S04E06 - Day Pass

"Day Pass" is the sixth episode of Season 4 of We Can Fix Pawbert. The pack takes a day trip to Deersneyland, where Pawbert practices "stupid joy" and manages his PTSD during the fireworks show.

Synopsis

Nick proposes a spontaneous trip to Deersneyland, declaring that Pawbert needs joy that doesn't accomplish anything. The pack navigates crowds, height restrictions, and a comedic encounter with Chief Bogo and Clawhauser at the park. The episode culminates with Pawbert choosing to stay through the fireworks display.

Plot

The episode opens on Day 11 of Pawbert's freedom, four days after submitting his GYU application. He sits at the kitchen table refreshing his email obsessively—seventeen times before Luther finishes counting. The ceiling was wrong again last night, too high and too far away, and the waiting has stretched his nerves thin. Nick observes that Pawbert has been staring at walls like they owe him money, and diagnoses the problem: Pawbert needs stupid joy, the kind that doesn't accomplish anything, doesn't build toward a goal, doesn't prove he deserves good things. Joy for the hell of it. Deersneyland. The pack boards the ferry TIANA within two hours.

The ferry crossing gives Pawbert his first experience of open water since childhood. As the city recedes behind them, he realizes there's nothing between him and the sky—no walls, no bars, no edges to his permitted world. Luther stands beside him, solid and present, as the horizon stretches unbroken in every direction. When Deersborough emerges from the distance, Pawbert acknowledges what's happening: they're really doing this.

At the park, Luther studies the map with the intensity of a general reviewing battle plans, insisting that fun can be optimized. The day unfolds as a comedy of size-related indignities—Luther exceeds the maximum height limit for a roller coaster and must wait outside with his deer antler headbands (Judy's doing), while Judy falls three centimeters short of the minimum requirement for a water ride despite citing her career as a city-saving ZPD officer. In the haunted attraction, Pawbert flinches at a robot ghost and laughs at himself for facing actual terrorists without being scared by manufactured scares. A 4D theater experience involving bugs and phantom leg-brushing effects leaves Nick genuinely traumatized while Luther takes notes on ant tactical coordination.

The pack encounters Chief Bogo near the gift shop, off-duty with Clawhauser who is draped in merchandise—deer antler headbands, a park t-shirt, pins, a foam finger, and multiple snacks. Bogo claims to be conducting a security assessment and maintains that the gift shop has security vulnerabilities involving inadequately secured plush toys. He delivers his verdict with deadly seriousness: this never happened, none of them were here, this park does not exist. Clawhauser drags him toward the spinning teacups.

A young fawn approaches Pawbert, recognizing him from the news as the hero lynx who helped save everyone from the bad mammals. Pawbert kneels to her level and agrees to a photo; she hugs him fiercely before disappearing into the crowd. The pack takes their own photo in front of the castle, soaked from the log flume and glowing. Luther names the collection of photos: evidence of joy.

As darkness falls, the pack stakes out a spot in the central plaza for the fireworks. Pawbert feels the tension building—fireworks are loud, and loud things have meant different things in his life. Gunshots. Explosions. The particular crack that announces everything is about to go wrong. He gives himself permission to leave if he needs to. Judy offers the alternative: he can also stay, and either is allowed. The first firework launches and explodes, and Pawbert's body locks up with the ancient animal response to danger. But he doesn't run. He breathes using Dr. Venn's techniques, focusing on colors rather than sounds, watching patterns bloom and fade across the sky. He whispers to himself that he can do loud now—when he chooses it. Luther's arm comes around him with a single word: always.

On the night ferry home, the pack sleeps peacefully against each other—Pawbert against Luther's shoulder, Nick and Judy tangled together. Luther stays awake, watching the city approach, watching Pawbert breathe with the rhythm of someone who is safe and knows it. They went out. They're coming home. This is what life looks like now.

