S04E17 - The Chart

"The Chart" is the seventeenth episode of Season 4 of We Can Fix Pawbert. Luther proves a terrible patient, and Nick creates The Chart to document his recovery mishaps.

Synopsis

Luther proves a terrible patient, attempting multiple escapes from the couch. Nick creates The Chart, a laminated poster documenting Luther's recovery mishaps. Meanwhile, Nick and Judy visit their old apartment in Acorn Heights, revisiting the fire escape where Nick first mentioned marriage. Pawbert helps Luther with increasingly intimate care tasks. The Chart becomes an official household fixture.

Plot

The cold open finds Luther attempting yet another escape from the couch. His excuse involves the supposedly superior quality of kitchen water versus the glass already within reach. A blanket tangles around his foot mid-stride and he crashes to the floor, ribs protesting violently. Pawbert finds him there and helps him back to the couch, where Luther admits the core problem: he has never learned how to do nothing, and healing feels indistinguishable from uselessness.

In the kitchen, Nick burns hash browns while Judy scrapes them into the trash with the efficiency of someone who has performed this salvage operation many times before. Pawbert suggests they take a date day—just the two of them, away from recovery duty. He's been up all night catching Luther's escape attempts and insists he can handle another day alone. Nick and Judy accept, realizing they haven't had time together in weeks.

Nick and Judy walk through Savanna Central to Acorn Heights—their old neighborhood, their old apartment building. The curtains in their former window are different now; someone else lives there. They stand in the alley behind the building, looking up at the fire escape where Nick first mentioned marriage. His original statement was characteristically hedged, a string of qualifiers and theoretical possibilities rather than an actual proposal. Judy reflects that they didn't outgrow their old apartment—they got stretched. The pack, the mansion, the bigger life they now lead is an expansion, not a replacement.

At the mansion, Pawbert helps Luther with increasingly intimate care tasks. A bathroom scene demonstrates practical partnership care rather than anything sexual—Pawbert handles the situation with matter-of-fact bluntness that leaves Luther mortified but grateful. Later, Pawbert brings soup and confronts Luther's attempts to sneak work from the library. He reminds Luther of a lesson Luther once taught him: needing help isn't weakness, it's just reality.

When Nick and Judy return that evening and learn of Luther's six escape attempts, Nick reaches his breaking point. He retrieves poster board, markers, and a ruler, and creates The Chart—a comprehensive documentation system for Luther's recovery mishaps. Categories include Escape Attempts, Complaints About Rest, Times Luther Said He Hates This, and Buildings Collapsed On Luther. When Luther threatens to destroy it, Nick cheerfully announces it will be laminated.

In their bedroom, Nick and Judy's intimate scene reflects on their four years together. Nick admits he keeps waiting for the part where their happiness falls apart—that mammals like him don't get happy endings. But Judy isn't an ending; she's ongoing. Every day she's still there is another day he didn't expect. They make love slowly, talking about getting old together, about the pack, about making sure they've actually lived before something takes any of it away.

By morning, The Chart hangs laminated on the living room wall. Nick updates it in real time as Luther makes a pain noise while shifting on the couch. Pawbert defends The Chart's authority. The pack settles into breakfast around their most stubborn member—annoying, loving, home.

Key Moments

• Luther falls on the floor attempting to reach the kitchen for "better" water
• Luther admits he doesn't know how to do nothing—healing feels like uselessness
• Pawbert insists Nick and Judy take a date day away from recovery duty
• Nick and Judy walk to Acorn Heights and stand in the alley behind their old apartment
• Nick identifies the fire escape as where he first mentioned marriage
• Judy reflects that the pack stretched their lives rather than replacing their old one
• Nick reveals his fear that happy endings aren't meant for mammals like him
• Pawbert handles the bathroom situation with practical matter-of-factness
• Luther sneaks to the library to work despite his injuries; Pawbert finds him
• Pawbert reminds Luther of the lesson Luther once taught him: needing help isn't weakness
• Nick creates The Chart with poster board, markers, and determination
• The Chart is laminated by morning and hung prominently on the living room wall
• Nick and Judy's intimate scene reflects on getting old together
• The pack settles into morning routine around their stubborn, recovering wolf

Key Lines

Locations

• Pawthorne Mansion --- Living room, kitchen, bathroom, library, Nick/Judy's room
• Acorn Heights --- Nick and Judy's old apartment (exterior, fire escape view)
• City streets --- Savanna Central to Acorn Heights

Items

• The Chart — Created by Nick on poster board; laminated by morning; categories include Escape Attempts, Complaints About Rest, Times Luther Said He Hates This, Buildings Collapsed On Luther, and Wolf Stubbornness Index; hung on living room wall
• Kitchen water — Luther's excuse for escape attempt; allegedly better than coffee table water
• Nick and Judy's old apartment — Acorn Heights; third floor walk-up; fire escape where Nick first mentioned marriage; now occupied by someone else

Notes

• The Chart becomes the season's signature comedic artifact, expanded in E18 and framed in E19.
• The bathroom caregiving scene is notable for being intimate without being sexual — a rare depiction of practical partnership care.