbert tries to take responsibility for the attack because his family built the infrastructure, Maddie interrupts firmly. He does not get to carry everything his family did. He did not plant those explosives. He is here trying to help stop it. She tells him that surviving is what gives meaning to what comes next.

Bobby pulls Pawbert aside near the memorial garden. He notices that Pawbert is carrying weight differently now—not the crushing shame of purposeless guilt, but the heavier burden of responsibility for people who depend on him. He delivers a pointed assessment of the Lynxley family: that is not a family, that is a hostage situation. What Pawbert has now—the pack—is real.

That evening at Site Two, the pack processes what happened. Eight civilians died so someone could collect data on response times. Luther confirms ZSI is treating this as reconnaissance for a larger operation. The timing devices were military-grade, the kind that went missing from a Lynxley shell company two years ago. In the bedroom, Pawbert tells Luther he felt useful for the first time—not just tolerated, but actually helpful. Luther tells him that caring so much almost broke him, but that is not weakness. That is what makes him worth saving.

In the tag, the Jaguar stands on a rooftop overlooking the damaged substation. He reports response time data to a distorted voice: ZFD arrived in seven minutes, ZPD established a perimeter at twelve, ZSI arrived at twenty-three with their consultant. The primary objective was achieved. The voice instructs him to keep eyes on Pawbert—he may prove more useful alive than dead. The Jaguar confirms observation only for now, then delivers the episode's final line: the substation attack, and by extension Pawbert himself, was not even the main event.

Key Moments

• Maddie Han dispatches Station 118 to the substation explosion as the caller's line goes to static
• Nick burns hash browns at Site Two, claiming consistency as a virtue
• The pack is summoned to consult at the substation due to Pawbert's family history with the infrastructure
• Bobby confirms three sequential explosion points—deliberate and timed, not equipment failure
• Pawbert identifies the attack as reconnaissance, noting the explosions preserved the weather wall interface
• Eight civilians are confirmed dead, twelve injured; the body bags are lined up at the scene
• Pawbert watches the body bags and reflects that his family built this place
• Brock describes the sequential detonation pattern from his hospital bed
• Maddie reconnects with Pawbert at the hospital and refuses to let him carry responsibility for his family's actions
• Pawbert confirms he still has Maddie's card from the S01E10 firehouse visit
• Bobby observes that Pawbert now carries responsibility instead of purposeless guilt
• Bobby describes the Lynxley family as a hostage situation rather than a real family
• Luther tells Pawbert that caring so much almost broke him, but that is what makes him worth saving
• The Jaguar reports response time data from a rooftop, confirming the attack was a test for something larger

Key Lines

Characters Introduced

Locations

• ZFD Station 118 (cold open dispatch)
• Site Two -- kitchen and main rooms
• Tundratown-Sahara Power Substation -- east wing blast site, triage area, perimeter
• Zootopia General Hospital -- emergency department, Bay 12, hallway, waiting area, memorial garden overlook
• Site Two -- living room, bedroom (evening)
• Rooftop overlooking the substation (tag)

Items

• Maddie's card -- Given to Pawbert at the firehouse in S01E10; Pawbert confirms he still has it
• Timing devices -- Military-grade, traced to a Lynxley shell company; used in the substation attack
• Binoculars -- Used by the Jaguar to observe the substation aftermath from the rooftop

Notes

• This episode marks the first civilian casualties of Season 2 (eight dead, twelve injured).
• Contains callbacks to the Station 118 crossover in S01E10 -- both Bobby and Maddie reference their previous interactions with Pawbert at the firehouse.
• Bobby's line -- "That's not a family. That's a hostage situation." -- encapsulates the external view of Pawbert's upbringing.
• The cold open's 9-1-1 dispatch call mirrors the show's own format, opening from Maddie's perspective before transitioning to Station 118's response.