S04E22 - Full Circle

"Full Circle" is the twenty-second episode of Season 4 of We Can Fix Pawbert. Pawbert completes his first semester, wrapping up his project, placement, and employment.

Synopsis

Pawbert presents his group project, with their pilot mobile intake unit achieving a sixty-six percent referral completion rate versus the district average of twenty-two percent. He completes his final shift at ZRS, where his last intake is with Krazek, a hyena who unknowingly describes Luther's undercover work during the prison infiltration. Sorrel offers Pawbert a position after graduation. At Snarlbucks, Pawbert handles a recognizing customer with composure and says farewell to his coworkers. He visits Mika's studio one last time before announcing to the pack that he finished his first semester.

Plot

Pawbert stands with his project group in a GYU presentation room, preparing to present their semester's work to Professor Clawberg and Nessa, a community partner from the Lower Canopy Residents Association. Jun presents the damning data—eighteen percent higher rates of service non-engagement in neighborhoods below the fourth canopy level, twelve percent lower health outcomes. Hector provides context with real-world interviews about mammals who can't access services when lift infrastructure fails. Maya presents the intervention design: mobile intake units that can navigate vertical infrastructure and coordinated referrals that create a single point of contact across agencies. Then Pawbert explains the navigator role concept, drawing from his own experience of being released from prison and facing a maze of requirements with no map. His insight that lived experience is essential, not just relevant, catches Clawberg's attention.

Nessa reports on the pilot program's results. After six weeks of operation, the mobile intake unit has served fifty-three households with thirty-five successful referral completions—a sixty-six percent completion rate against a district average of twenty-two percent. The navigator role, staffed by community health workers with lived experience, has been transformative. Clawberg acknowledges the work with rare praise. In the hallway afterward, Pawbert's teammates disperse with talk of next semester, and for the first time, Pawbert feels like he belongs to a group because of his work and ideas rather than his name or money. He visits Dr. Dillamond to submit his final reflection essay for UNDSWUS 55, and the professor notes how far Pawbert has come since sitting through a case study about his own family's crimes on the first day of class.

At Zootopia Reentry Services, Pawbert arrives for his final day as a field placement student. Sorrel assigns him to lead an intake, observing from the side. The client is Krazek, a massive hyena with prison tattoos who carries himself with the fear of someone who has learned that existing too loudly draws pain. Krazek's intake reveals a life spent trying to be useful—running numbers for gangs because it made him valuable enough to keep alive, running a cell inside prison until a wolf arrived and dismantled everything he'd built in thirty seconds. The wolf's arrival forced Krazek into survival mode, becoming whatever he needed to be to survive each day. Pawbert doesn't recognize that Krazek is describing Luther's undercover work during the prison infiltration four months earlier. The dramatic irony deepens as Krazek expresses exhaustion with mere survival and asks for a chance to become something more than a tool.

Pawbert shares that he understands the feeling, not the specifics, but the bone-deep weariness of trying to fit into systems that never valued him. He explains that useful isn't the goal anymore—the goal is building a life that's actually yours. He provides referrals for transitional housing and job training, calling second-chance hiring what it really is: first-chance, since most of them never got a real chance to begin with. Krazek asks why Pawbert cares, and Pawbert explains that someone helped him when he didn't deserve it, walked beside him when he was lost, and now he's here doing the same for others. Afterward in the hallway, Sorrel acknowledges that Pawbert learned to be present without drowning—harder than it sounds. He offers Pawbert a position at ZRS after graduation, not as a student but as a case manager or navigator if funding comes through.

At Snarlbucks, Pawbert works his final shift at Grande Station. Lane laments losing his adequate coworker while Brim delivers deadpan praise, admitting Pawbert was better than adequate and instructing him not to tell anyone. During the afternoon rush, a wildebeest customer recognizes Pawbert as "that lynx." Pawbert doesn't flinch or apologize—he simply confirms and hands over the perfectly-made latte. The customer takes the drink and leaves without incident. Selma offers a reference or future shifts if he ever needs them. Lane acknowledges that Pawbert actually showed up rather than just waiting for shifts to end, and Brim's whiskers twitch in what counts as a hug from the mouse. Pawbert hangs up his apron one final time.

