S04E10 - Solo Shift

"Solo Shift" is the tenth episode of Season 4 of We Can Fix Pawbert. Pawbert begins his field placement at Zootopia Reentry Services and makes his first solo journey through the city since release.

Synopsis

Pawbert's ZRS field placement is approved and he faces his first day commuting alone. Sorrel welcomes him as a trainee and introduces lead case manager Devor. During intake observations, Pawbert instinctively offers water to a crying client and later contributes from his own experience with another. He buys a jade plant on the way home and returns to the mansion convinced he is meant to do this work.

Plot

The episode opens with Pawbert receiving confirmation that his field placement at Zootopia Reentry Services has been approved. The pack gathers in the Pawthorne Mansion kitchen as Pawbert processes the news—he is starting Tuesday. Luther offers to drive him, but the schedules do not align. After a lingering embrace and reassurance from the pack, Pawbert watches them leave for work. For the first time since his release, he is truly alone in the mansion. The silence settles around him as he gathers his things and prepares to navigate the city by himself.

Pawbert walks to Rainbow Falls ZTA Station through the quiet residential neighborhood, passing mammals going about their ordinary mornings—a jogging squirrel, power-walking otters, a mail carrier who waves. He realizes no one is watching, no one is counting his steps. At the station platform, he waits among other commuters absorbed in their own thoughts. When the train arrives, he boards and finds a seat by the window. The anonymity washes over him—the hippo reading a newspaper, the mice arguing quietly, the wolf staring into nothing—none of them know who he is or what he has done. The train carries him through the city, and Pawbert closes his eyes, feeling the rhythm of wheels on tracks, understanding for the first time that there really are no walls.

At Zootopia Reentry Services, Pawbert approaches the reception desk and identifies himself as the new field placement trainee. The receptionist recognizes his name but remains professional. Sorrel appears from the back hallway and greets him warmly, remarking on the reversal—Pawbert is now on the other side of the desk from where he sat as a client six weeks ago. They proceed through paperwork and orientation, with Pawbert receiving his trainee badge. Sorrel walks him through the facility, explaining the intake rooms, case management offices, and resource library. A poster on the wall declares that confidentiality is a practice, not a vibe. Sorrel emphasizes that what clients share in these rooms stays in these rooms—the weight they carry is not gossip or dinner conversation.

Sorrel introduces Pawbert to Devor, the lead case manager, whose office reflects his precise, methodical nature. Devor has read Pawbert's file and delivers a crucial warning: lived experience is valuable but also a vulnerability. He cautions against letting identification become enmeshment—the impulse to fix or save clients because you recognize their pain. The trainee's job is to witness, to learn, and to offer perspective only when invited. The clients are doing their own work.

During the first intake observation, Pawbert watches from against the wall as Sorrel meets with a timber wolf client—large, tattooed, the kind of mammal mothers pull their children away from on the street. Three days out of prison, locked out by family, his mate gone, the shelter full tonight, the wolf breaks down sobbing. His whole body shakes with it. Pawbert's chest tightens. He knows exactly what this feels like—the terror of freedom, the crushing weight of starting from nothing. Without asking permission, Pawbert rises, pours a glass of water, and holds it out. The wolf stares at the glass like he has forgotten that mammals do this—offer water to strangers who are breaking. He takes it, his paws shaking so badly that water spills down his wrist. Something small shifts in his face. Someone saw him. Sorrel catches Pawbert's eye and nods approval.

In a second intake, Devor leads a session with a younger opossum client who is spiraling about whether to disclose his record on job applications—the same thoughts circling tighter and tighter. Devor glances at Pawbert with an invitation to contribute. Pawbert speaks carefully, sharing that he knows what it is like to not know where to start, that everything feels impossible until it becomes less impossible, one thing at a time. The opossum studies him, searching for the catch, then asks if Pawbert has been through this himself. Pawbert says yes. Something shifts in the room—the opossum sees not a professional helping from above but someone who climbed out of the same hole. Devor takes over again, but something has changed. Afterward, in the hallway, Devor tells Pawbert it was good work—but not to overdo it.

Sorrel checks in as the day winds down, and Pawbert admits he thinks he is supposed to be here. Sorrel smiles and says he thought Pawbert might be. On his way to the train station, Pawbert stops at a florist stall tucked between larger storefronts. A small jade plant catches his eye—dark green leaves, thick and fleshy, clustered on branches that spread outward like they are reaching for something. The chinchilla florist explains it is persistent and will not quit. Pawbert buys it and carries it home on the train. He can leave. He can return. Both are allowed.

Back at the mansion, the pack has gathered in the kitchen. Luther is cooking, Nick is stealing vegetables, Judy is sorting mail. They look up when Pawbert enters—with a plant. He explains that it looked persistent, and Luther recognizes it as a jade plant. Pawbert recounts his day: the wolf who cried, the water glass, the opossum who listened, the florist's words about stubborn lives. He tells them he thinks he is supposed to be doing this work. Luther's paw finds his shoulder and holds. Pawbert places the plant in the library, on the shelf where it catches the last of the light. A stubborn thing, in a space he is claiming, in a house he is coming to call home.

Key Moments

• Pawbert receives confirmation of his ZRS field placement approval
• The pack departs for work, leaving Pawbert alone in the mansion for the first time since release
• Pawbert walks to the ZTA station alone and boards the Downtown 3 train
• The realization that no one on the train knows who he is—he is anonymous for the first time
• Sorrel welcomes Pawbert at ZRS and remarks on him being on the other side of the desk
• Devor warns Pawbert about lived experience being both valuable and vulnerable
• Pawbert observes a timber wolf client break down during intake—three days out, family locked him out, nowhere to sleep
• Pawbert instinctively offers the crying client a glass of water without asking permission
• Sorrel nods approval at Pawbert's intervention
• An opossum client spirals about disclosing his record on job applications
• Devor invites Pawbert to contribute, and Pawbert shares from his own experience
• Devor provides feedback: good work, but do not overdo it
• Pawbert stops at a florist stall and buys a jade plant described as persistent
• The florist observes that stubborn lives are what matter
• Pawbert returns home and places the plant in the library
• Pawbert tells Luther he thinks he is supposed to be doing this work

Key Lines

Characters Introduced

Locations

• Pawthorne Mansion — Kitchen (morning departure and evening return), library (jade plant placement)
• Rainbow Falls ZTA Station — Pawbert's commute start; named for the waterfall catching morning light
• ZTA Downtown 3 Train — First solo commute through the city
• Zootopia Reentry Services — Reception, back offices, conference room, intake rooms
• Downtown florist stall — Jade plant purchase; between larger storefronts

Items

• ZRS trainee badge — Issued at orientation; laminated, clearly marked TRAINEE
• Jade plant / "stubborn plant" — Bought from florist; placed in library; persistent thing that will not quit
• Water glass — Pawbert's instinctive offering to crying client; catalyst for connection

Notes

• The jade plant becomes a recurring visual element in the mansion's library, representing persistence and the ability to thrive with minimal care.
• The episode establishes the "leave and return" freedom Pawbert now possesses—a core realization that freedom means being able to do both.
• Devor's warning about identification versus enmeshment foreshadows professional boundaries Pawbert will navigate throughout his career.
• The episode timeline is approximately Week 4-5 post-release (a week or two after E09 "First Day").
• This is Pawbert's first time navigating the city completely alone since his arrest years earlier.