Key Moments

• Nick diagnoses Pawbert's need for joy without purpose or accomplishment
• Ferry crossing to Deersborough—Pawbert's first open water since childhood
• Luther approaches the park map like a tactical briefing
• Luther and Judy both denied rides due to height requirements
• Bogo and Clawhauser encountered off-duty at the park
• Young fawn recognizes Pawbert as the hero from the news and hugs him
• Pack photo in front of the castle—Luther names it evidence of joy
• Fireworks scene—Pawbert chooses to stay and processes PTSD triggers
• Night ferry home—pack sleeps peacefully together

Key Lines

Locations

• Pawthorne Mansion — Kitchen
• Zootopia Harbor — Ferry terminal
• Ferry TIANA — Double-decker vessel, cream and teal, observation deck
• Deersborough — Island destination, smaller terminal with deliberate charm
• Deersneyland — Main gate, castle, roller coaster, log flume, haunted attraction, 4D bug theater, gift shop, central plaza

Items

• Deer antler headbands — Light-up deluxe version; Luther wears one (Judy's doing)
• Park photos — Evidence of joy; for corkboard
• Churros — Seven dollars each; Nick claims they cost more than his first apartment
• Photo booth photos — Ridiculous, blurry, perfect

End Credit Song

"Happily Ever After" (Full Version), Jordan Fisher & Angie K.

The song opens with an invitation: "Ready to begin, let the wonder take hold." Pawbert is ready—barely, tentatively, but ready. The episode follows his first major outing since release, culminating in the Deersneyland fireworks that test every survival instinct he has. The lyrics speak directly to that moment: "Leave our fears behind us, not so far away from the dreams that live inside us." Pawbert can't leave his fears behind entirely—the loud sounds still trigger him, the crowds still press—but he stays anyway. The bridge earns its place over the credits: "The battles, the stories, the losses and all the glories—we're changed by the way we live every day. Just look up and reach to the sky, we all have the courage to fly." Pawbert has been through battles. He carries losses. But the song insists that happily ever after isn't something that happens to you—it's something you reach for. "Reach out and find your happily ever after." Not wait for. Find. When Luther whispers "Always" during the finale and Pawbert falls asleep on the ferry home, he has done exactly that: reached out, stayed present, and claimed a moment of joy despite everything in him that said he couldn't. The pack photo becomes "evidence of joy"—proof that he can do loud now, when he chooses it.

Notes

• Days 11-12 of Pawbert's freedom (Weekend, Week 2).
• Bogo and Clawhauser's off-duty appearance humanizes both characters.
• First time Pawbert voluntarily enters a large public crowd since release.
• "I can do loud now. When I choose it" represents agency over PTSD responses.
• The episode is densely packed with Disney theme park easter eggs:
  • Deersneyland is Disneyland; "The Happiest Place in Zootopia" adapts the real slogan "The Happiest Place on Earth."
  • Deersborough, an island reached by ferry, parallels the ferry and monorail access to Walt Disney World.
  • The ferry Tiana is named after Princess Tiana from The Princess and the Frog.
  • The castle at the park's center corresponds to Cinderella Castle / Sleeping Beauty Castle.
  • The light-up deer antler headbands are the Zootopia equivalent of Mickey Mouse ear headbands.
  • The spinning teacups are the Mad Tea Party. The haunted mansion is The Haunted Mansion. The log flume is Splash Mountain. "The Bug's World Experience" (4D theater) is It's Tough to Be a Bug! from Disney's Animal Kingdom—a particularly layered Easter egg, as the real-world attraction closed on March 16, 2025, and was replaced by Zootopia: Better Zoogether! on November 7, 2025. The in-universe Deersneyland features a Zootopia-adapted version of the very attraction that was replaced by a Zootopia attraction.
  • The park's employees are called cast members, Disney's real-world term for theme park staff.
  • The overpriced churros are a notorious Disney parks staple; Nick's commentary on price inflation is accurate to the real experience.
  • The end credit song, "Happily Ever After," is the soundtrack from the Magic Kingdom fireworks show of the same name (2017--2021).