Pawbert visits Mika's studio in the Rainforest District to process the day. He tells her that the presentation, the intake, and the coffee shop farewells all felt real—the first thing he's ever done that was actually his. Before prison, he was studying to prove himself useful to a father who never loved him. Now he's building something of his own choosing, and the tiredness is different. It's the tiredness of building, not the tiredness of just surviving. That evening at the mansion, Pawbert announces to the pack that he finished his first semester. Luther simply says he's proud. Over dinner, Pawbert explains the intervention's success while Nick offers supportive confusion. Later in bed, Luther observes that the day came full circle—presentation, intake, coffee shop, home—everything connecting. Pawbert reflects on how "useful" used to be his goal, but now the goal is being someone he can live with, doing work that matters because he chooses to.

Key Moments

• Pawbert explains the navigator role concept to Professor Clawberg, drawing from his lived experience
• Nessa reports the pilot program's sixty-six percent completion rate versus twenty-two percent district average
• Professor Clawberg delivers rare praise for Pawbert's insight that can't come from textbooks
• Dr. Dillamond accepts Pawbert's final essay and acknowledges how far he's come since the first day of class
• Krazek describes a wolf who dismantled his prison cell hierarchy—unknowingly describing Luther's undercover work
• Pawbert shares his own experience of trying to be useful to systems that never valued him
• Sorrel offers Pawbert a position at ZRS after graduation
• Devor gives Pawbert a rare nod of approval
• A customer recognizes Pawbert at Snarlbucks; Pawbert handles the moment with composure rather than shame
• Brim delivers deadpan praise that counts as high compliment from the reserved mouse
• Lane acknowledges that Pawbert actually showed up rather than just waiting for shifts to end
• Selma offers a reference and an open door for future shifts
• Pawbert tells Mika that the semester felt like the first thing he's ever done that was actually his
• Pawbert announces to the pack that he finished his first semester
• Luther observes that the day came full circle—everything connecting back to where it started

Key Lines

Characters Introduced

Recurring Characters

• Krazek (hyena) — ZRS client; former cellmate of Luther during undercover operation (first appearance: S03E01)
• Maya Chen-Reyes (ocelot) — Group project teammate
• Hector Vidal (capybara) — Group project teammate
• Jun Tanaka (tanuki) — Group project teammate
• Professor Clawberg (wolverine) — UNDSWUS 31 professor
• Dr. Dillamond (goat) — UNDSWUS 55 professor
• Sorrel (capybara) — ZRS supervisor; offers job after graduation
• Devor (bison) — ZRS lead case manager
• Lane (cheetah) — Snarlbucks; emotional farewell
• Brim (mouse) — Snarlbucks; deadpan farewell
• Selma (okapi) — Snarlbucks manager
• Mika (red panda) — Artist friend; final reflection scene

Locations

• GYU Silvermane Center --- Presentation room, Dr. Dillamond's office
• Zootopia Reentry Services --- Main floor, intake room, hallway
• Snarlbucks --- Savanna Central; counter, back area
• Mika's Studio --- Rainforest District
• Pawthorne Mansion --- Kitchen, dining room, master bedroom

Items

• Referral forms — Housing stabilization and job training referrals Pawbert provides to Krazek
• UNDSWUS 55 final essay — Pawbert's reflection paper submitted to Dr. Dillamond
• Snarlbucks apron — Pawbert hangs up his apron for the last time
• Four green mugs — Used at the pack dinner celebration
• Kamila's spices — From Map Day; Luther uses them for dinner

Notes

• The Krazek scene is one of the season's most effective uses of dramatic irony—Pawbert has no idea that the wolf Krazek describes is Luther during his undercover prison infiltration.
• This is the final GYU appearance in the series; Pawbert's graduation occurs off-screen between seasons.
• The group project's success validates the navigator role concept Pawbert developed from his own reentry experience.